Longer Cochlear Implant Experience Leads to Better Production of Mandarin Tones for Early Implanted Children

Conclusions:

These results provide acoustic evidence demonstrating that, when Mandarin-speaking children are implanted before the age of 2, only those with 3 to 6 years of experience were able to produce NH-like tones, including both lexical tone and T0. Children with shorter CI experience (less than 3 years) were unable to produce distinct acoustic patterns for the different tones. This suggests that at least 3 years of CI experience is still needed for early implanted children to acquire tonal distinctions similar to those of NH 3-year olds.

Source: Ear and Hearing - August 31, 2021 Category: Audiology Tags: Research Article Source Type: research