Blom Helen, Marschark Marc, Machmer Elizabeth
a Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University and Royal Dutch Kentalis , P.O. Box 9104, Nijmegen 6500 HE , The Netherlands.
b Center for Education Research Partnerships, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology , 52 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester , NY 14623 , USA.
Cochlear Implants Int. 2017 Jan;18(1):49-56. doi: 10.1080/14670100.2016.1265188. Epub 2016 Dec 23.
This study sought to evaluate the potential of using spoken language and signing together (simultaneous communication, SimCom, sign-supported speech) as a means of improving speech recognition, comprehension, and learning by cochlear implant (CI) users in noisy contexts.
Forty eight college students who were active CI users, watched videos of three short presentations, the text versions of which were standardized at the 8-grade reading level. One passage was presented in spoken language only, one was presented in spoken language with multi-talker babble background noise, and one was presented via simultaneous communication with the same background noise. Following each passage, participants responded to 10 (standardized) open-ended questions designed to assess comprehension. Indicators of participants' spoken language and sign language skills were obtained via self-reports and objective assessments.
When spoken materials were accompanied by signs, scores were significantly higher than when materials were spoken in noise without signs. Participants' receptive spoken language skills significantly predicted scores in all three conditions; neither their receptive sign skills nor age of implantation predicted performance.
Students who are CI users typically rely solely on spoken language in the classroom. The present results, however, suggest that there are potential benefits of simultaneous communication for such learners in noisy settings. For those CI users who know sign language, the redundancy of speech and signs potentially can offset the reduced fidelity of spoken language in noise.
Accompanying spoken language with signs can benefit learners who are CI users in noisy situations such as classroom settings. Factors associated with such benefits, such as receptive skills in signed and spoken modalities, classroom acoustics, and material difficulty need to be empirically examined.
本研究旨在评估同时使用口语和手语（同步交流，SimCom，手语辅助言语）作为一种手段，以提高人工耳蜗（CI）使用者在嘈杂环境中的言语识别、理解和学习能力。
48名活跃的CI使用者大学生观看了三个简短演讲的视频，其文字版本的阅读水平为八年级标准。一段演讲仅用口语呈现，一段在有多人交谈背景噪音的情况下用口语呈现，一段通过同步交流并伴有相同背景噪音呈现。每段演讲后，参与者回答10个（标准化的）开放式问题，以评估理解能力。通过自我报告和客观评估获得参与者口语和手语技能的指标。
当口语材料伴有手语时，得分显著高于无手语的噪音环境下的口语材料得分。参与者的接受性口语技能在所有三种情况下都能显著预测得分；他们的接受性手语技能和植入年龄均不能预测表现。
CI使用者学生在课堂上通常仅依赖口语。然而，目前的结果表明，同步交流对这类学习者在嘈杂环境中可能有潜在益处。对于那些懂手语的CI使用者来说，言语和手语的冗余可能可以抵消噪音环境中口语保真度的降低。
在课堂等嘈杂环境中，为口语配上手语对CI使用者学习者有益。与这种益处相关的因素，如手语和口语模态的接受技能、课堂声学和材料难度，需要进行实证研究。
