This study focuses on listening and auditory skills of Grade R learners. The researcher wanted to establish the state of these skills, and whether they influence the scholastic achievement of learners. Literature study was done, and literature indicates that listening skills are a prerequisite for language proficiency. Listening is a skill that has to be mastered before a child can learn to speak. Listening is essential for all learning, and also determines the success of learning in the formal school system. Cognitive development of the Grade R learner, which is a complex interaction among psychological, environmental and genetic factors, is also considered. Factors which influence auditory perception are emphasized and supported by the literature, as is the importance of good auditory skills. A literature study on brain development is also executed. The brain is the most complex organ in the human body and that cognitive development is seated in the brain. The study indicates the importance of correct stimulation and the acquisition of skills during the first eight years of a child’s life. School readiness, auditory perception and listening skills of the school entrant are considered. Listening skills as well as perceptual skills are skills needed for school readiness and will be discussed. The researcher utilised the mixed method for the empirical investigation, and data were interpreted from the Interpretivistic paradigm. Questionnaires to practising Grade R educators (n=20) determined the state of listening and auditory skills of current Grade R learners in the Kenneth Kaunda district in the Potchefstroom area. This was the qualitative part of the data collection. For quantitative data collection, school readiness tests (n=500) used during the past ten years from a specific pre-primary school in above mentioned district, were utilised. The test used in this study is the “Standardised School Readiness Test” of dr. S le Roux. By the statistical processing of the tests the researcher wanted to determine the state of listening and auditory skills of Grade R learners during the past ten years; whether a decrease is indicated by the statistics, and whether listening and auditory skills only make a difference according to year groups. This could, however, not be proven statistically. The educators who completed the questionnaires indicated significantly that listening and auditory skills of learners have decreased during the past few years. The researcher interprets the phenomenon as a result of the amount of learners in a class. Class ratio may have an influence, since only four to six learners are tested at a time with the school readiness test as opposed to 24 – 30 learners in a Grade R class. The researcher wanted to establish whether listening and auditory skills play a determining role in school readiness and scholastic achievement. According to literature and empirical research, listening and auditory skills do in fact play a determining role in scholastic achievement. If learners are unable to listen, they cannot learn to read and their reading comprehension is poor. All above factors contribute to learners not being ready for school when commencing Grade 1. If attention is given to the development of auditory perceptual skills as well as good listening skills of learners in the Grade R phase, the future Annual National Assessment (ANA) results of Grade 3 learners may be influenced positively. / Thesis (MEd (Curriculum Development))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

This study focuses on listening and auditory skills of Grade R learners. The researcher wanted to establish the state of these skills, and whether they influence the scholastic achievement of learners. Literature study was done, and literature indicates that listening skills are a prerequisite for language proficiency. Listening is a skill that has to be mastered before a child can learn to speak. Listening is essential for all learning, and also determines the success of learning in the formal school system. Cognitive development of the Grade R learner, which is a complex interaction among psychological, environmental and genetic factors, is also considered. Factors which influence auditory perception are emphasized and supported by the literature, as is the importance of good auditory skills. A literature study on brain development is also executed. The brain is the most complex organ in the human body and that cognitive development is seated in the brain. The study indicates the importance of correct stimulation and the acquisition of skills during the first eight years of a child’s life. School readiness, auditory perception and listening skills of the school entrant are considered. Listening skills as well as perceptual skills are skills needed for school readiness and will be discussed. The researcher utilised the mixed method for the empirical investigation, and data were