The Impact of Classroom Acoustics: Listening, Learning, and Literacy

Literacy, a national priority, presents a challenge because only one third of the nation's fourth-grade students can read proficiently at a fourth-grade level. This article shows how the hearing of the child and the classroom acoustic environment affect listening, language, and literacy skills. Because we hear with the brain, hearing problems and poor acoustic environments interfere with brain access, brain stimulation, and brain growth. As a result, language, literacy, and academics are negatively impacted. This chapter will detail the auditory foundation of literacy, including the levels of auditory skill development, incidental learning and distance hearing, and audibility versus intelligibility of words. The acoustic filter effect of hearing problems will be explained. Improving the classroom signal-to-noise ratio is a must. Sound distribution systems can enhance acoustic accessibility and improve literacy skills.

Literacy - classroom - intelligibility

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