Perceiving Speech Produced with Face Masks in Competing Talker Environments

Chiu, F. , Bartoševičiūtė, L., Lee, A. and Yao, Y. (2023) Perceiving Speech Produced with Face Masks in Competing Talker Environments. In: 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS) Proceedings, Prague, Czech Republic, 7-11 Aug 2023, pp. 297-301. ISBN 9788090811423

Abstract

This paper examines the perception of speech produced with face masks in everyday multi-talker environments. Three groups of participants listened to English target sentences produced with or without a face mask in the presence of English or Lithuanian competing speech. Participants were monolingual English listeners, and second language English listeners with either Lithuanian or Mandarin Chinese as first language (L1). Lithuanian listeners also completed the experiment with Lithuanian target sentences.　Participants were generally more accurate perceiving sentences produced without a face mask, and when listening in L1. Competing speech in a language matching the target lowered perception accuracy. Exceptionally, only when Lithuanian participants (with both English and Lithuanian knowledge) listened for Lithuanian targets was there no added challenge from matching language of target and competing speech. We conclude that acoustic distortions from face masks present an across-the-board difficulty while linguistic knowledge can reduce distraction from competing speech.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Additional Information: 1. Speech Perception. ID: 493.
• Keywords: face masks, competing talker, speech perception.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Chiu, Dr Faith
• Authors: Chiu, F., Bartoševičiūtė, L., Lee, A., and Yao, Y.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Language and Linguistics
• Journal Name: 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences
• ISSN: 2412-0669
• ISBN: 9788090811423