Room acoustics effects on monosyllabic word discrimination ability for normal and hearing-impaired children

The monosyllabic work discrimination of normal and hearing-impaired children was evaluated in situations selected to simulate acoustical conditions in current educational environments. All listeners were tested in a high-fidelity (loudspeaker-aided) condition under 12 combinations of reverberation and noise. Hearing-impaired subjects were also evaluated in the same 12 conditions while listening through a monaural hearing aid. Performance of the normal-hearing group was superior to the hearing-impaired listeners in all environments. Results suggest that classroom acoustics should be considered a critical variable in the educational achievement of children.