Auditory Temporal Processing Abilities in Early Azari-Persian Bilinguals

Introduction: Auditory temporal resolution and auditory temporal ordering are two major components of the auditory temporal processing abilities that contribute to speech perception and language development. Auditory temporal resolution and auditory temporal ordering can be evaluated by gap-in-noise (GIN) and pitch-pattern-sequence (PPS) tests, respectively. In this survey, the effect of bilingualism as a potential confounding factor on auditory temporal processing abilities was investigated in early Azari-Persian bilinguals.   Materials and Methods:                                     In this cross-sectional non-interventional study, GIN and PPS tests were performed on 24 (12 men and 12 women) early Azari-Persian bilingual persons and 24 (12 men and 12 women) Persian monolingual subjects in the age range of 18–30 years, with a mean age of 24.57 years in bilingual and 24.68 years in monolingual subjects. Data were analyzed with t-test using SPSS software version 16.   Results: There was no statistically significant difference between mean gap threshold and mean percentages of the correct response of the GIN test and average percentage of correct responses in the PPS test between early Azari-Persian bilinguals and Persian monolinguals (P≥0.05).   Conclusion:  According to the findings of this study, bilingualism did not have notable effect on auditory temporal processing abilities.