Comprehension of familiar and unfamiliar native accents under adverse listening conditions

Adank, P., Evans, B., Stuart-Smith, J. and Scotti, S. (2009) Comprehension of familiar and unfamiliar native accents under adverse listening conditions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 35(2), pp. 520-529. (doi: 10.1037/a0013552)

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the relative processing cost associated with comprehension of an unfamiliar native accent under adverse listening conditions. Two sentence verification experiments were conducted in which listeners heard sentences at various signal-to-noise ratios. In Experiment 1, these sentences were spoken in a familiar or an unfamiliar native accent or in two familiar native accents. In Experiment 2, they were spoken in a familiar or unfamiliar native accent or in a nonnative accent. The results indicated that the differences between the native accents influenced the speed of language processing under adverse listening conditions and that this processing speed was modulated by the relative familiarity of the listener with the native accent. Furthermore, the results showed that the processing cost associated with the nonnative accent was larger than for the unfamiliar native accent.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.
• Keywords: speech comprehension, native accents, non-native accents, adverse listening conditions.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Stuart-Smith, Professor Jane
• Authors: Adank, P., Evans, B., Stuart-Smith, J., and Scotti, S.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PE English; P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Language and Linguistics
• Journal Name: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance
• Journal Abbr.: J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform.
• Publisher: American Psychological Association
• ISSN: 0096-1523
• ISSN (Online): 1939-1277
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2009 APA
• First Published: First published in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 2009 35(2):520-529
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher