Joseph J. Smaldino

Classroom Acoustics for Children With Normal Hearing and With Hearing Impairment

Past investigations demonstrate that the acoustical environment of a classroom is a critical factor in the academic, psychoeducational, and psychosocial achievement of children with normal hearing and with hearing impairment. This article examines several acoustical variables, such as noise, reverberation, and speaker-listener distance, which can deleteriously affect speech perception in classrooms. Moreover, the discussion examines the effects of these variables on the speech perception abilities of both children with normal hearing and children with hearing loss. Finally, appropriate acoustical criteria are suggested for children in educational settings.

Speech Perception in Noise by Children for Whom English Is a Second Language

Appropriate classroom acoustics and academic achievement of children is known to be correlated. To date, however, there remains a lack of research concerning the importance of classroom acoustics f...

Classroom Amplification Technology: Theory and Practice

Many children are struggling to listen and learn in noisy and reverberant classrooms. Some of these children have hearing loss; others have essentially normal hearing but are at risk for accurate speech perception. Hearing aid fitting protocols and technology can be effective for children with hearing loss, but the aids must be selected and adjusted for classroom environments. For many children, personal amplification may not provide enough benefit for listening and learning to occur. For children who require more than a hearing aid and for at-risk children who have difficulty separating the teachers message from background noise, technology that is specifically designed to improve the classroom signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) may be required. In addition to the use of technology, children must learn to listen effectively in order for a meaningful signal to be received and used.

Classroom acoustics: Three pilot studies

This paper summarizes three related pilot projects designed to focus on the possible effects of classroom acoustics on fine auditory discrimination as it relates to language acquisition, especially English as a second language. The first study investigated the influence of improving the signal‐to‐noise ratio on the differentiation of English phonemes. The results showed better differentiation with better signal‐to‐noise ratio. The second studied speech perception in noise by young adults for whom English was a second language. The outcome indicated that the second language learners required a better signal‐to‐noise ratio to perform equally to the native language participants. The last study surveyed the acoustic conditions of preschool and day care classrooms, wherein first and second language learning occurs. The survey suggested an unfavorable acoustic environment for language learning.

The effects of room acoustics on normal‐hearing children: Implications for intervention

It is well recognized that the acoustical environment in a classroom is an important variable in the psycho educational achievement of hearing‐impaired children. To date, however, there remains a paucity of information concerning the importance of classroom acoustics for populations of children with normal‐hearing sensitivity. The present discussion will examine: (1) commonly reported levels of classroom noise and reverberation; (2) the potential effects of classroom acoustics on the speech recognition of several populations of pediatric listeners (young children, children with language/articulation disorders, non‐native English children, children with minimal hearing loss, developmentally disordered children, children with central auditory processing disorder); (3) intervention strategies, such as sound field amplification systems, to benefit normal‐hearing children in the classroom setting; and (4) implications of appropriate classroom acoustics to the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).