Development and Standardization of Spondee and Phonetically Balanced (PB) Word Lists in Mizo Language

Abstract

The aim of the study was to develop and standardize Spondees and PB words in Mizo language that can be used to measure the Speech Recognition Threshold (SRT) and Speech Identification Scores (SIS) for native speakers of Mizo, a language spoken in Mizoram, India. Method: Two lists each of Spondees and PB words with high familiarity were developed as per standard procedures and the SRT and SIS evaluated for 100 (one hundred) native speakers of Mizo language in the age ranged between 18 years to 40 years, with normal hearing. Performance – intensity function for each word lists were evaluated at 6 intensity levels (0 to 10 dBSL) in 2 dB increments. To establish the reliability of these materials, 10% of the subjects were retested after a minimum period of 5 days. Results: No significant differences were found between the two Spondee lists and PB word lists for both the right and the left ear across gender. The two lists of spondaic words and PB words yielded equivalent SRTs and SIS (at 40 dB SL, ref: SRT). For the spondees at different presentation levels, there was a significant difference in scores between spondee lists I & II at lower presentation levels (0 dBSL to 4 dBSL). However, as the presentation level increases, no significant difference in scores were found and at 10 dBSL of presentation, the scores of list I & II were equal. There was no significant difference in scores between PB word lists 1 & 2 at six different levels of presentation (0 dBSL to 10 dBSL).