Gulian E, Hinds P, Fallside F, Keiller C
Br J Audiol. 1983 Nov;17(4):233-44. doi: 10.3109/03005368309081484.
The ability of profoundly deaf schoolchildren to learn the voicing distinction was studied over a period of 6 months. The children were given daily speech therapy and half of them received, in addition, visual feedback from a microprocessor-based speech training aid - the Fricative and Timing Aid. Their performance was analysed in terms of the acquisition of voiced v. voiceless stop consonants and of their position in a word. Results yielded by perceptual tests showed a substantial increase in the intelligibility of stop consonants at the end of the training programme. Retention scores, i.e. intelligibility scores obtained by re-testing the children after a 2-month period of non-practice, showed that practically no articulatory skills were forgotten during this interval. Measurements of vowel duration in word-final stop consonants indicated a considerable decrease in vowel length with training, and although this remained higher than for hearing children it probably contributed to higher intelligibility scores. Comparisons between children trained with or without visual feedback showed a definite advantage for the former. No improvement in intelligibility was found when no systematic speech training was available. It was concluded that while the voicing distinction may not be acquired spontaneously, it is a skill within reach of profoundly deaf children when they are trained adequately.
研究人员对重度失聪学童学习浊音区别的能力进行了为期6个月的研究。这些孩子每天接受言语治疗，其中一半孩子还额外获得了基于微处理器的言语训练辅助工具——擦音与节奏辅助工具的视觉反馈。研究人员从清浊塞音的习得情况以及它们在单词中的位置这两方面对孩子们的表现进行了分析。知觉测试的结果显示，在训练项目结束时，塞音的可懂度大幅提高。保持分数，即在两个月不练习后对孩子们重新测试所获得的可懂度分数，表明在这段间隔期内孩子们几乎没有忘记发音技巧。对单词末尾塞音中元音时长的测量表明，随着训练，元音长度显著缩短，尽管这一长度仍高于听力正常的儿童，但它可能有助于提高可懂度分数。接受或未接受视觉反馈训练的孩子之间的比较显示，前者具有明显优势。当没有系统的言语训练时，可懂度没有提高。研究得出的结论是，虽然浊音区别可能不会自发习得，但对于重度失聪儿童来说，经过充分训练后，这是一项他们能够掌握的技能。
