Tone production and perception and intelligibility of produced speech in Mandarin-speaking cochlear implanted children

<i>Objective</i>: This study explored tone production, tone perception and intelligibility of produced speech in Mandarin-speaking prelingually deaf children with at least 5 years of cochlear implant (CI) experience. Another focus was on the predictive value of tone perception and tone production as they relate to speech intelligibility. <i>Design</i>: Cross-sectional research. <i>Study sample</i>: Thirty-three prelingually deafened children aged over eight years with over five years of experience with CI underwent tests for tone perception, tone production, and the Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR). A Pearson correlation and a stepwise regression analysis were used to estimate the correlations among tone perception, tone production, and SIR scores. <i>Results</i>: The mean scores for tone perception, tone production, and SIR were 76.88%, 90.08%, and 4.08, respectively. Moderately positive Pearson correlations were found between tone perception and production, tone production and SIR, and tone perception and SIR (<i>p</i> p p p Conclusions: Mandarin-speaking cochlear-implanted children with sufficient duration of CI use produce intelligent speech. Speech intelligibility can be predicted by tone production performance.

研究目的：本研究探讨了拥有至少5年人工耳蜗（cochlear implant, CI）使用经验的普通话语前聋儿童的声调产出、声调感知能力及言语产出可懂度，同时聚焦于声调感知与声调产出对言语可懂度的预测价值。
研究设计：横断面研究。
研究样本：本研究纳入33名8岁以上、拥有5年以上人工耳蜗使用经验的语前聋儿童，对其开展声调感知、声调产出及言语可懂度评分（Speech Intelligibility Rating, SIR）测试。采用皮尔逊相关分析与逐步回归分析，对声调感知、声调产出与SIR评分间的相关性进行评估。
研究结果：声调感知、声调产出及SIR的平均得分分别为76.88%、90.08%与4.08。研究发现，声调感知与声调产出、声调产出与SIR、声调感知与SIR之间均存在中等程度的正皮尔逊相关（*p* *p* *p* *p*）。
研究结论：拥有足够时长人工耳蜗使用经验的普通话人工耳蜗植入儿童，其产出的言语具备可懂度；声调产出表现可用于预测言语可懂度。