Mandarin Chinese vowel-plus-tone identification in noise: Effects of language experience

Abstract

Several studies found better English vowel identification in English multi-talker babble (MTB) and temporally-modulated (TM) noise, but not in quiet condition for native Chinese listeners in the US (CNU) with the US residency of 1–3 years than native Chinese listeners in China (CNC) with no residency history in English speaking countries. Two possible explanations were proposed: (1) CNU listeners used temporal dips of noise more efficiently than CNC listeners; and (2) CNU listeners had less informational masking of MTB than their CNC peers. The current study explored whether the difference in noise processing between CNU and CNC listeners was also presented for their native speech perception. Chinese vowel-plus-tone identifications were measured for CNU and CNC in quiet, stationary and TM noise, babble-modulated noise, and MTB. The identification scores of CNU listeners were significantly higher than CNC listeners in most noisy backgrounds, whereas both groups had the same performance in quiet. Moreover, compared with CNC listeners, CNU listeners gained greater masking releases from the temporal modulation in TM noise at low SNRs, whereas no significant difference was found in informational masking between the two groups. In conclusion, the native English experience may improve native Chinese listeners' capacity to use temporal glimpses in TM noise, possibly depending on the modulation frequency and depth, while it may not improve their ability to resist the informational masking of babble when perceiving their native speech.