Keywords

Audiology, dialect, hearing, hearing loss, speech recognition, assessment

Abstract

Purpose: In this study, the authors examined the validity of using materials from 2 nonregional yet mutually intelligible dialects to evaluate an individual’s speech recognition threshold (SRT) and word recognition (WR) abilities and whether a speaker of 1 dialect could accurately administer and score materials in the other dialect. Method: Previously created SRT and WR materials were presented to 32 Mandarin listeners with normal hearing:16 speakers of Mainland Mandarin and 16 speakers of Taiwan Mandarin. Hearing abilities were examined using SRT and WR materials created for speakers from 2 different regional dialects. Presentation of the materials occur red during 2 test sessions, counterbalanced across material and listener dialect. Listener responses were evaluated by2 judges; 1 spoke Mainland Mandarin, and the other spoke Taiwan Mandarin. Results: For the SRT and WR results, differences in listener performance were statistically significant across material and listener dialect, with threshold differences of less than 2 dB HL when collapsed across session. The interscorer percentage of agreement was 99.5% for SRT and 99.1% for WR testing. Conclusion: Testing with materials in a different regional dialect does have a measurable impact on SRT and WR performance. However, this difference, though reliable, is small enough to have a negligible impact on clinical findings.

Original Publication Citation

Nissen, S. L., Harris, R. W., Channell, R. W., Richardson, N., Garlick, J., & Eggett, D. L. (2013). The effect of dialect on speech audiometry testing. American Journal of Audiology, 22, 233-240. Doi: 10.1044/1059-0889 (2013/12-0077)

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2013

Publisher

American Journal of Audiology

Language

English

College

David O. McKay School of Education

Department

Communication Disorders

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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