Purpose: Hearing loss is a prevalent condition among older adults. Structural changes at the auditory periphery, changes in central audition and cognitive function are all known to influence speech understanding in older adults. Biological aging also alters speech and voice characteristics from the age of 50 years. These changes are likely to reduce the clarity of speech signals received by older adults with age-related hearing loss. Recent findings suggest that older adults with hearing loss subjectively find listening to the speech of other older adults more effortful than listening to the speech of younger adults. However, the observations of listener effort were subjective and follow up using an objective measure was recommended. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the influence of speaker age (young versus older) on speech understanding and listener effort in older adults with hearing loss. In addition, the relationships between these parameters, and age and working memory was investigated. It is hypothesised that older adults with hearing loss will recognise less speech, and expend more effort, while listening to speech of an older adult relative to a younger adult. Method: A dual task paradigm was used to measure speech understanding and listening effort in 18 older adult listeners with hearing loss. The primary task involved recognition of target words in sentences containing either high or low contextual cues. The secondary task required listeners to memorise the target words for later recall following a set length of sentences. Listeners performed speech understanding (primary task) under six experimental conditions: For each speaker (i.e., older adult and younger adult) there were 3 listening backgrounds: quiet, and noise at 0 dB SNR and +5 dB SNR. Results: Speech understanding in older adults with hearing loss was significantly improved when the speaker was an older adult, especially in noise. The ability to recall words from memory was also significantly better when the speaker was an older adult. Age was strongly correlated with speech understanding with contributions from hearing loss. Age and working memory had moderate correlations with word recall. Conclusion: The findings provide further evidence that peripheral hearing loss is not the only contributor to speech understanding and word recall ability in older adults. The naturally occurring speech signal also has the potential to influence speech understanding and listening effort in older adults.

Dichotic listening of auditory stimuli is a method of assessing brain lateralisation. Different stimuli are presented simultaneously to the left and right ears, with the listener reporting which stimulus is perceived most clearly. To date, several studies that have examined the effects of aging on dichotic listening performance have indicated a pronounced right ear advantage (REA) with increasing age, but few studies have considered the effects of sex, and findings to date have been inconclusive. The aim of this research was to investigate whether the effects of age and sex resulted in a difference in the magnitude of the REA in both undirected and directed attentional tasks. Forty sex-matched, right-handed subjects with normal hearing or symmetrical bilateral sensorineural hearing loss participated in a series of directed and undirected dichotic listening tasks using consonant-vowel (CV) stimuli. The interaural intensity difference (IID) was modulated randomly during the undirected attention task. Results indicated that all groups (age & sex) showed a REA for both undirected and directed dichotic listening tasks. No age or sex-related differences were found. The findings were suggestive of a task-linked effect for dichotic listening performance. The use of CV stimuli, in combination with detailed testing via manipulation of the IID, appeared to minimize any possible age or sex-related differences. These findings have implications for theories on laterality and hemispheric asymmetry for older adults.

This thesis has explored the problems of non-native speakers of English in listening and reading comprehension. Through analysis o f tests designed around particular features of the language which were thought to cause comprehension problems, the investigator was able to substantiate several factors of difficulty. These factors areA. knowing the meaning of vocabulary items,B. noting markers that; show relationships,C. ability to handle difficult sentence structures, D. answering questions where the answer is indirectly stated,E. drawing conclusions.The investigator also found that two additional factors strongly affected comprehension:F. answering questions where the wording is different from that of the original passage,G. finding answers when there is intervening material that interrupts the idea..The thesis has discussed formulation of the test questions, explaining what was expected from each question. It has also discussed results of the test questions in detail, suggesting possible problems that were working in each question.

The purpose of this study was to determine if direct instruction in comprehension strategies taught through listening had an effect on the reading comprehension of fourth grade students.The study sample consisted of seventy-four students in fourth grade classrooms in a metropolitan school district in central Indiana. The two experimental classes received eight listening lessons, taught by the regular classroom teachers, at the rate of one per week. The two control classes did not receive the listening instruction.The students in the experimental and control groups were classified into three ability groups based upon the results of Shipman-Warncke Assessment Profile. The measure of reading comprehension was the Metropolitan Reading Diagnostic Test.FindingsThe data from this study indicated:Both groups, experimental and control, showed significantly improved comprehension over the length of the study.Analysis by level, "successful", "average", and "ineffective", revealed no statistically-significant difference in the comprehension growth.Both the control and experimental "successful" and "average" ability level students' scores gained at nearly the same rate from pretest to posttest.4) There were no pre- posttest differences between any of the three ability levels on the six question types.ConclusionsBased on the findings of this study the following conclusions were drawn:1) The comprehension strategies taught through the listening lessons did not significantly affect the reading comprehension of the students involved in the study.2) All students showed significant gains in reading comprehension over the course of the study.3) Students with reading abilities categorized as "ineffective" showed a tendency to respond better to the listening lessons than the other two ability groups.Listening and reading are important language communication skills for children, both in school and in daily life. This study has attempted to add to the body of knowledge related to ways that these two lifetime skills may be taught in the elementary school. / Department of Elementary Education

