Function and Disability Journal (Jan 2018)
A comparison of Speech Duration in Cochlear Implant and Normal Hearing Elementary School Students in the Imitation and Reading Tasks
Abstract
Abstract Farsi Background and Objectives: Excessive duration is one of the suprasegmental features in cochlear implant children. Regarding the importance of the normal rate of speech in transferring the intonation and clarity of speech, the present study aims at comparing word and sentence duration in cochlear implant and normal hearing children in imitation and reading tasks. Methods: The present descriptive-analytical study was performed on 30 elementary school cochlear implant children versus 30 normal hearing children. Voice recording was done in a silent room. The Persian-speaking subject was asked to utter “/sælam/ (hello)” and “/Ɂemruz nemiyad/ (He won’t come today)” with the following moods and emotions: statement, question, exclamation, with happiness and with sadness. Then, they were asked to do the same task imitating the voice which had been recorded earlier. Data recording was done using Praat software and data analysis was done by SPSS software. Results: The average duration in cochlear implant children in two modes of imitating and reading a word showed a significant difference with that of children with normal hearing (P < 0.001). Moreover, in both groups, the average duration of reading the word was less in comparison with imitating the word. Also, the average duration in cochlear implant children in two modes of imitating and reading a sentence showed a significant difference with that of children with normal hearing (P< 0.001). In the cochlear implant group, the average duration of imitating the sentence was less than the average duration of reading the sentence, whereas in the normal hearing group, the average duration of reading the sentence was less than the average duration of imitating the sentence. Conclusion: The average duration in cochlear implant in all modes (word imitation, word reading, sentence imitation, sentence reading) was more than normal hearing children, which results in abnormal intonation in these children. According to the present study, imitation cannot cause a decrease in duration and consequently, does not result in more natural intonation. Hence, it is probably not a proper therapeutic method.
