Perceptual Consequences of Conductive Hearing Loss: Speech Perception in Indigenous Students Learning English as a School Language

Abstract

The high incidence of ear disease and hearing loss in Australian Indigenous children is well documented. This study aims to consider the effect of hearing loss and native-language phonology on learning English by Australian Indigenous children. Twenty-one standard Australian English consonants were considered in a consonant-vowel (CV) context. Each consonant was paired with each other to yield 'same' and 'different' consonant pairs. The participants were classified into three groups: (1) English speaking, non-Indigenous children without history of hearing loss and otitis media (three males, four females, mean age 13.7 years); (2) Indigenous children speaking Tiwi as their native language, without history of hearing loss and otitis media and learning English as a second language (two males, three females, mean age 12.1 yrs) and (3) Indigenous children speaking Tiwi as their native language, with a history of hearing loss and otitis media since childhood (six females, mean age 13.1 years). The reaction time from the onset of the second word of the pair to the pressing of a 'same' or 'different' button was measured. The results demonstrated that discrimination of consonants was differentially affected by differences in language. Hearing loss further complicated the difficulties that a child was already having with English. Hearing loss tended to affect discrimination of English consonants more than those in the native language. The study suggests that amplification alone does not suffice and recommended that phonological awareness programs, with or without amplification, need to be part of a reading program from preschool with Indigenous children learning English as a 'school' language.

The impact of otitis media on cognitive and educational outcomes

“…An Australian study compared the speech perception of Indigenous children with otitis media with that of peers who did not have otitis media, and non‐Indigenous peers without otitis media 9 . All Indigenous children spoke an Indigenous language as their first language.…”

“…Australian data indicate that Indigenous Australian children experience otitis media for a cumulative total of 32 months between the ages of 2 and 20 years 6 . Non‐Indigenous children experience 3 months of otitis media within the same period 9 …”

Surgery for otitis media among Indigenous Australians

“…‐ 5 Through adolescence, the prevalence of otitis media appears to decrease, with some aural perforations closing spontaneously, but many others persist with a conductive hearing loss. Even spontaneous resolution of otitis media in adolescence occurs too late to prevent the major social and educational problems caused by the mild‐to‐moderate conductive hearing loss 5 , 7 associated with otitis media 4 , 8 . ‐ 11 Surgery can be viewed as a tool to help limit the social consequences of hearing impairment by resolving the underlying disease at a younger age.…”

Teachers’ emotional responses to new pedagogical tools in high challenge settings: illustrations from the Northern Territory

“…A significant part of this is arguably the anxiety that arises from the grindingly regular reiteration of dismal statistics relating Indigenous children's performance in schooling. 1 There is no shortage of explanations for why education in the north does not appear to be working for the most disadvantaged children: the list of contributing factors often cited includes economic disadvantage, poor attendance rates, and the remoteness of many Indigenous communities, along with the non-English speaking background of the children, the prevalence of otitis media and related hearing loss, high rates of teacher turnover, and a shortage of teachers trained specifically to teach Indigenous students (Aithal et al 2008;Beresford and Gray 2006;Bourke et al 2000;Collins and Lea 1999).…”