interpreted from the Interpretivistic paradigm. Questionnaires to practising Grade R educators (n=20) determined the state of listening and auditory skills of current Grade R learners in the Kenneth Kaunda district in the Potchefstroom area. This was the qualitative part of the data collection. For quantitative data collection, school readiness tests (n=500) used during the past ten years from a specific pre-primary school in above mentioned district, were utilised. The test used in this study is the “Standardised School Readiness Test” of dr. S le Roux. By the statistical processing of the tests the researcher wanted to determine the state of listening and auditory skills of Grade R learners during the past ten years; whether a decrease is indicated by the statistics, and whether listening and auditory skills only make a difference according to year groups. This could, however, not be proven statistically. The educators who completed the questionnaires indicated significantly that listening and auditory skills of learners have decreased during the past few years. The researcher interprets the phenomenon as a result of the amount of learners in a class. Class ratio may have an influence, since only four to six learners are tested at a time with the school readiness test as opposed to 24 – 30 learners in a Grade R class. The researcher wanted to establish whether listening and auditory skills play a determining role in school readiness and scholastic achievement. According to literature and empirical research, listening and auditory skills do in fact play a determining role in scholastic achievement. If learners are unable to listen, they cannot learn to read and their reading comprehension is poor. All above factors contribute to learners not being ready for school when commencing Grade 1. If attention is given to the development of auditory perceptual skills as well as good listening skills of learners in the Grade R phase, the future Annual National Assessment (ANA) results of Grade 3 learners may be influenced positively. / Thesis (MEd (Curriculum Development))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Thesis (Au.D.)--James Madison University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Au.D.)--James Madison University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Au.D.)--James Madison University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T20:49:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-01-27 / OBJETIVO: Avaliar os comportamentos auditivos de figura-fundo e resolução temporal e a auto-percepção das limitações de atividades comunicativas de crianças e adolescentes portadores de deficiência auditiva unilateral. MÉTODOS: Participaram do estudo 38 indivíduos, com idades entre 8 e 19 anos (media 12,32) , divididos em: grupo estudo (portadores de perda auditiva unilateral) e grupo controle (normo-ouvintes), cada um formado por 19 indivíduos, pareados conforme sexo, idade e escolaridade. Todos foram submetidos à anamnese, avaliação audiológica completa e aos procedimentos do estudo: questionário de auto-avaliação das limitações de atividades comunicativas com questões referentes a situações ruidosas, silenciosas e de localização sonora, subdivididas em 3 ambientes: casa, escola e rua. Além disso, os participantes foram submetidos também aos testes de processamento auditivo Gap- In- Noise (GIN) e Pediatric Speech Intelligibility Test nas relações 0, -10 e -15. A análise estatística foi realizada por meio de testes não paramétricos com nível de significância de 0.05. RESULTADOS: No grupo estudo, a perda auditiva unilateral na maioria dos participantes foi classificada como sendo de grau profundo, com início na fase pré-escolar, com etiologias desconhecidas ou identificadas como meningite, traumas, caxumba e sarampo. A maioria dos indivíduos apresentou queixa de dificuldades de aprendizagem, e mostrou limitações de atividades comunicativas, de grau moderado predominantemente, e principalmente em situações ruidosas. O grau e a orelha com perda auditiva unilateral não interferiram na severidade da limitação. No grupo estudo foram observadas as piores respostas tanto para os limiares de detecção de gap como no teste Pediatric Speech Intelligibility Test obtidas na orelha normal. Não houve correlação significativa entre os limiares de detecção de gap na orelha normal e o lado da orelha com perda auditiva. CONCLUSÕES: Indivíduos com perda auditiva unilateral apresentam limitações de atividades comunicativas, principalmente em ambientes ruidosos associadas a piores habilidades auditivas de resolução temporal e de figura-fundo. / Purpose: To test the hearing behavior of figure-to-ground and temporal resolution and the self-perception of limitations on activities of children and adolescents with unilateral hearing loss. Methods: Participated 38 individuals, between the age of 8 and 19 (average 12.32), divided into: experimental group (with unilateral