Age Impacts Speech-in-Noise Recognition Differently for Nonnative and Native Listeners

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to explore potential differences in suprathreshold auditory function among native and nonnative speakers of English as a function of age.

METHOD

Retrospective analyses were performed on three large data sets containing suprathreshold auditory tests completed by 5,572 participants who were self-identified native and nonnative speakers of English between the ages of 18-65 years, including a binaural tone detection test, a digit identification test, and a sentence recognition test.

RESULTS

The analyses show a significant interaction between increasing age and participant group on tests involving speech-based stimuli (digit strings, sentences) but not on the binaural tone detection test. For both speech tests, differences in speech recognition emerged between groups during early adulthood, and increasing age had a more negative impact on word recognition for nonnative compared to native participants. Age-related declines in performance were 2.9 times faster for digit strings and 3.3 times faster for sentences for nonnative participants compared to native participants.

CONCLUSIONS

This set of analyses extends the existing literature by examining interactions between aging and self-identified native English speaker status in several auditory domains in a cohort of adults spanning young adulthood through middle age. The finding that older nonnative English speakers in this age cohort may have greater-than-expected deficits on speech-in-noise perception may have clinical implications on how these individuals should be diagnosed and treated for hearing difficulties.

Assessing language background and experiences among heritage bilinguals

The language backgrounds and experiences of bilinguals have been primarily characterized using self-report questionnaires and laboratory tasks, although each of these assessments have their strengths and weaknesses. The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), an audio recording device, has recently become more prominent as a method of assessing real-world language use. We investigated the relationships among these three assessment tools, to understand the shared variance in how these measures evaluated various aspects of the bilingual experience. Participants were 60 Southern California heritage bilingual college students who spoke a variety of heritage languages and began to learn English between the ages of 0-to 12-years. Participants completed both self-report and laboratory-based measures of language proficiency and use, and they wore the EAR for 4  days to capture representative samples of their day-to-day heritage language (HL) use. The results indicated that self-reported HL use and English age of acquisition were significant predictors of real-world language use as measured by the EAR. In addition, self-reported HL proficiency and laboratory-based HL proficiency, as measured by verbal fluency, were mutually predictive. While some variability was shared across different assessments, ultimately, none of the measures correlated strongly and each measure captured unique information about the heritage bilingual language experience, highlighting the dissociation between language experience measured at a single point in time and an accumulated life history with a heritage language. These findings may provide guidance for bilingualism researchers about which assessment tool, or combination of tools, may be best for their specific research questions.

Masked-Speech Recognition for Linguistically Diverse Populations: A Focused Review and Suggestions for the Future

PURPOSE

Twenty years ago, von Hapsburg and Peña (2002) wrote a tutorial that reviewed the literature on speech audiometry and bilingualism and outlined valuable recommendations to increase the rigor of the evidence base. This review article returns to that seminal tutorial to reflect on how that advice was applied over the last 20 years and to provide updated recommendations for future inquiry.

METHOD

We conducted a focused review of the literature on masked-speech recognition for bilingual children and adults. First, we evaluated how studies published since 2002 described bilingual participants. Second, we reviewed the literature on native language masked-speech recognition. Third, we discussed theoretically motivated experimental work. Fourth, we outlined how recent research in bilingual speech recognition can be used to improve clinical practice.

RESULTS

Research conducted since 2002 commonly describes bilingual samples in terms of their language status, competency, and history. Bilingualism was not consistently associated with poor masked-speech recognition. For example, bilinguals who were exposed to English prior to age 7 years and who were dominant in English performed comparably to monolinguals for masked-sentence recognition tasks. To the best of our knowledge, there are no data to document the masked-speech recognition ability of these bilinguals in their other language compared to a second monolingual group, which is an important next step. Nonetheless, individual factors that commonly vary within bilingual populations were associated with masked-speech recognition and included language dominance, competency, and age of acquisition. We identified methodological issues in sampling strategies that could, in part, be responsible for inconsistent findings between studies. For instance, disparities in socioeconomic status (SES) between recruited bilingual and monolingual groups could cause confounding bias within the research design.

