The effects of auditory and visual vowel training on speech reading performance

Abstract

Speech reading, the use of visual cues to understand speech, may provide a substantial benefit for normal-hearing listeners in noisy environments and for hearing-impaired listeners in everyday communication. However, there exists great individual variability in speech reading ability, and studies have shown that only a modest improvement in speech reading ability is achieved with training. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of a novel approach to speech reading training on word and sentence identification tasks. In contrast to previous research, which involved training on consonant recognition, this study focused on vowels. Two groups of normal-hearing adults participated in auditory–visual (AV) conditions with added background noise. The first group of listeners received training on the recognition of 14 English vowels in isolated words, while the second group of listeners received no training. All listeners performed speech reading pre- and post-tests, on words and sentences. Results are discussed in terms of differences between groups, dependent upon whether training was administered, and a comparison is made between this and other speech reading training methods. Finally, the potential benefit of this vowel-based speech reading training method for the rehabilitation for hearing-impaired listeners is discussed. [Work supported by NIHDCD-02229.]