Investigation of the benefits of New Zealand prescribed hearing aids for bilingual Mandarin and English speakers in speech-in-noise tests

Abstract

Background: For Chinese people living in New Zealand, Mandarin is usually their first language, while English is the language mainly used in their surrounding environment. Hearing loss is a common issue that impacts people's life. Previous studies have demonstrated that people with hearing loss can hear their first language better than their second language in noisy environments. Additionally, studies have shown the benefits of hearing aids in helping people with hearing loss hear speech in noisy situations. Aims: This research aims to investigate the benefits of New Zealand prescribed hearing aids for individuals who speak Mandarin as their first language and English as their second language. Method: Participants who were over 18 years old, spoke Mandarin as their first language and English as their second language, and wore New Zealand prescribed hearing aids were recruited to participate in the research tests. The research tests involved Mandarin and English speech in noise tests. An adaptive testing procedure was employed to determine the 50% correct thresholds. Results: The results indicated New Zealand prescribed hearing aids provided similar benefits to bilingual individuals who spoke Mandarin as their first language and English as their second language when they came to hear Mandarin speech in noise, in comparison to hearing English speech in noise. Conclusion: This finding suggests that New Zealand prescribed hearing aids effectively support bilingual speakers (with Mandarin as their first language and English as their second language) in improving their ability to hear speech in noise. This finding has important implications for future clinical practice.