Recognition of accented English in quiet by younger normal-hearing listeners and older listeners with normal-hearing and hearing loss

Abstract

This investigation examined the effects of listener age and hearing loss on recognition of accented speech. Speech materials were isolated English words and sentences that featured phonemes that are often mispronounced by non-native speakers of English whose first language is Spanish. These stimuli were recorded by a native speaker of English and two non-native speakers of English: one with a mild accent and one with a moderate accent. The stimuli were presented in quiet to younger and older adults with normal-hearing and older adults with hearing loss. Analysis of percent correct recognition scores showed that all listeners performed more poorly with increasing accent, and older listeners with hearing loss performed more poorly than the younger and older normal-hearing listeners in all accent conditions. Context and age effects were minimal. Consonant confusion patterns in the moderate accent condition showed that error patterns of all listeners reflected temporal alterations with accented speech, with major errors of word-final consonant voicing in stops and fricatives, and word-initial fricatives.

Short-term adaptation to accented English by younger and older adults

“…This rapid improvement in perceiving accented English undoubtedly promotes effective communication with nonnative speakers of English. However, as reported in a previous study (Gordon-Salant et al 2010), older listeners with hearing loss exhibit considerable difficulty understanding accented English. If these listeners also experience rapid adaptation to accented English, then potential communication problems with accented talkers may be minimized.…”

“…Data collected in a previous experiment were re-examined to permit an initial assessment of short-term adaptation to Spanish-accented English by younger and older listeners with normal hearing and older listeners with hearing loss (Gordon-Salant et al, 2010). The method used in the original experiment is summarized below.…”

“…The stimuli used in this study consisted of four lists of words and four lists of sentences that were presented in randomized order. The lists included words with specific phonetic contrasts that frequently are mispronounced in Spanish-accented English (Gordon-Salant et al, 2010). An equal distribution of these phonetic contrasts appeared in the initial and final consonants, as well as the vowels, across the four lists.…”

“…In a recent study (Gordon-Salant et al, 2010), recognition of Spanish-accented English was examined for words and sentences presented in quiet to younger and older adults with normal hearing and to older adults with hearing loss. The findings showed a significant main effect of accent for both words and sentences, in which all listener groups exhibited significantly poorer scores with increasing speaker accent.…”

Effect of Speaker Age on Speech Recognition and Perceived Listening Effort in Older Adults With Hearing Loss

“…Furthermore, older adults exhibit poorer recognition of accented speech compared to younger adults; though it appears that this group may not be disproportionately affected (Ferguson, Jongman, Sereno, & Keum, 2010;Gordon-Salant, Yeni-Komshian, & Fitzgibbons, 2010). Moreover, older adults" recall abilities are detrimentally affected by faster than normal speech rates (Stine, Wingfield, & Poon, 1986).…”