1Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; 2Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Knoxville, Tennessee; and 3Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Ear Hear. 2017 Nov/Dec;38(6):701-713. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000455.
Relatively little is known about how young children with hearing impairment (HI) learn novel words in infant- and adult-directed speech (ADS). Infant-directed speech (IDS) supports word learning in typically developing infants relative to ADS. This study examined how children with normal hearing (NH) and children with HI learn novel words in IDS and ADS. It was predicted that IDS would support novel word learning in both groups of children. In addition, children with HI were expected to be less proficient word learners as compared with their NH peers.
A looking-while-listening paradigm was used to measure novel word learning in 16 children with sensorineural HI (age range 23.2 to 42.1 months) who wore either bilateral hearing aids (n = 10) or bilateral cochlear implants (n = 6) and 16 children with NH (age range 23.1 to 42.1 months) who were matched for gender, chronological age, and maternal education level. Two measures of word learning were assessed (accuracy and reaction time). Each child participated in two experiments approximately 1 week apart, one in IDS and one in ADS.
Both groups successfully learned the novel words in both speech type conditions, as evidenced by children looking at the correct picture significantly above chance. As a group, children with NH outperformed children with HI in the novel word learning task; however, there were no significant differences between performance on IDS versus ADS. More fine-grained time course analyses revealed that children with HI, and particularly children who use hearing aids, had more difficulty learning novel words in ADS, compared with children with NH.
The pattern of results observed in the children with HI suggests that they may need extended support from clinicians and caregivers, through the use of IDS, during novel word learning. Future research should continue to focus on understanding the factors (e.g., device type and use, age of intervention, audibility, acoustic characteristics of input, etc.) that may influence word learning in children with HI in both IDS and ADS.
对于有听力障碍（HI）的幼儿如何在婴儿和成人指导的言语（ADS）中学习新单词，我们知之甚少。与 ADS 相比，婴儿指导的言语（IDS）支持正常发育的婴儿学习单词。本研究考察了正常听力（NH）儿童和 HI 儿童如何在 IDS 和 ADS 中学习新单词。预计 IDS 将支持两组儿童的新单词学习。此外，与他们的 NH 同龄人相比，HI 儿童预计会成为不太熟练的单词学习者。
使用听一听观察范式来测量 16 名患有感觉神经性 HI（年龄范围为 23.2 至 42.1 个月）的儿童的新单词学习情况，他们佩戴双侧助听器（n=10）或双侧人工耳蜗（n=6）和 16 名具有 NH（年龄范围为 23.1 至 42.1 个月）的儿童相匹配，这些儿童在性别、年龄和母亲教育程度方面相匹配。评估了两个单词学习指标（准确性和反应时间）。每个孩子在大约一周的时间内参加了两个实验，一个在 IDS 中，一个在 ADS 中。
两组儿童在两种言语条件下均成功学习了新单词，因为儿童显著高于随机选择地看着正确的图片。作为一个整体，NH 组的儿童在新单词学习任务中的表现优于 HI 组的儿童；然而，在 IDS 与 ADS 之间的表现没有显著差异。更精细的时间进程分析表明，与 NH 组的儿童相比，HI 组的儿童，特别是使用助听器的儿童，在 ADS 中学习新单词的难度更大。
HI 组儿童的结果模式表明，他们可能需要临床医生和照顾者通过使用 IDS 在新单词学习期间提供更多支持。未来的研究应继续关注理解可能影响 HI 儿童在 IDS 和 ADS 中学习单词的因素（例如，设备类型和使用、干预年龄、可听度、输入的声学特性等）。
