Phonological Systems of Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目的长期目标是增加我们对使用人工耳蜗至少五年的深度耳聋儿童获得的语音系统的知识和理解。我们建议从理论和临床语言学的方法，以产生详细的分析的语音系统，背后的语音生产的聋儿人工耳蜗植入后。这些详细的语言分析的声音段库存，限制排序，变化的语音实现的语素，和实施的音韵规则，然后将进行比较，所有的语音系统一般和语音系统的聋哑儿童使用传统的助听器，儿童听力正常，充分发展的英语。对使用人工耳蜗的儿童的语音系统进行纵向分析，将确定这些系统变化的可能方向和程度，并提供有关随时间变化的限制的信息。根据结构相似性，将确定语音系统的亚型，并将其与语音感知能力和人口因素（如植入年龄和沟通模式）联系起来，以确定可能影响语音系统结构的特定因素。因此，该研究项目将解决人工耳蜗如何塑造使用它们的儿童的最终语言系统的关键问题。研究结果将提供有价值的新的经验和理论信息的语音发展，这应该有重要的影响设备的设计，开发和实施新的干预方案，并在教育安置的选择。最后，拟议的关于植入人工耳蜗后失聪儿童语音系统的项目将为人类大脑适应电听觉的能力提供新的见解，电听觉是促进口语发展的结构化语言系统发展的催化剂。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term goal of this project is to increase our knowledge and understanding of the phonological systems acquired by profoundly deaf children who have used cochlear implants for at least five years. We propose to apply methods from theoretical and clinical linguistics to produce detailed analyses of the phonological systems that underlie speech production by deaf children after cochlear implantation. These detailed linguistic analyses of sound segment inventories, constraints on sequencing, variation in phonetic realizations of morphemes, and implementation of phonological rules will then be compared to both all phonological systems in general and the phonological systems of deaf children who use conventional hearing aids, children who have normal hearing, and fully developed English. Longitudinal analyses of the phonological systems of children who use cochlear implants will identify possible directions and extent of changes in those systems and provide information regarding constraints on changes over time. Subtypes of phonological systems, based on structural similarities, will be identified and related to speech perception abilities and demographic factors such as age at implantation and communication mode to identify specific factors that may affect how phonological systems are structured. This research project will thus address the critical question of how cochlear implants shape the ultimate linguistic systems of children who use them. Findings will provide valuable new empirical and theoretical information about phonological development, which should have important implications for device design, the development and implementation of new intervention programs, and choices in educational placement. Finally, the proposed project on phonological systems of deaf children following cochlear implantation will provide new insights into the ability of the human brain to adapt to electrical hearing as a catalyst for the development of structured linguistic systems underlying spoken language development.