Exposition des jeunes et adultes aux nuisances sonores dans la ville de Yaoundé : conséquences sur la communication interpersonnelle et possibilités de troubles d’audition

Abstract

Daily exposure to noise pollution is a growing phenomenon in cities around the world and Yaoundé is no exception. This is an academic research conducted within the framework of applied linguistics which raises the problem of the impact of noise pollution on both interpersonal and hearing communication. In other words, what are the effects of noise on the elements of interpersonal communication? It is therefore a study of psycholinguistics and social interest based on the theory of noise interference in interpersonal communication which aims at studying the intelligibility of the message in noisy environments (message alterations, voices pitch, etc.), as well as manifestations on the ear (tinnitus, etc.). To achieve its aims, this research used quota sampling on a population of 149 people from the urban area of Yaoundé II, divided into two quotas to account for environmental and recreational nuisances and occupational nuisances respectively using tools such as interviews, survey questionnaires, a sentence test in noise (TPB) and clinical audiometric tests. It turns out that noise varies from quiet alleys where the intensity oscillates between 60 and 80 decibels (dB) to noisy alleys where it oscillates between 90 and 120dB. In quiet alleys, communication is very good (5.5/6 on the TPB scale) without real ear disease, if so, rarely. Unlike noisy aisles where it is too poor (1/6 on the TPB scale), translated by repetitions, phonetic and morphological alterations of the message, an increase in voice (shouted). The symptoms recorded are headache, tinnitus, and hearing mood disorders. Noted that the presence of intermediate places with an oscillating intensity between 80 and 90dB nuances these two extremities. The audiometric test of one of the only participants in the second quota to use hearing protections revealed their effectiveness via his diagnosis of normal hearing despite his daily exposure to 120dB. As for the use of PLDs’, the sample aged 17 to 25 represents 66.67% of the spectrum of hearing damage, including the specimen in whom the audiometric test diagnosed an absence of acoustic reflex in the right ear, leaving it prone to acoustic trauma. The fact that these audiometric tests were carried out on samples from our survey’s population, unfortunately explains the absence of a pre-survey medical history, and points us toward the need of longitudinal studies in the field of speech acoustics in order to better account for human interactions in noise.