Bilinguals benefit from semantic context while perceiving speech in noise in both of their languages: Electrophysiological evidence from the N400 ERP

Coulter, Kristina; Gilbert, Annie C.; Kousaie, Shanna; Baum, Shari R.; Gracco, Vincent L.; Klein, Denise; Titone, Debra; Phillips, Natalie A.

doi:10.1017/s1366728920000516

Cited by 8 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Like with visual speech cues, bilinguals show a clear benefit from sentence context in L2. This is consistent with previous findings showing robust effects of sentence context during speech perception in noise (e.g., Hutchinson 1989; Bradlow & Alexander 2007; Coulter et al 2020). Furthermore, the benefit from context was largest for auditory-only sentences, indicating that these cues are most helpful when auditory speech information is available but difficult to perceive.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Bilinguals Show Proportionally Greater Benefit From Visual Speech Cues and Sentence Context in Their Second Compared to Their First Language

Chauvin

Phillips

2021

Ear &Amp; Hearing

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Objectives: Speech perception in noise is challenging, but evidence suggests that it may be facilitated by visual speech cues (e.g., lip movements) and supportive sentence context in native speakers. Comparatively few studies have investigated speech perception in noise in bilinguals, and little is known about the impact of visual speech cues and supportive sentence context in a first language compared to a second language within the same individual. The current study addresses this gap by directly investigating the extent to which bilinguals benefit from visual speech cues and supportive sentence context under similarly noisy conditions in their first and second language.Design: Thirty young adult English-French/French-English bilinguals were recruited from the undergraduate psychology program at Concordia University and from the Montreal community. They completed a speech perception in noise task during which they were presented with video-recorded sentences and instructed to repeat the last word of each sentence out loud. Sentences were presented in three different modalities: visual-only, auditory-only, and audiovisual. Additionally, sentences had one of two levels of context: moderate (e.g., "In the woods, the hiker saw a bear.") and low (e.g., "I had not thought about that bear."). Each participant completed this task in both their first and second language; crucially, the level of background noise was calibrated individually for each participant and was the same throughout the first language and second language (L2) portions of the experimental task.Results: Overall, speech perception in noise was more accurate in bilinguals' first language compared to the second. However, participants benefited from visual speech cues and supportive sentence context to a proportionally greater extent in their second language compared to their first. At the individual level, performance during the speech perception in noise task was related to aspects of bilinguals' experience in their second language (i.e., age of acquisition, relative balance between the first and the second language). Conclusions: Bilinguals benefit from visual speech cues and sentence context in their second language during speech in noise and do so to a greater extent than in their first language given the same level of background noise. Together, this indicates that L2 speech perception can be conceptualized within an inverse effectiveness hypothesis framework with a complex interplay of sensory factors (i.e., the quality of the auditory speech signal and visual speech cues) and linguistic factors (i.e., presence or absence of supportive context and L2 experience of the listener).

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Bilinguals Show Proportionally Greater Benefit From Visual Speech Cues and Sentence Context in Their Second Compared to Their First Language

Chauvin

Phillips

2021

Ear &Amp; Hearing

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“…Despite the absence of an effect of constraint in the electrophysiological data, behaviorally we show that bilinguals benefit from semantic constraint in both languages, particularly in noise, and show improved behavioral performance in high constraint conditions. Our behavioral findings are consistent with the behavioral results from Coulter et al (2020) with a partially overlapping sample of participants. However, Coulter et al also showed an effect of semantic constraint on N400 amplitude, with larger amplitudes for low compared to high constraint sentences.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The current study used the same speech perception in noise task as Coulter et al (2020) . A total of 240 sentences were adapted from the Revised Speech Perception in Noise Test (SPIN-R; Kalikow et al, 1977 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to behavioral measures, Kousaie et al (2019) examined neural responses during L1 and L2 speech processing in noise using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and observed that the absence of a behavioral benefit of context in the late bilinguals was accompanied by differences in neural recruitment of the inferior frontal gyrus in that group compared to simultaneous and early bilinguals. Additionally, using ERPs in a similar paradigm as Kousaie et al, Coulter et al (2020) showed that bilinguals with different AoAs benefited from contextual information when processing sentences in their L2 in noise; however, ERP topography suggested that additional neural resources were recruited in sequential compared to simultaneous bilinguals. A common weakness in the studies that examine AoA is that AoA and proficiency are often confounded given that bilingual participants with later AoAs tend to be less proficient, although in both Kousaie et al and Coulter et al participant groups did not differ in terms of L2 proficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Electrophysiologically, studies have examined speech perception in noise using the N400 event-related potential (e.g., Connolly et al, 1992 ; Aydelott et al, 2006 ; Obleser and Kotz, 2011 ; Strauß et al, 2013 ; Carey et al, 2014 ; Coulter et al, 2020 ), a negative-going component that peaks approximately 400 ms following an eliciting stimulus. The N400 is elicited by semantic stimuli and its amplitude is inversely related to the semantic expectancy of the stimulus, such that it is larger when a target is semantically unexpected compared to when it is semantically expected ( Kutas and Hillyard, 1980 ; Kutas and Van Petten, 1994 ; Kutas, 1997 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age of Acquisition Modulates Alpha Power During Bilingual Speech Comprehension in Noise

