The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2008 · 96 citations · 23 references
Language StudiesLinguisticsSpanishPhoneticsPhonologyPsycholinguisticsAuditory PhoneticsConsonant PhoneticsExperimental PhoneticsSecond Language AcquisitionSpeech Perception In NoiseSpeech RecognitionL2 Speech PerceptionPerceptual Cues To ConsonantsSecond Language Phonological AcquisitionSecond Language Speech LearningSpeech In Noise Difficulty
Speech recognition in noise is harder in second (L2) than first languages (L1). This could be because noise disrupts speech processing more in L2 than L1, or because L1 listeners recover better though disruption is equivalent. Two similar prior studies produced discrepant results: Equivalent noise effects for L1 and L2 (Dutch) listeners, versus larger effects for L2 (Spanish) than L1. To explain this, the latter experiment was presented to listeners from the former population. Larger noise effects on consonant identification emerged for L2 (Dutch) than L1 listeners, suggesting that task factors rather than L2 population differences underlie the results discrepancy.
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