The Impact of Sound-Field Amplification
(Summa
ry)
Dillon, Harvey and Robyn Massie
Australian J of Education, 50(1):62-77 2006
Introduction
The goal of classroom instruction is comprehension. In order for speech to be
comprehended, the individual must be able to hear well enough to discriminate
the word-sound distinctions of individual phonemes. Poor comprehension in the
classroom is not, however, limited to those with hearing loss. Young listeners
perform more poorly in noisy situations than do adults and the ability to listen in
noise is not fully developed until adolescence. A child’s auditory brain is not like
an adult’s until about the age of 15; therefore, children cannot rely on years of
language and learning experiences to fill in the gaps of missed information.
National Acoustic Standards in the United States require classrooms to meet the
following acoustical standards:
Noise Level:
35 dBA
Reverberation Time:
< 0.6 seconds (medium-size rooms) < 0.7 seconds (large-
size rooms)
Signal to Noise Ratio:
+15 dB. Studies have shown that actual classroom
conditions range from 41 to 69 dBA which lead to unfavorable Signal to Noise
ratios and reverberation times.
Communication in Cross-Cultural Classrooms
Individuals for whom English is a second language (ESL) experience greater
speech perception difficulties. ESL students performance has shown to be poorer
across most classroom listening conditions. Understanding spoken English in
noise is related to the individual’s proficiency with the English language.
Sound-field Amplification
Sound-field amplification is an exciting educational tool that allows control of the
acoustic environment in a classroom allowing acoustic accessibility to teacher
instruction for all children in the room. Originally designed as an assistive
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