hearing loss) and control group (normal-hearing individuals), each one formed of 19 individuals, matched according to their gender, age and educational level. They have all been submitted to anamneses, to a complete audiology test and to the procedures of study: a self-report questionnaire of limitations on communicative activities with questions about noisy and silent situations, and sound localization. The participants have been submitted to the Gap-In-Noise and the Pediatric Speech Intelligibility tests at 0, -10 and -15 reference. The statistical analysis has been done through non-parametric tests at the significance level of 0.05. Results: In the experimental group the unilateral hearing loss has been classified as profound in most participants, having started at the pre-schooling stage, with unknown or undefined etiologies (e.g. meningitis, traumas, mumps and measles). Most individuals have presented complaints of learning difficulties, and have shown limitations on communicative activities, of moderate degree predominantly, and especially in noisy situations. The degree and the ear with unilateral hearing loss have not interfered in the severity of the limitation. The worst results, both at the thresholds of gap detection and the Pediatric Speech Intelligibility test on the good ear, have been found in the experimental group. There was no correlation between the thresholds of gap detection on the good ear and the side of the bad one. Conclusions: Individuals with unilateral hearing loss present limitations on communicative activities, especially in noisy environments which are related to worse hearing abilities of temporal resolution and figure-to-ground. / TEDE / BV UNIFESP: Teses e dissertações

Este estudo pretendeu verificar como aprendizes de inglês (L2) do sul do Brasil percebem, em termos de ponto de articulação, consoantes plosivas surdas sem soltura audível em codas simples finais de palavras do inglês. A pesquisa contou com 17 acadêmicos do primeiro semestre do curso de graduação em Letras, matriculados na disciplina Inglês I, turmas A e B, da UFRGS. Os acadêmicos foram submetidos ao Oxford Placement Test (ALLAN, 2004), que apontou duas categorias, básico e intermediário. Para medir a acurácia quanto ao ponto de articulação das consoantes propostas, foram aplicados dois testes de percepção: (a) teste de identificação perceptual, com 81 questões e (b) teste de discriminação categórica [de acordo com o modelo ABX (LIBERMAN et al. 1957)], com 135 questões. As palavras que serviram como estímulos auditivos nos testes foram selecionadas segundo a estrutura silábica CVC e equidistribuídas de acordo com as vogais [], [] e [] (como em ―beep”, ―lit”, ―sack”). Todas as palavras foram gravadas por três falantes nativos de inglês americano, gênero masculino, provenientes do oeste americano. De modo a verificar se a instrução explícita sobre o fenômeno da não soltura de oclusivas teria papel sobre a acuidade na percepção dos pontos de articulação das consoantes, os acadêmicos foram alocados em dois grupos: (a) grupo experimental, que recebeu instrução sobre o fenômeno, contando com 10 alunos; e (b) grupo controle, o qual foi composto de 7 alunos que não receberam qualquer instrução sobre o fenômeno. Os testes foram conduzidos no Laboratório de Línguas da universidade e executados durante 25 minutos em média. Através dos experimentos mencionados, os resultados mostram que: (a) os pontos de articulação labial e velar obtiveram maiores índices de acuidade; (b) as vogais nucleares [] e [] são as que favorecem a percepção do ponto de articulação das consoantes abordadas; (c) o grupo experimental obteve maiores índices de acuidade quando comparado ao grupo controle; e (d) os acadêmicos de nível intermediário apresentam maiores índices de acuidade, comparados aos acadêmicos de nível básico. / This study aimed to investigate how Southern Brazilian EFL learners perceive, in terms of distinctions in place of articulation, the English unreleased voiceless stops in word-final position. Seventeen undergraduate students of English from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul participated in this research study. The participants took the Oxford Placement Test (Allan, 2004), which grouped them in two levels of proficiency (basic and intermediate). In order to determine the perceptual accuracy regarding the place of articulation of the three consonants, two perception tasks were applied: (a) a perceptual identification task, containing 81 questions, and (b) a categorical discrimination task, following the ABX pattern (Liberman et al., 1957), with 135 questions. The words which served as auditory stimuli in both tasks were selected to meet the CVC syllabic structure and were equidistributed according to the vowels [], [], and [], as in ―beat”, “bit”, “bat”. The stimuli were recorded by three male native speakers of American English. In order to check whether explicit