The Ling sound test revisited

The ‘Ling sounds’ are a range of speech sounds encompassing the speech frequencies that are widely used clinically to verify the effectiveness of hearing aid fitting in children. The Ling sound test was originally developed for the North American population. There are differences in production and spectral content of Australian and North American vowels and, consequently, this study reviewed the appropriateness of the Ling sounds for an Australian population. A brief open questionnaire was given to clinicians in New South Wales who routinely use the Ling test to determine how they administer the Ling test and how they interpret results. Based on these results, guidelines for administering the Ling test in Australia are presented.