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Background:The purpose of this study was to develop and verify the test materials for a speech perception testing for adults in Libya. Such materials are useful for administering speech evaluations to native Arab adults who speak with a Libyan accent. Objective: This study is a component of a larger initiative to prepare and validate the speech materials for the Arabicspeaking community in Libya. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, two lists of bisyllabic (spondees) words and monosyllabic phonetically balanced words were constructed . The two selected 100-bisyllabic and monosyllabic word lists were presented to 120 normal hearing participants with the age range of 18 to 50 years. Tests of validity and reliability were conducted to assure the suitability of this material for the speech regocnition test and speech discrimination score (SRT and SDS). Results: The two developed Libyan word lists (SRT and SDS) showed high face and content validity, kappa P-value was <0.001 with high signifiicant, Cronbach`s alpha coefficient was 0.82, 0.71 for the (SRT and SDS) respectively, and intra-class correlation coefficients reliability (p<0.001) were also statstically significant. Conclusion:The data analysis shows that the SRT of both Libyan and Egyptian lists have high degree of validity and reliability. Meanwhile, SDS of Libyan accent list is of higher statistical significance than Egyptian list. As a result, the scale's development of the Libyan accent has strong psychometric characteristics, making it suitable for usage in the Libian region.

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Introduction  Neural encoding of speech begins with the analysis of the signal as a whole broken down into its sinusoidal components in the cochlea, which has to be conserved up to the higher auditory centers. Some of these components target the dead regions of the cochlea causing little or no excitation. Measuring aided speech-evoked auditory brainstem response elicited by speech stimuli with different spectral maxima can give insight into the brainstem encoding of aided speech with spectral maxima at these dead regions.Objective  This research aims to study the impact of dead regions of the cochlea on speech processing at the brainstem level after a long period of hearing aid use.Methods  This study comprised 30 ears without dead regions and 46 ears with dead regions at low, mid, or high frequencies. For all ears, we measured the aided speech-evoked auditory brainstem response using speech stimuli of low, mid, and high spectral maxima.Results  Aided speech-evoked auditory brainstem response was producible in all subjects. Responses evoked by stimuli with spectral maxima at dead regions had longer latencies and smaller amplitudes when compared with the control group or the responses of other stimuli.Conclusion  The presence of cochlear dead regions affects brainstem encoding of speech with spectral maxima perpendicular to these regions. Brainstem neuroplasticity and the extrinsic redundancy of speech can minimize the impact of dead regions in chronic hearing aid users.

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