Abstract: Objective To compare the di-syllabic tone between hearing-impaired children and normal-hearing children. Methods 120 hearing-impaired children and 36 normal-hearing children aged 3~5 years were asked to read aloud 32 word with 16 kinds of di-syllabic tone. Results All the normal-hearing children read all the words correctly, and the hearing-impaired children faulted in pronouncing as their peers. The correct incidence improved in 4-year old hearing-impaired children compared with that of the 3-year old, but it was not significant different between the 4- and the 5- year old. There was not significant difference of the high and level tone between the hearing-impaired children and normal-hearing children. However, the rising, falling- rising and falling tones were significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion The hearing-impaired children aged 3~5 years delay to speech words with di-syllabic tone, especially for those with rising, falling-rising and falling tones.

Key words: hearing-impairment, children, di-syllabic tone, speech