CONCLUSIONS

Dimensions of the bilingual linguistic profile should be considered in clinical practice to inform counseling and (re)habilitation strategies since susceptibility to masking is elevated in at least one language for most bilinguals. Future research should continue to report language status, competency, and history but should also report language stability and demand for use data. In addition, potential confounds (e.g., SES, educational attainment) when making group comparisons between monolinguals and bilinguals must be considered.

Online Assessment of Speech Perception and Auditory Spectrotemporal Processing in Spanish-English Bilinguals

PURPOSE

There is limited access to audiology services for the growing population of Spanish-English bilinguals in the United States. Online auditory testing can potentially provide a cost-effective alternative to in-person visits. However, even for bilinguals with high English proficiency, age of English acquisition may affect speech perception accuracy. This study used a comprehensive test battery to assess speech perception and spectrotemporal processing abilities in Spanish-English bilinguals and to evaluate susceptibility of different tests to effects of native language.

METHOD

The online battery comprised three tests of speech in quiet (vowel and consonant identification and words in sentences), four tests of speech perception in noise (two for intelligibility and two for comprehension), and three tests of spectrotemporal processing (two tests of stochastically modulated pattern discrimination and one test of spectral resolution). Participants were 28 adult Spanish-English bilinguals whose English acquisition began either early (≤ 6 years old) or late (≥ 7 years old) and 18 English monolingual speakers.

RESULTS

Significant differences were found in six of the 10 tests. The differences were most pronounced for vowel perception in quiet, speech-in-noise test, and two tests of speech comprehension in noise. Late bilinguals consistently scored lower than native English speakers or early bilinguals. In contrast, no differences between groups were observed for digits-in-noise or three tests of spectrotemporal processing abilities.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest initial feasibility of online assessment in this population and can inform selection of tests for auditory assessment of Spanish-English bilinguals.

The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Ten years later

The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q) is a validated questionnaire tool for collecting self-reported proficiency and experience data from bilingual and multilingual speakers ages 14 to 80. It is available in over 20 languages, and can be administered in a digital, paper-and-pencil, and oral interview format. The LEAP-Q is used by researchers across various disciplines (Psychology, Neuroscience, Linguistics, Education, Communication Sciences & Disorders, etc.) to provide a comprehensive description of their bilingual participants, to substantiate a division of bilinguals into groups (e.g., early vs. late bilinguals), and to screen participants for adequate or threshold levels of language proficiency. Best practices for using the LEAP-Q include administration of the full questionnaire, consideration of acquisition and history of language use together with self-ratings of proficiency, and supplementation of self-reported data with objective language measures whenever possible. The LEAP-Q can be downloaded at no cost at https://bilingualism.northwestern.edu/leapq/.

What Does Language Have to Do With It? The Impact of Age and Bilingual Experience on Inhibitory Control in an Auditory Dichotic Listening Task

Purpose The purpose of the current study was to examine inhibition of irrelevant information in younger and older English monolingual and Spanish-English bilingual adults. Method Sixty-one participants divided into four groups: 15 younger English monolinguals, 16 younger Spanish-English bilinguals, 15 older English monolinguals, and 15 older Spanish-English bilinguals participated in this study. Younger participants were 18-25 years of age, and older participants were 47-62 years of age. Bilingual participants had learned Spanish from birth and began learning English by the age of 3 years old (SD = 3.1). All participants had hearing thresholds of < 25 dB HL from 250 to 4000 Hz, bilaterally (American National Standards Institute [ANSI], 2004) and were right-handed. Inhibition was measured using a forced-attention dichotic consonant vowel listening task with a prime stimulus and the Simon task, a nonverbal visual test. Results Younger participants were better able to inhibit the irrelevant auditory and visual stimuli and modulate their attention according to the instructions that they were given compared to the older participants. However, no significant differences in inhibition performance or attention modulation were evidenced between the monolingual and bilingual groups in any of the dichotic listening conditions or on the Simon task. Conclusions No significant differences in performance on an auditory or a visual test of inhibition of irrelevant information was evidenced between the monolingual and bilingual participants in this study. These findings suggest that younger and older adult, early balanced Spanish-English bilinguals may not exhibit an advantage in the inhibition of irrelevant information compared to younger and older adult English monolinguals.

Speech perception in noise for bilingual listeners with normal hearing

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to determine if speech-in-noise ability, as measured by SNR-50 and SNR loss in bilingual Spanish listeners with normal hearing, was affected by test difficulty.

