The study examined the use of linguistic contextual cues among native, Malay-speaking normal hearing young adults. Ten undergraduate students of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia participated in the study. All subjects had normal hearing with the average hearing threshold levels for the overall left and the right ears of 7.8 dB (SD 4.1). The Malay Hearing in Noise Test (MyHINT) materials were employed and presented to the subjects at an approximately 65 dBA presentation level. Testing was conducted in a sound field in three different listening conditions: in quiet, in noise with +5 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and 0 dB SNR. In every test condition, three lists of MyHINT were administered to each subject. The magnitude of context effects was measured using the j factor, which was derived from measurements of recognition probabilities for whole sentences (13,) and the constituent words in the sentences (PP) in which j = log P./ log P P. Results showed that all subjects scored 100% identification of words in sentences and whole sentences in quiet listening condition, while subjects' performances in 0 dB SNR were significantly poorer than that in quiet and in +5 dB SNR (p < 0.001). The j-values were significantly correlated with the probability of recognizing words in the sentences (r = 0.515, p = 0.029) in which lower j values were associated with lower P ps. Subjects were not significantly different from each other in their use of contextual cues in adverse listening conditions [F(9, 7) = 1.34, p = 0.359]. Using the linear regression function for j on word recognition probabilities, the predicted P. were calculated. It was found that the predicted and measured probabilities of recognizing whole sentences were highly correlated: r = 0.973, p < 0.001. The results suggested that linguistic contextual information become increasingly important for recognition of sentences by normal hearing young adult listeners as SNR deteriorates.
The study aimed to develop Mandarin speech perception tests for Malaysian Chinese children. Two tests were developed which were the Syllabic Pattern Perception Test (SPPT) and the Tone Perception Test (TPT). Both tests were designed for children aged between three to six years-old. A total of 80 normal hearing children aged 3 years to 6 years and 11 months from several kindergartens around Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh participated in this study. Results showed that the mean scores for the SPPT did not differ significantly across age (p > 0.05), possibly due to a ceiling effect. Although the SPPT showed relatively low test-retest and inter-rater Spearman correlation coefficients (r = 0.68 for correct syllable pattern response and r = 0.38 for correct item response), the scores were highly repeatable in both test-retest and interrater conditions. For the TPT, the mean scores of five and six year old children were significantly higher than three year old subjects while the mean score of four year old subjects was significantly poorer than the six years old. The test-retest and inter-rater reliability were high and the coefficients approximated 0.80 (p < 0.05). For both tests, gender and dialects or languages used as the second language did not have significant effect on the test scores. Content validity evidence was also collected from a group of panelists. In conclusion, SPPT and TPT are reliable and valid Mandarin speech tests to be used on Malaysian Chinese children who speak Mandarin.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) commenced the National Cochlear Implant (CI) Program in 2008. As of November 2014,
the program has implanted 205 individuals with hearing losses, many of whom are pediatric recipients (71%) with
prelingual deafness. This study aimed to profile the prelingually deafened pediatric cochlear implant recipients under the
MoH CI program. The data reported here were from a total of 121 recipients (82.8%) from all the nine satellite hospitals
in the program. There were 58 males and the majority of the cases were Malay (66.9%). From the cases reviewed 39
(32.2%) were high risk for permanent hearing loss and the majority (46%) had multiple risk factors. In this cohort,
only 12 children (9.9%) were identified through the newborn hearing screening (NHS) program. The age of diagnosis of
hearing loss ranged from 1 to 46 months with a mean age of 24.3 ± 10.2 months. Hearing aids were fitted at the age of
4 to 46 months with a mean of 27.5 ± 9.9 months. The average age of implantation was 41.5 ± 10.3 months. The mean
overall waiting period from the first visit to the audiologist to the time when the cochlear implant was activated was 18.5
± 9.1 months. Descriptive findings indicate that the children received their implants at a relatively late age for speech
and language development. The existing national NHS program needs to be tighten and strengthen so that it can be the
main feeder for the pediatric CI program under the MoH. Subsequently, it is hoped that early identification of hearing
loss will lead to earlier age of implantation among the pediatric patients in the future.
Cochlear implant (CI) is the main intervention option for people with severe and profound sensorineural hearing loss.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the auditory performance of a group of prelingually deafened paediatric
cochlear implant users using direct speech perception measures (objective) and a parental questionnaire (subjective)
and to identify significant demographic factors that might contribute to their performance. A total of 48 children from the
Cochlear Implant Program under the Malaysian Ministry of Health with hearing age of 12 to 89 months (mean = 42.60
± 19.46 months) participated in this study. The speech perception test was conducted using selected tests from the Malay
version of the Evaluation of Auditory Response to Speech (EARS) while parental views of the children’s performance were
collected using the Malay version of the Parents’ Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) questionnaire.
The recorded speech stimuli were presented to the children in a free field at approximately 65 dB SPL in a sound treated
room. The speech perception test results were then categorized using the Malay version of the Categories of Auditory
Performance Index (My-CAPI) with 10 categories ranging from ‘0’ to ‘9’. Results showed that most of the children (N = 20,
41.7%) were performing at category 2 of My-CAPI (limited closed set speech perception) with three children achieved the
maximum category 9 (advanced open-set sentences in noise). Communication mode was the only demographic factor that
significantly correlated with the My-CAPI and PEACH scores (p < 0.01). Pearson correlation coefficient showed a strong
relationship between the PEACH scores and My-CAPI levels (p < 0.01; r = 0.71) suggesting that the PEACH questionnaire
can be used as an indicator of the auditory performance if the speech perception tests cannot be performed. The findings
suggest that the majority of the CI children tested in this study had not achieved satisfactory auditory performance and that the use of oral communication mode was the main
factor associated with better auditory outcomes.