Aim: The first two formant frequencies and duration of European Portuguese vowels in 25 dissyllabic words, were analysed considering the factors hearing status (deaf, normal), context (medial, final), and vowel ([E], [a], [6], [u]). Material and Methods: Acoustic and EGG signals were recorded simultaneously. Four deaf children with cochlear implant and four normal children (age and gender matched) were investigated for the three factors previously stated, using a three-way mixed analysis of variance (significance level = 0.05). Results: Duration results showed that the interaction between context and vowel, and between hearing status and vowel factors were statistically significant. Formant frequency results showed that the interaction between hearing status and vowel factors was statistically significant. Conclusions: Vowels increased duration in deaf children suggested that could be a strategy used to increase speech intelligibility. Deaf children with cochlear implants showed higher first formant frequency, resulting from a more significant pharynx constriction.
CoimbraJesusCouto2011b_ppt.pdf - Oral presentation (PDFCreator 1.2.1 (Ghostscript 9.02) file)