Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses

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    Perception of prosodic features by children with cochlear implants, is it sufficient for understanding meaning differences in language
    Klieve, Sharon A. ( 1998)
    This study examined whether children with cochlear implants could access, perceive and most importantly understand meaning differences carried by prosodic information. The perception of these prosodic cues is important to the full comprehension of speech, as full linguistic understanding can not be achieved unless the meaning differences prosodic features convey in English are understood by the listener. The outcomes in perception and production of prosody of a small group of children with cochlear implants was examined. These outcomes were assessed prior to, and after participation in an intervention programme which was designed to improve the perception of prosody. Six participants took part in the study. Their ages ranged from 7 to 12 years. All participants used the Nucleus 22 multichannel cochlear implant and SPEAK speech processing strategy. Participants received twice weekly intervention sessions focussed on improving their perception and understanding of prosodic cues in linguistic contexts for a period of 10 weeks. Prosodic perception skills and understanding were measured prior to intervention, following intervention and 10 weeks post intervention. The Prosodic Perception Assessment Tool (PPAT), devised by the researcher, was used as the assessment tool to measure prosodic perception. Prosodic production skills were measured using the Fundamental Speech Skills Test (FSST) (Levitt, Youdelman & Head, 1990). The intervention programme was effective in improving the participant's ability to perceive and understand prosodic cues in linguistic contexts. All six participants exhibited substantial improvements in their prosodic perception. This improvement was maintained when the participants were re-tested post participation in the intervention programme, suggesting the learning they had acquired through the intervention was retained. With the exception of one participant, all other participants showed improvement in their prosodic production abilities, as assessed by the FSST. This study found that the intervention programme undertaken was effective in helping a group of children with cochlear implants, using the SPEAK processing strategy, to perceive and understand the meaning differences conveyed by prosody. It also found that improved perception and comprehension of prosodic cues impacted, to an extent on the associated skills of prosodic production.