LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Development of Time-Compressed Speech Test for
Children between 8 - 12 Years of Age in Telugu

Ch. Bhargavi, M.Sc. (Speech & Hearing)
S. G. R. Prakash, M.Sc. (Speech & Hearing), PhD. (Applied Linguistics)
S. B. Rathna Kumar, M.Sc. (Speech & Hearing), PhD. (Applied Linguistics) - Scholar
G. Yamini Sindhura, B.Sc. (Audiology & Speech Language Pathology) - Student

1.0. Introduction

Some children have normal hearing ability but have difficulty using information they hear in academic and social situations. These children may have a Central Auditory Processing Disorder. Myklebust (1954) was one of the first person, stated that "central hearing loss" contributes to children's language learning deficits. The term central auditory Processing disorder (CAPD) is used to describe functional impairment of the auditory system with respect to different skills. Central auditory processing (CAP) problems may underlie or interact with other difficulties including speech language impairment, attention disorder, learning disability or developmental disabilities (Tallal & Piercy 1974; Willeford 1980; Jerger, Martin & Jerger 1987).

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is deficits in information processing of audible stimuli but without hearing or intelligence deficits. It is the inability to attend to, discriminate, recognize or comprehend what is heard. Auditory processing deficits interfere directly with speech and language as well as all areas of learning, especially reading and spelling. Instruction in schools relay primarily on spoken language, so students with APD may have serious difficulty. APD often coexists with other disabilities, including speech and language disorders or delays, learning disabilities, dyslexia, attention deficit disorders, and social and/or emotional problems. APD are more pronounced when listening to distorted speech, or in poor acoustic environments such as listening in the presence of competing background noise (Bellis 1996).

Diagnosis of APD is essential for the implementation of appropriate therapeutic and/or remedial strategies. Formal diagnosis is accomplished through administration of a battery of tests. Each of these tests is designed to evaluate various behavioral processes required to process auditory information. Though information can be obtained as early as 5.5 to 6.5 years of age, the administration of the comprehensive central auditory pathway test battery is not performed until the age of 6.5 to 7 years or later to minimize any bias introduced by limited vocabulary and / or attention. In younger children, informal diagnosis is made utilizing behavioral information in conjunction with speech language measures (Willeford & Burleigh 1985; Bellis 1996).

The audiologist assesses the peripheral and central auditory systems using a test battery approach, which may include both behavioral and electrophysiological tests. Peripheral hearing tests determine if the child has a hearing loss and if so, the degree to which the loss is a factor in the child's learning problems. Assessment of the central auditory system determines the child's ability to respond under different conditions of auditory signal distortion and competition. It is based on the assumption that a child with an intact auditory system can tolerate mild distortions of speech and still understand it, while a child with an APD will encounter difficulty when the auditory system is stressed by signal distortion and competing messages (Keith 1995).

No single test of APD can be expected to challenge the variety of functions required by the central auditory nervous system (CANS) in different listening situations. Therefore, it is necessary to use a test battery approach (Dempsey 1983). Using a test battery approach, audiologist can determine if CAPD is present and, if so, the specific nature of these difficulties as well as the likely ramifications. They can then use this information to provide individualized management strategies as well as measure the success of interventions by post testing. APD is assessed through the use of special tests designed to assess the various auditory functions of the brain. However, before this type of testing begins, it is important that each person being tested receives a routine hearing test (Chermak & Musiek 1997). Tests of central auditory function have been categorized in a variety of ways. Baran & Musiek (1991) categorize behavioral central tests in the following sub-categories:

• Dichotic Tests (Musiek & Pinheiro 1985)
• Monaural Low-Redundancy Speech (Jerger & Jerger 1971)
• Temporal Processing Tests (Pinheiro 1977)
• Binaural Interaction Tests (Matzker 1959)

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Implementing Explicit Grammatical Instruction in Thailand Schools | Nature of Sentence Intonation in Kannada, Tulu and Konkani | Language and Gender - Linguistic Analysis of Intermediate English Textbooks in Pakistan | Development of Punjabi-Hindi Aligned Parallel Corpus from Web Using Machine Translation | Paralinguistic and Non-Verbal Props in Second-Language Use: A Study of Icheoku and Masquerade in Nigeria | Economic Perspectives and Life-style Characteristics of the Aged Population in Tamil Nadu, India | Redefining Secularism - An Analysis of John Updike's Terrorist and Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist as Post-9/11 Novels | Reduplication in Bengali Language | Development of Time-Compressed Speech Test for Children between 8 - 12 Years of Age in Telugu | Bridging the Gap - The Potential of Contrastive Rhetoric in Teaching L2 Writing | ELT in Yemen and India - The Need for Remedial Measures | Relationship between Multiple Intelligence Categories and Learning Styles of Students in Pakistan | Internet as an Educational Resource in Vocabulary Instruction | The Effectiveness of Technology in Teaching Study Skills | A Study of the Comparative Elements in the Poetry of Keats and Ghani Khan | Sentence Pattern Method - A New Approach for Teaching Spoken English for Tamil/Indian/EFL Learners | Enhancing Language Skills Using Learn to Speak English Software in Engineering Students of Andhra Pradesh | Problems in Teaching of English Language at the Primary Level in District Kohat, NWFP, Pakistan | An Appraisal of the Practicum - Finding the Gaps between Theory and Practice in Teacher Training Institutions in Pakistan | A Study of B.Ed. Students' Attitude Towards Using Internet in Vellore District, Tamilnadu, India, Masters Dissertation | Politics of Sambalpuri or Kosali as a Dialect of Oriya in Orissa | A Six-Step Approach to Teaching Poetry Incorporating the Four Skills | Lexis of a Suicidal | A Case Review of Tamil Diglossia | Comparison of Markedness of Lexical Semantic Abilities in Normal Children and Children with Hearing Impairment | Social Effects and Other Impediments in Teaching Literature | Aligning the Connotations of Love and Freedom in the Novels of Iris Murdoch | Spiritual Communication and Managerial Effectiveness | A PRINT VERSION OF ALL THE PAPERS OF NOVEMBER, 2010 ISSUE IN BOOK FORMAT. | HOME PAGE of November 2010 Issue | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com