# Tonal language experience facilitates the use of spatial cues for segregating competing speech in bimodal cochlear implant listeners

## TL;DR

Mandarin-speaking cochlear implant users better use spatial cues to separate overlapping speech compared to English speakers.

## Contribution

Shows that tonal language experience enhances spatial cue use in cochlear implant listeners.

## Key findings

- Mandarin-speaking CI users use spatial cues better than English speakers.
- Bimodal listening enhances spatial cue utilization in Mandarin-speaking CI users.
- Tonal language experience may improve speech segregation in CI users.

## Abstract

English-speaking bimodal and bilateral cochlear implant (CI) users can segregate competing speech using talker sex cues but not spatial cues. While tonal language experience allows for greater utilization of talker sex cues for listeners with normal hearing, tonal language benefits remain unclear for CI users. The present study assessed the ability of Mandarin-speaking bilateral and bimodal CI users to recognize target sentences amidst speech maskers that varied in terms of spatial cues and/or talker sex cues, relative to the target. Different from English-speaking CI users, Mandarin-speaking CI users exhibited greater utilization of spatial cues, particularly in bimodal listening.