et al. 2022

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Research on bilingualism has grown exponentially in recent years. However, the comprehension of speech in noise, given the ubiquity of both bilingualism and noisy environments, has seen only limited focus. Electroencephalogram (EEG) studies in monolinguals show an increase in alpha power when listening to speech in noise, which, in the theoretical context where alpha power indexes attentional control, is thought to reflect an increase in attentional demands. In the current study, English/French bilinguals with similar second language (L2) proficiency and who varied in terms of age of L2 acquisition (AoA) from 0 (simultaneous bilinguals) to 15 years completed a speech perception in noise task. Participants were required to identify the final word of high and low semantically constrained auditory sentences such as “Stir your coffee with a spoon” vs. “Bob could have known about the spoon” in both of their languages and in both noise (multi-talker babble) and quiet during electrophysiological recording. We examined the effects of language, AoA, semantic constraint, and listening condition on participants’ induced alpha power during speech comprehension. Our results show an increase in alpha power when participants were listening in their L2, suggesting that listening in an L2 requires additional attentional control compared to the first language, particularly early in processing during word identification. Additionally, despite similar proficiency across participants, our results suggest that under difficult processing demands, AoA modulates the amount of attention required to process the second language.

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Audiovisual speech perception in noise in younger and older bilinguals.

Chauvin,

Pellerin,

Boatswain-Jacques

et al. 2024

Psychology and Aging

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Speech perception in noise becomes increasingly difficult with age. Similarly, bilinguals often have difficulty with speech perception in noise in their second language (L2) due to less developed language knowledge in L2. Little is known about older bilinguals, who experience age-related sensory and cognitive changes but have extensive L2 experience. Furthermore, while audiovisual (AV) speech cues and supportive sentence context facilitate speech perception in noise in native listeners, much less is known for bilingual listeners, particularly older bilinguals. This study investigated how much young (n = 30) and older (n = 31) French-English/English-French bilinguals benefit from AV speech cues and sentence context in their first (L1) and second language during speech perception in noise. Participants completed the task in L1 and L2. Importantly, the level of background noise was individually calibrated for each participant to equate performance during the baseline task. The results suggest that there were no age differences in overall performance during the speech perception in noise task. However, older adults showed smaller language effects and smaller modality effects (i.e., comparing auditory-only speech perception to audiovisual speech perception) compared to younger adults. Furthermore, both young and older bilinguals benefited from AV speech cues and sentence context in both of their languages. However, during L2 speech perception in noise, visual speech cues were particularly important for young adults. In contrast, older adults show equal benefit from visual speech cues in L1 and L2. Taken together, these findings extend current models of AV speech perception to a second language in both younger and older adults. Furthermore, the findings suggest that bilinguals are likely to benefit from visual speech cues and supportive sentence context, although this benefit may differ slightly between younger and older bilinguals. Public Significance StatementWhen listening to speech in background noise, having access to the speaker's lip movements and/or supportive sentence context facilitates comprehension, at least in individuals listening in their first language. Much less is known for older adults and for individuals listening in a second language, both of whom are at a greater disadvantage when listening to speech in noise (albeit for different reasons). The results from this study show that younger and older adult bilinguals benefit from seeing lip movements and from being provided with supportive sentence context during speech perception in noise in both

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Bilinguals benefit from semantic context while perceiving speech in noise in both of their languages: Electrophysiological evidence from the N400 ERP

Cited by 8 publications

References 64 publications

Bilinguals Show Proportionally Greater Benefit From Visual Speech Cues and Sentence Context in Their Second Compared to Their First Language

Bilinguals Show Proportionally Greater Benefit From Visual Speech Cues and Sentence Context in Their Second Compared to Their First Language

Age of Acquisition Modulates Alpha Power During Bilingual Speech Comprehension in Noise

Audiovisual speech perception in noise in younger and older bilinguals.

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