instruction regarding wordfinal consonant unrelease would play a role in the perception of the consonants‘ places of articulation, the participants were divided into two groups: (a) an experimental group, which has been instructed on the phenomenon, composed by 10 students; and (b) a control group, which refers to 7 students who were not instructed on the phonetic aspect researched. The tasks were conducted in the Language Laboratory of the university and took the participants around 25 minutes to be done. The results are the following: (a) the labial and velar places of articulation had higher levels of accuracy; (b) the nuclear vowels [] and [] are the ones that optimize the perception of the consonants‘ place of articulation; (c) the experimental group showed higher levels of accuracy, when compared to the control group; and (d) intermediate students show higher levels of accuracy in the perception tasks, when compared to the basic students.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Introduction: Among the different hearing functions, is to allow the individual to understand the speech sounds, from the capture and processing of what is heard. For this reason, understanding how sound is captured and encoded by the central auditory pathway becomes paramount, because it is not sufficient to comprehend exclusively the competencies of the peripheral pathways. From that comes the importance of the investigation via auditory evoked potentials and behavioral examinations of auditory processing. Objective: To investigate the auditory pathways functionality in brainstem level through the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potentials with speech stimuli in both individuals presenting or not complaints of speech comprehension and behavioral tests of auditory processing. Methods: The present study is observational, descriptive, transversal and prospective. There were selected 60 subjects aged between 18 and 35 years, presenting normal hearing, parted by the presence (study group) and absence (control group) of the complaint of speech comprehension. The fulfilled evaluations were Masking-level Difference MLD, Random Gap Detection Test RGDT and Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential (BAEP) using speech and click stimuli. Results: Both behavioral tests demonstrated no significant differences between groups, whereas both tests presented more normal responses than altered ones in both groups. The BAEP-click and speech produced more altered results in the study group and did not presented correlation between each other and the behavioral tests between the groups. Conclusion: It was possible to investigate the functionality of the auditory pathway in brainstem level through the BAEP with speech stimuli in subjects presenting or not speech comprehension complaints and the difference between the groups was not statistically significant, for both BAEP and behavioral tests of auditory processing. / Introdução: Dentre as variadas funções da audição, está a de permitir ao individuo a compreensão dos sons da fala, a partir da captação e processamento do que é ouvido. Por isso entender como o som está sendo capturado e codificado pela via auditiva central torna-se imprescindível, pois não é suficiente saber unicamente das competências das vias periféricas. Daí a importância da investigação via potenciais evocados auditivos e exames comportamentais de processamento auditivo. Objetivo: Investigar a funcionalidade das vias auditivas em nível de tronco encefálico por meio do Potencial Evocado de Tronco Encefálico com estímulo de fala em indivíduos com e sem queixa de compreensão de fala e testes comportamentais de processamento auditivo. Métodos: Este estudo teve caráter observacional, descritivo, transversal e prospectivo. Foram selecionados 60 sujeitos com idade 18 a 35 anos, com audição normal, separados quanto a presença (grupo estudo) e ausência (grupo controle) da queixa de compreensão de fala. As avaliações realizadas foram os testes: Masking-level Difference- MLD e Random detectation Test- RGDT e Potencial Evocado de Tronco Encefálico com estímulo de fala e clique. Resultados: ambos os testes comportamentais não apresentaram diferenças significativas entre os grupos, sendo que os dois testes tiveram mais respostas normais do que alteradas para ambos os grupos, e não tiveram correlação com a queixa e com os testes eletrofisiológicos. O PEATE-clique e fala apresentaram mais resultados alterados para o grupo estudo e não apresentaram correlação entre si entre com os testes comportamentais entre os grupos. Conclusão: Foi possível investigar a funcionalidade da via auditiva em nível de tronco encefálico por meio do PEATE com estímulo de fala em sujeitos com e sem queixa de compreensão de fala e a diferença entre os grupos não foi estatisticamente significante, tanto para o PEATE fala quanto para os testes comportamentais de processamento auditivo.