DESIGN

Quasi-experimental, non-randomized intervention study.

STUDY SAMPLE

Two groups of adult listeners participated: monolingual English listeners with normal hearing (N = 12) and bilingual Spanish listeners with normal hearing who were proficient in English (N = 10). The quick speech-in-noise (QuickSIN), the Bamford-Kowal-Bench speech-in-noise (BKB-SIN), and the words-in-noise (WIN) tests were used to assess signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) loss and SNR-50 for both groups.

RESULTS

Despite the fact that the bilinguals had normal hearing and were proficient in English, each of the speech-in-noise tests evaluated indicated the Spanish listeners had measurable SNR loss and higher than normal SNR-50s. Performance on the BKB-SIN was best for both groups, indicating test difficulty had a significant impact on speech perception in noise.

CONCLUSIONS

Bilingual Spanish listeners with normal hearing exhibited a mild SNR loss comparable to that observed for a person with hearing loss. This decreased performance in noise requires an improved SNR for this population to reach a comparable level of comprehension to their monolingual English counterparts.

How "proficient" is proficient? Bilingual listeners' recognition of English words in noise

PURPOSE

Shi (2011, 2013) obtained sensitivity/specificity measures of bilingual listeners' English and relative proficiency ratings as the predictor of English word recognition in quiet. The current study investigated how relative proficiency predicted word recognition in noise.

METHOD

Forty-two monolingual and 168 bilingual normal-hearing listeners were included. Bilingual listeners rated their proficiency in listening, speaking, and reading in English and in the other language using an 11-point scale. Listeners were presented with 50 English monosyllabic words in quiet at 45 dB HL and in multitalker babble with a signal-to-noise ratio of +6 and 0 dB.

RESULTS

Data in quiet confirmed Shi's (2013) finding that relative proficiency with or without dominance predicted well whether bilinguals performed on par with the monolingual norm. Predicting the outcome was difficult for the 2 noise conditions. To identify bilinguals whose performance fell below the normative range, dominance per se or a combination of dominance and average relative proficiency rating yielded the best sensitivity/specificity and summary measures, including Youden's index.

CONCLUSION

Bilinguals' word recognition is more difficult to predict in noise than in quiet; however, proficiency and dominance variables can predict reasonably well whether bilinguals may perform at a monolingual normative level.

The effect of visual cues on scoring of clinical word-recognition tests

PURPOSE

During routine clinical speech assessment, if the person being tested were to write down what he or she heard, it would not always match what the audiologist heard while scoring the listener's vocal responses (Nelson & Chaiklin, 1970). This study demonstrated a method to assess examiner accuracy and whether speechreading cues reduce writedown-talkback errors.

METHOD

Examiners were divided into 3 categories: normal hearing native speakers of English, normal hearing nonnative speakers of English, and native speakers with hearing loss. Each examiner assessed 4 normal-hearing listeners. Two NU-6 lists were presented to each listener; one was scored without visual cues and one with visual cues. Lists were presented at 50 dB HL in the presence of speech noise at 0 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

RESULTS

Results analyzed by percentage of correct phonemes and words revealed fewer writedown-talkback discrepancies for all 3 examiner groups when visual cues were added, with a substantial improvement for examiners with hearing loss.

CONCLUSION

The finding of errors between talkback versus writedown scoring of lists for all of the examiners, even with visual cues, suggests a need for modification of the clinical word-recognition procedure for applications that potentially affect diagnosis, rehabilitation choices, or financial compensation.

Validating models of clinical word recognition tests for spanish/english bilinguals

PURPOSE

Shi and Sánchez (2010) developed models to predict the optimal test language for evaluating Spanish/English (S/E) bilinguals' word recognition. The current study intended to validate their conclusions in a separate bilingual listener sample.

METHOD

Seventy normal-hearing S/E bilinguals varying in language profile were included. Participants were presented with English monosyllabic and Spanish bisyllabic words in quiet and in speech-spectrum noise (+6 and 0 dB SNR). Relative success on the 2 tests was indicated by the difference in z score for each test.

