Universität zu Köln

Nguyen, Quoc-Dung (2017). Designs of Speech Audiometric Tests in Vietnamese – The Issues of Normative Values, Dialectal Effects, and Tonal Patterns. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

Dialectal variations and linguistic factors are considered to be the primary causes of misdiagnosis during audiological assessments of speech performances. For new speech audiometry materials, the evaluation of the effects of the listener’s dialect or linguistic factors on speech recognition thresholds (SRTs) or supra-threshold phoneme recognition scores (PRSs) would be expected to give a valid and reliable audiometric measurement for clients. This thesis assessed the SRTs of native and non-native listeners of Southern Vietnamese regarding the dialectal effects; the effect of tonal patterns of syllables on speech perception of older adults; and the correlations between SRTs and duo-tone thresholds, between SRTs and PRSs. To attain the aforementioned objectives, two different types of speech audiometry materials were designed: Adaptive Auditory Speech Test (AAST) and NAMES (nonsense syllable test). Data of AAST were collected from 435 normal hearing listeners aged between four and 85 years old, while data of NAMES were gathered from 186 normal hearing listeners ranged between 15 and 85 years. The findings showed that the AAST and NAMES are valid speech audiometric tests to quantify speech recognition of listeners aged between four and 85 (AAST), between 15 and 85 (NAMES). The age-related normative values of AAST in Vietnamese are similar to those in German, Ghanaian, and Polish. The findings of the dialectal study indicate that dialectal variation has an impact on speech recognition. However, the extent of the effects depends on the speech materials being used for the measurement. More effects of dialectal differences in “open speech tests with meaningful words” were found as compared to “closed speech test”. The findings on tonal pattern effects seem to implicate that the tonal patterns of syllables have a minor influence on speech perception of older adults, especially those above 75. Finally, the SRTs could be predicted using duo-tone thresholds. In contrast, the PRSs could not be predicted using either speech thresholds or duo-tone thresholds based on the correlations. The two-new speech audiometric tests provide reliable outcomes with the same properties in normal-hearing listeners as compared to the other AAST and nonsense syllable tests in the different languages. These two speech audiometric tests complement each other in evaluating hearing loss or language impairment. It is claimed that these speech tests will serve as an effective clinical tool for speech audiometric testing in Vietnam.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Nguyen, Quoc-Dung qnguyen@smail.uni-koeln.de UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-77358
Date:	18 May 2017
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Human Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Human Sciences > Department Heilpädagogik und Rehabilitation
Subjects:	Education Language, Linguistics Medical sciences Medicine
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Speech audiometry test, speech recognition threshold, pitch contour, tonal pattern, nonsense syllable test, English
Date of oral exam:	18 May 2017
Referee:	Name Academic Title Frans, Coninx Univ.-Prof. Dr. Reinhold, Greisbach Univ.-Prof. Dr.
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/7735