Department of Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2018 Jul 13;61(7):1815-1830. doi: 10.1044/2018_JSLHR-H-17-0254.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 2nd language proficiency and linguistic uncertainty on performance and listening effort in mixed language contexts.
Thirteen native speakers of Dutch with varying degrees of fluency in English listened to and repeated sentences produced in both Dutch and English and presented in the presence of single-talker competing speech in both Dutch and English. Target and masker language combinations were presented in both blocked and mixed (unpredictable) conditions. In the blocked condition, in each block of trials the target-masker language combination remained constant, and the listeners were informed of both prior to beginning the block. In the mixed condition, target and masker language varied randomly from trial to trial. All listeners participated in all conditions. Performance was assessed in terms of speech reception thresholds, whereas listening effort was quantified in terms of pupil dilation.
Performance (speech reception thresholds) and listening effort (pupil dilation) were both affected by 2nd language proficiency (English test score) and target and masker language: Performance was better in blocked as compared to mixed conditions, with Dutch as compared to English targets, and with English as compared to Dutch maskers. English proficiency was correlated with listening performance. Listeners also exhibited greater peak pupil dilation in mixed as compared to blocked conditions for trials with Dutch maskers, whereas pupil dilation during preparation for speaking was higher for English targets as compared to Dutch ones in almost all conditions.
Both listener's proficiency in a 2nd language and uncertainty about the target language on a given trial play a significant role in how bilingual listeners attend to speech in the presence of competing speech in different languages, but precise effects also depend on which language is serving as target and which as masker.
本研究旨在探讨第二语言熟练度和语言不确定性对混合语言环境下表现和听力努力的影响。
13 名以荷兰语为母语的人，其英语熟练度不同，他们听并重复用荷兰语和英语说出的句子，并在荷兰语和英语的单说话者竞争语音中呈现。目标和掩蔽语的组合在两种条件下呈现：阻塞和混合（不可预测）。在阻塞条件下，在每个试验块中，目标-掩蔽语组合保持不变，在开始块之前，听众会被告知这一点。在混合条件下，目标和掩蔽语随机变化。所有听众都参加了所有条件。表现是根据语音接收阈值来评估的，而听力努力则根据瞳孔扩张来量化。
表现（语音接收阈值）和听力努力（瞳孔扩张）都受到第二语言熟练度（英语测试分数）和目标和掩蔽语的影响：在阻塞条件下，表现优于混合条件，以荷兰语为目标，以英语为掩蔽语。英语熟练度与听力表现相关。与阻塞条件相比，在有荷兰语掩蔽语的试验中，听众在混合条件下的瞳孔扩张峰值更大，而在几乎所有条件下，在准备说话时，英语目标的瞳孔扩张比荷兰语目标更高。
听众在第二语言中的熟练度以及对特定试验中目标语言的不确定性在双语听众在不同语言的竞争语音中注意语音方面都起着重要作用，但具体影响还取决于哪种语言是目标语言，哪种是掩蔽语。