Para a adequada percepção dos fonemas da fala e conseqüente desenvolvimento da linguagem oral estão diretamente envolvidas as habilidades relacionadas ao processamento auditivo, onde se destacam a atenção auditiva e a resolução temporal. Partindo desse pressuposto, este estudo buscou analisar a atenção auditiva e a resolução temporal de duas crianças com desvio fonológico, antes e após o tratamento fonoaudiológico. O procedimento de pesquisa consistiu da comparação das respostas obtidas ao teste de padrão de duração do som (TPD) e aos componentes N2 e P300 dos potenciais evocados auditivos de longa latência (PEALL), antes e depois do tratamento. Os resultados dos exames foram comparados com a performance para a produção de fala e as estratégias utilizadas para o tratamento fonoaudiológico, que esteve pautado na estimulação da percepção auditiva para os traços distintivos dos fonemas. A partir desses resultados foram discutidos aspectos envolvidos com o processamento auditivo e suas implicações para a percepção de fala. A análise dos dados evidenciou dificuldade para atenção auditiva e resolução temporal para sons não verbais, nas duas crianças, antes e após o tratamento fonoaudiológico. Este fato sugere que a dificuldade com a atenção auditiva e a resolução temporal para sons não verbais pode permanecer mesmo após a superação dessa dificuldade para os sons da fala / Central auditory abilities, specifically auditory attention and temporal resolution, are directly related to speech perception and production. Based on these concepts, this study aimed to investigate auditory attention and temporal resolution processes in two children with phonological disorder, before and after speech therapy. The method consisted in comparing results from Duration Pattern Test and Late Latency Auditory Evoked Potentials (specifically the N2 and P300 components) obtained before and after speech therapy. Test results were correlated to speech production performance and therapy strategies, which were focused in auditory perception of the phonemes distinctive characteristics. Based on these results, aspects related to auditory processing and its implications for speech perception were discussed. Results show that both children had difficulties in auditory attention and temporal resolution for non-verbal sounds before and after speech therapy. These findings suggest that even after overcoming difficulties in speech perceptions, auditory attention and temporal resolution difficulties for non- verbal sounds may continuous

This study aimed at comparing verifying the auditory nervous system maturation and analysis of the auditory abilities of temporal resolution (recognition of frequency patterns, temporal order and naming), binaural separation and integration, divided attention, auditory memory and auditory closure. Analyses of the tests, comparing their results have also been carried out, in school age children, with and without mouth breathing from behavioral tests of the Auditory Processing as well as to develop a possible correlation between the groups. The sample was composed by 102 school children, aged between 8 and 12 years old. Group I was composed of 52 children with phonoaudiological diagnosis of mouth breathing and group II was composed of 50 children with nasal breathing. The evaluation of the abilities from the auditory processing was carried out using Filtered Speech tests (FS), Pitch Pattern Sequence (PPS) and alternating Staggered Spondaic Word (SSW). Results from the auditory processing tests were analyzed according to gender (female and male) and age range. In the article I the groups were divide into under 10 years old (groups I-a and II-a) and above 10 years old (groups I-b and II-b). In the article II the auditory processing tests results were analyzed according to the type of altered ability and its occurrence in children with mouth breathing. An analysis on the possible correlation between the FF test, TPF and SSW as well as the occurrence of the most frequent changes between them was performed. The performance on the tests of auditory processing was associated to the type of breathing and may have delayed auditory abilities maturation. The occurrence of auditory processing alterations is higher among the male individuals. This study contributes to highlight the importance of taking maturation into account in obtaining an accurate audiological diagnose in children with mouth breathing. / Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar a maturação do sistema nervoso auditivo central e analisar as habilidades auditivas de resolução temporal (reconhecimento dos padrões de freqüência, ordenação temporal e nomeação), integração e separação binaural, atenção dividida, memória auditiva e fechamento auditivo de crianças, em idade escolar, com e sem respiração oral, a partir de testes comportamentais do Processamento Auditivo e realizar uma possível correlação entre os grupos. A amostra constitui-se de 102 crianças escolares, com idade entre 8 e 12 anos. Fizeram parte do grupo I 52 crianças com diagnóstico fonoaudiológico de respiração oral e 50 crianças formaram o grupo II, com respiração nasal. A avaliação das habilidades do processamento auditivo foi realizada a partir dos testes de Fala Filtrada (FF), Teste de Padrões de Freqüência (TPF) e Dicótico de Dissílabos Alternados (SSW). No artigo I os resultados dos testes de Processamento auditivo foram analisados em relação a gênero (feminino e masculino) e a faixas etárias, divididos em faixa etária até 10 anos (grupos I-a e II-a) e acima de 10 anos (grupos I-b e II-b). No artigo II os resultados dos testes de Processamento auditivo foram analisados em relação ao tipo de habilidade alterada e sua ocorrência em crianças com respiração oral. Além de uma análise quanto à possível correlação entre os testes FF, TPF e SSW e as ocorrências de alterações mais freqüentes entre os mesmos. Percebeu-se que crianças com respiração oral apresentam desempenho inferior nas habilidades do processamento auditivo do que crianças com padrão respiratório normal e podem apresentar atraso na maturação de habilidades auditivas. Há uma maior ocorrência de alterações do processamento auditivo no gênero masculino. O estudo contribui para salientar a importância de se levar em conta a maturação na obtenção de um diagnóstico audiológico preciso em crianças com respiração oral.