Intonation issues in the speech of hearing impaired children: analysis, transcription and remediation

The focus of this paper is intonation in the speech hearing impaired childr en. There are inherent difficulties in using existing auditory and acoustic models of transcribing and labelling intonation patterns generally which a re discussed in the context of the wider literature as well the author's ex perimental work with hearing impaired children. Different approaches to mea suring fundamental frequency (F-0) are discussed (contour, tone-sequence, a nd autosegmental metrical), and ways of adapting them to represent intonati on patterns, contrastive stress, and declination in hearing impaired speake rs are considered. The design and the benefits of an intonation training pr ogramme carried out by the author using a visual display are also described . Computer based speech training (CBST) systems and the outcomes of other r emediation programmes are also discussed. The issues addressed in this pape r have useful implications for analysts wishing to capture salient auditory and acoustic information in the speech of hearing impaired children. There are also important clinical applications such as the development of approp riate visual displays and speech training programmes. The author's current research on emerging babbling and speech patterns, and the development of p erception and production of stress and intonation in children using cochlea r implants are referred to briefly but will be reported in detail elsewhere .