Vocal development in two young cochlear implant users: Preliminary results

This study investigates prelinguistic vocal development in two young cochlear implant users during their first eight months of hearing. Audio recordings of two girls’ babbling were made and analyzed both auditorily and instrumentally. Results show for both changes in production from simple to more complex syllable structures. For both girls, the pattern of preferred places of consonant articulation changes over time and the duration of CV-dyads decreases. The data allow the conclusion that their developmental patterns are similar to those found for normal-hearing infants.