Joseph H. Bochner

Language Learning and Deafness: Language varieties in the deaf population and their acquisition by children and adults

Editors introduction In this chapter, Bochner and Albertini take on the ambitious task of reviewing the central issues in the acquisition of language by deaf individuals in North America. They adopt a self-described “sociolinguistic” perspective by viewing language acquisition by the deaf as occurring under conditions of restricted intake that result in learning patterns resembling those of pidgin and Creole speakers . In order to explore this analogy in depth, the authors first provide an overview of research on the “products” or linguistic output of deaf learners, including written and spoken English, manual English, Pidgin Sign English (PSE), and American Sign Language (ASL). They then consider various aspects of the acquisition process, particularly those related to the interplay between the organism and the environment, the relationship between communication channel and the mind, and the influence of age on intake . Apart from the thoroughness with which Bochner and Albertini treat their topic, what makes this chapter an important contribution to applied linguistics is their insights on the relationship between language acquisition among the Deaf and among other speech communities and the implications they draw from the linguistic evidence for the education of deaf children. The importance of primary language acquisition (whether ASL or signed or spoken English) and of the quality of language input/intake for educational advancement is lent an added urgency by the evidence and arguments put forward by these authors.

The NTID speech recognition test: NSRT ®

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to collect and analyse data necessary for expansion of the NSRT item pool and to evaluate the NSRT adaptive testing software. Design: Participants were administered pure-tone and speech recognition tests including W-22 and QuickSIN, as well as a set of 323 new NSRT items and NSRT adaptive tests in quiet and background noise. Performance on the adaptive tests was compared to pure-tone thresholds and performance on other speech recognition measures. The 323 new items were subjected to Rasch scaling analysis. Study sample: Seventy adults with mild to moderately severe hearing loss participated in this study. Their mean age was 62.4 years (sd = 20.8). Results: The 323 new NSRT items fit very well with the original item bank, enabling the item pool to be more than doubled in size. Data indicate high reliability coefficients for the NSRT and moderate correlations with pure-tone thresholds (PTA and HFPTA) and other speech recognition measures (W-22, QuickSIN, and SRT). Conclusion: The adaptive NSRT is an efficient and effective measure of speech recognition, providing valid and reliable information concerning respondents’ speech perception abilities.

A closed-set sentence protocol for assessing speech discrimination in deaf individuals: the speech sound pattern discrimination test

Forty hearing-impaired young adults were tested with a newly developed instrument designed to assess auditory speech processing skill. Analyses indicated that the resulting test data could be characterized in terms of the Rasch model for person measurement. Evidence of the scales empirical validity also was obtained. The instrument uses a closed-set sentence discrimination task, and appears to be useful over a fairly wide range of hearing losses.

Validity of the American Sign Language Discrimination Test

American Sign Language (ASL) is one of the most commonly taught languages in North America. Yet, few assessment instruments for ASL proficiency have been developed, none of which have adequately demonstrated validity. We propose that the American Sign Language Discrimination Test (ASL-DT), a recently developed measure of learners’ ability to discriminate phonological and morphophonological contrasts in ASL, provides an objective overall measure of ASL proficiency. In this study, the ASL-DT was administered to 194 participants at beginning, intermediate, and high levels of ASL proficiency, a subset of which (N = 57) also was administered the Sign Language Proficiency Interview (SLPI), a widely used subjective proficiency measure. Using Rasch analysis to model ASL-DT item difficulty and person ability, we tested the ability of the ASL-DT Rasch measure to detect participant proficiency group mean differences and compared its discriminant performance to the SLPI ratings for classifying individuals into their pre-assigned proficiency groups using resource operating characteristic statistics. The ASL-DT Rasch measure outperformed the SLPI ratings, indicating that the ASL-DT may provide a valid objective measure of overall ASL proficiency. As such, the ASL-DT Rasch measure may provide a useful complement to measures such as the SLPI in comprehensive sign language assessment programs.

Applications of the NTID speech recognition test (NSRT

Abstract Objective: This study evaluated the diagnostic capabilities of an adaptive speech recognition protocol (NSRT®) that can be self-administered in non-clinical venues by listeners using internet-based software. Design: All participants were given an audiological evaluation, including pure-tone testing, and responded to the NSRT administered in quiet and + 5 dB SNR listening conditions. The NSRT test materials are sentence-length utterances containing phonetic contrasts, primarily minimal pairs. Study sample: Subjects were 123 adults with normal hearing to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss (mean age = 55 years, SD = 23). Results: Performance on the NSRT is strongly related to pure-tone thresholds. Linear regression analyses support the utility of the NSRT as a proxy for clinically-obtained hearing thresholds across the octave frequencies 0.5 to 8 kHz, primarily for individuals in the − 10 to 55 dB HL range. Other NSRT results are linked to analyses of phonetic errors and components of aural rehabilitation. Conclusions: Among its numerous results, the NSRT yields quantitative predictions of frequency-specific hearing thresholds, provides insight into the phonetic errors that affect speech understanding in adults who suffer from sensorineural hearing loss, primarily in the − 10 to 55 dB HL range, and has implications for the design of individualized auditory training programs.

Children's Comprehension of Time-Altered Sentences

The influence of speech timing on childrens auditory processing of sentences was examined with a question-answering comprehension task. Sentences were presented under two conditions, one employing natural speech and the other speech with an electronically-altered temporal pattern. Three types of sentences in each presentation condition were administered to children enrolled in the first, second and third grades. The sentence types consisted of center-embedded (SS) and right-branching (OS) relative clause sentences and conjoined constructions. The main effects of presentation condition, sentence type, and grade level were each significant, as was the three-way interaction. The results are discussed with regard to the interaction among speech timing, sentence structure, and childrens age.