title: Quantification of the effects of Mandarin dialect differences on the use of norm-referenced speech perception tests.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Determine the effects of Chinese dialects on results for the Mandarin HINT recorded with a talker speaking Standard Mandarin (Putonghua).
  
  
  METHODS
  Normally-hearing subjects with different dialect exposure histories and usage preferences were administered the Mandarin HINT, and results were compared with published norms. Additional published measures of the intelligibility and mutual intelligibility of Chinese dialects were used to identify dialects for which Putonghua is highly intelligible.
  
  
  METHODS
  One sample (N = 19) was exposed to a variety of dialects throughout China during childhood, and used Putonghua as adults. A second sample (N = 22) was exposed to Sichuanhua (the dialect found in Sichuan province) during childhood, and used Sichuanhua as adults.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average difference in SRTs for the Putonghua and Sichuanhua groups was 0.66 dB, with the Sichuanhua group's SRTs slightly higher. Means for neither group fell outside the confidence intervals for the norms. Putonghua is intelligible for 98% of Sichuanhua dialect users, and for over 90% of the users of two-thirds of the remaining Chinese regional dialects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Norm-referenced speech perception tests, such as the Mandarin HINT, can be used with speakers of Chinese regional dialects for whom Putonghua is highly intelligible. Small differences in dialect-specific norms are not clinically significant.
authors.affiliation: * Hearing Center, Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery Department, West China Hospital of Sichuan University , Chengdu, Sichuan , China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Sigfrid D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Soli
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Shixi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Zhaoli
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Meng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D013063:Speech Discrimination Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D014177:Translations; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hearing in noise test (HINT); Mandarin hearing in noise test (MHINT); dialect; speech reception threshold (SRT)