Information about the characteristics of languages spoken in the home is helpful to providers in order to:
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Compare the syntax/morphology and the phonology of the language of the family to English or the instructional language of the country in whic h the family resides.
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Phonological differences in languages could results in different programs for hearing aids for each language spoken or different cochlear implant maps.
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Phonological differences could influence the audibility checks that families/parents and providers do in order to assure that the child hears all of the sounds of the language being spoken.
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Characteristics of the syntax and morphology could also influence hearing aid fitting and cochlear implant mapping. Languages with morphological endings could be less stressed and therefore, less audible. In English, several high frequency phonemes are frequent in morphological endings.
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Development of phoneme production can differ by language, even when the phonemes are identical to the language spoken in the country in which the family resides. These differences may be the result of greater frequency of phoneme usage in the language.
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Frequently, animal sounds within languages emphasize the vowels within the spoken language. They are a good way for children to practice vowels.
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Numbers in different languages are often one or two syllable utterances even in languages in which one or two syllable utterances are rare. They provide a good way for children to begin syllable differentiation.
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Family names, e.g. grandmother, grandfather, uncle, aunt, cousin, mother, father, are often short two syllable words that are often first words and often with bilabials.
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Speech discrimination tests used in other languages, as well as Language tests in other languages may be useful to providers to document growth in both the family’s native language and the language of the country in which the family resides.