The aim of this investigation was to examine the role of visual elements in second language listening comprehension when digital video was used as a mode of presentation. Despite the widespread use of video in listening instruction, little is known at present about how learners attend to dual-coded media and, in particular, how visual elements may influence comprehension processes. (For complete abstract open document)

The purpose of this research project has been to gain a deeper awareness of the practice of Cultural Awareness Training and to develop resources that will support other practitioners in the field. My hope in undertaking this project is to make the wider community more aware of what it means to be Aboriginal, at a time when jail is replacing initiation for many young Indigenous people. I want to engender a greater understanding about social, cultural and political issues in the Aboriginal community, by building bridges of awareness between Indigenous and Western cultures. My research question is: How does my approach to Cultural Awareness Training deal with uninformed and racist attitudes towards Aboriginal people in ways that effect positive, constructive change? In the documentation of my professional practice, I have examined critical incidents that have shaped my responses to uninformed and racially stereotyped attitudes within an educational context. This includes stories of overt racism in the classroom experience. In undertaking critical reflection about my professional practice as a Cultural Awareness Trainer, I have aimed to provide insights, as well as practical resources, to support the professional practice of others in this field.

To date, very few studies have been conducted focusing on ratings of music and music listening experience of hearing aid (HA) users. This study aimed to collect more detailed and descriptive information via a questionnaire, on the music listening experience and ratings of musical sounds from postlingually deafened adults. The following hypotheses were posed: (i) ratings for music from HA users who have been assessed for a cochlear implant (HA-CI group) will be worse than those who have not been assessed for a CI (HA-NCI group); and (ii) HA users with a moderate or worse hearing loss (Moderate+ subgroup) will provide lower ratings for music than those with a mild hearing loss (Mild subgroup). A questionnaire by She (2008), was modified for this study, and subsequently called the University of Canterbury Music Listening Questionnaire – HA version (UCMLQ_HA). The questionnaire was divided into the following seven sections: music listening and music background, sound quality ratings, music styles, music preferences, music recognition, factors affecting music listening enjoyment, and a music training programme. Thirteen HA-CI recipients and 98 HA-NCI recipients returned the questionnaire. The HA-NCI group was divided into two subgroups: mild hearing loss (n = 51), and moderate or worse hearing loss (Moderate+; n = 47). Essentially findings were consistent with hypothesis one, but only partially consistent with hypothesis two. The HA-CI group provided lower ratings for ‘pleasantness’ and ‘naturalness’ of instruments (p = 0.007), and found music styles to be less ‘pleasant’ (p < 0.001) than the HA-NCI group. For musical styles, the HA-CI group preferred solo performers whereas the HA-NCI group preferred groups of performers. In addition to ratings of music, the HA-CI group provided significantly lower ratings for music listening (p = 0.001), and overall music enjoyment (p = 0.021) than the HA-NCI group. For the comparisons between the Mild and Moderate+ subgroups, the Mild subgroup found Instruments to sound significantly ‘less noisy’ (p < 0.001) and ‘less sharp’ (p < 0.001) than the Moderate+ subgroup. The Moderate+ subgroup provided higher ratings for overall enjoyment of listening to music with HAs than the Mild subgroup (p = 0.044). Both subgroups rated the drum kit (the lowest rated Instrument) to be significantly less pleasant and less natural than all other Instruments. It was also found that all musical styles were significantly more pleasant than Pop/Rock. There were similarities between the groups for music preferences; the male singer was significantly preferred over female singers (p = 0.021), and low-pitched instruments were significantly preferred over high-pitched instruments (p = 0.04). Classical music was also selected as the style that sounded the best with their HAs and listened to the most often. Almost all of the respondents indicated that they would like music in general to sound it would to those with normal hearing (97.1%). Close to 30% indicated that they would be interested in an MTP and would like it to focus on a wide range of music and feature commonly known tunes. In addition, training sessions should consist of two 30 minute sessions per week. Overall this study indicates that ratings of music differ with level of hearing loss to some degree. The general consensus was that music did not sound as they would expect it to sound to a person with normal hearing, and that respondents would like to enjoy listening to music more.

To date people with severe and profound intellectual disability have been excluded from participatory research projects. This is often due to complex ethical issues and to concerns about how they would make themselves heard or understood. Razack (1993) suggests that the moral obligation to hear such contributions lies with the listener. This study constitutes an investigation of how such listening occurs with contributors who are labeled as having a severe or profound intellectual disability. Human service practitioners who work closely with, and who constantly find themselves listening to and interpreting for, people with severe and profound intellectual disability were recruited for the study. Five focus groups were conducted with these workers. The study revealed that personal values often underpin the various strategies practitioners employed when listening to people with severe disability. Elements like believing the person has something to say; having the time and perseverance to listen; sharing some common interests/rapport with the person and; being able to minimise the many barriers — physical environment, people, self-attitude — that are instrumental in blocking a listener’s capacity. A model for listening to individuals with severe intellectual disability for the proposes of hearing their story is proposed and implications for further research, policy and practice, and education and training are presented.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Northwestern University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-194).