RESULTS

The current group of participants was comparable to participants in Shi and Sánchez (2010) in regard to their language background and test performance. Previously developed models fit current data well. Age of English acquisition (AOAE) yielded more consistent models across test conditions than language dominance (LD). New models incorporating average proficiency rating (across domains) and relative proficiency rating (across languages) yielded best prediction.

CONCLUSIONS

Shi and Sánchez's (2010) models incorporating key linguistic variables (AOAE, LD, and average/relative proficiency ratings) can help clinicians predict bilingual clients' relative success in word recognition in Spanish versus English. These models are appropriate for current clinical work with S/E bilinguals in metropolitan areas similar to New York City.

Speech audiometry and Spanish-English bilinguals: challenges in clinical practice

PURPOSE

The Spanish-English bilingual population has been on a steady rise in the United States and is projected to continue to grow. Speech audiometry, a key component of hearing care, must be customized for this linguistically unique and diverse population.

METHOD

The tutorial summarizes recent findings concerning Spanish-English bilinguals' performance on English and Spanish speech audiometric tests in the context of the psychometric properties of the tests and the language and dialect profile of the individual (language status, history, stability, competency, and use). The tutorial also provides arguments for evaluating bilingual clients in Spanish, in English, or in both languages, which may serve as rationales in support of varied bilingual clinical practices. Last, the tutorial provides information regarding Spanish speech audiometry, including available tests, issues that clinicians may encounter when administering them, and dialectal consideration.

CONCLUSIONS

It is a challenge as well as an opportunity for clinicians to expand service to the Spanish-English bilingual community. Understanding the characteristics of the individual and the test is essential for ensuring quality services to the bilingual client.

How “Proficient” Is Proficient? Comparison of English and Relative Proficiency Rating as a Predictor of Bilingual Listeners' Word Recognition

Purpose

The current study attempted to validate that English proficiency self-ratings predict bilinguals' recognition of English words as reported in Shi (2011) and to explore whether relative proficiency ratings (English vs. first language) improve prediction.

Method

One hundred and twenty-four participants in Shi (2011) and an additional set of 145 participants were included (Groups 1 and 2, respectively) in this study. All listeners rated their proficiency in listening, speaking, and reading (English and first language) on an 11-point scale and listened to a list of words from the Northwestern University Auditory Tests No. 6 (Tillman & Carhart, 1966) at 45 dB HL in quiet.

Results

English proficiency ratings by Group 2 yielded sensitivity/specificity values comparable to those of Group 1 (Shi, 2011) in predicting word recognition. A cutoff of 8 or 9 in minimum English proficiency rating across listening, speaking, and reading resulted in the best combination of prediction sensitivity/specificity. When relative proficiency was used, prediction of Group 1 performance significantly improved as compared to English proficiency. Improvement was slight for Group 2, mainly due to low specificity.

Conclusion

Self-rated English proficiency provides clinically acceptable sensitivity/specificity values as a predictor of bilinguals' English word recognition. Relative proficiency has the potential to further improve predictive power, but the size of improvement depends on the characteristics of the test population.

Linguistic and Attitudinal Factors in Normal-Hearing Bilingual Listeners' Perception of Degraded English Passages

Purpose

Linguistic variables alone cannot fully account for bilingual listeners' perception of English-running speech. In the present study, the authors investigated how linguistic and attitudinal factors, in combination, affect bilingual processing of temporally degraded English passages in quiet and in noise.

Method

Thirty-six bilinguals with various linguistic and attitudinal characteristics participated in the study. Bilingual individuals completed questionnaires that assessed their language background, willingness to communicate (WTC), and self-perceived communication competency (SPCC) in English. Participants listened to English passage pairs from the Connected Speech Test, presented at 45 dB HL at 3 rates (unprocessed, expanded, compressed), in quiet and in noise.

Results

Language proficiency measures were the most significant linguistic variables, accounting for the largest amount of variance in performance across most conditions. Both WTC and SPCC were associated with performance and contributed to regression models. Subscales assessing listeners' WTC and SPCC in a group were more predictive of performance than communication in an interpersonal or public setting. Performance in noise was more difficult to predict than in quiet. Performance with compression was more difficult to predict than with expansion.

Conclusion

To fully understand bilingual clients' perception of English speech, hearing professionals should consider their attitudinal characteristics in addition to language background.