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：本研究旨在探讨具备至少5年人工耳蜗（Cochlear Implant，CI）使用史的汉语普通话母语语前聋儿童的声调产出、声调感知能力及其产出言语的可懂度，并重点分析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：招募33名年龄超过8岁、拥有至少5年人工耳蜗使用史的语前聋儿童，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（Pearson correlation）与逐步回归分析（stepwise regression analysis），对声调感知、声调产出与SIR得分之间的相关性进行评估。研究结果：声调感知、声调产出与SIR的平均得分分别为76.88%、90.08%与4.08。声调感知与声调产出、声调产出与SIR、声调感知与SIR之间均呈现中等程度的正相关关系，且均具有统计学显著性（*p*<0.05）。研究结论：具备足够时长人工耳蜗使用史的汉语普通话母语人工耳蜗植入儿童可产出具有良好可懂度的言语，其言语可懂度可通过声调产出表现进行预测。