Mandarin-Speaking, Kindergarten-Aged Children With Cochlear Implants Benefit From Natural F 0 Patterns in the Use of Semantic Context During Speech Recognition

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which semantic context and F ₀ contours affect speech recognition by Mandarin-speaking, kindergarten-aged children with cochlear implants (CIs).

Method

The experimental design manipulated two factors, that is, semantic context, by comparing the intelligibility of normal sentence versus word list, and F ₀ contours, by comparing the intelligibility of utterances with natural versus flat F ₀ patterns. Twenty-two children with CIs completed a speech recognition test.

Results

Children with CIs could use both semantic context and F ₀ contours to assist speech recognition. Furthermore, natural F ₀ patterns provided extra benefit when semantic context was present than when it was absent.

Conclusion

Dynamic F ₀ contours play an important role in speech recognition by Mandarin-speaking children with CIs despite the well-known limitation of CI devices in extracting F ₀ information.

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