The influence of gradient foreign accentedness and listener experience on word recognition

Vincent Porretta, Benjamin V. Tucker, Juhani Järvikivi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present article examines lexical processing of foreign-accented speech, specifically as it relates to gradient foreign accentedness and listener experience. In two experiments, we investigate the effect of accentedness and experience on the strength of lexical activation and the time-course of word recognition utilizing native- and Mandarin-accented English words. Gradient and non-linear patterns emerged for both accentedness and experience. Experiment 1 employed cross-modal identity priming and the analysis of reaction times indicates that tokens with a greater degree of accentedness result in a reduced effectiveness of the identity prime. Listener experience with Chinese-accented English positively influenced activation strength in a gradient fashion. Experiment 2 employed visual world eye-tracking and the analysis of looks to the target word indicates that the time-course of recognition differs across the accentedness continuum, slowing as accentedness increases. Again, listener experience improved the time-course of word recognition. The results are discussed in terms of foreign-accented speech processing and long-term adaptation to non-native variability and suggest the need for a dynamic systems approach.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-21
Number of pages21
JournalJournal of Phonetics
Volume58
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Foreign-accented speech
  • Listener experience
  • Priming
  • Visual world eye-tracking

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Speech and Hearing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The influence of gradient foreign accentedness and listener experience on word recognition'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this