Mandarin Chinese vowel and tone identification in noise: Effects of native English experience

Abstract

Several studies found differences in English vowel identification between Chinese-native listeners in the United States (CNU) and China (CNC) in multi-talkers babble (MTB) and temporally modulated (TM) noise, but not in quiet condition. Two possible explanations were proposed: first, CNU listeners used temporal modulation of noise more efficiently than CNC listeners; second, CNU listeners had less informational masking of MTB than their CNC peers. The current study aimed at exploring whether the difference in noise processing between CNU and CNC listeners was also presented for their native speech perception. Chinese vowel and 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 temporal modulation in noise at low SNRs, while the informational masking was comparable between the two groups. In conclusion, the 1–3 year residency in English-speaking country may improve Chinese-native listeners’ capacity to use temporal cues in noise, but may not improve their ability against informational masking of English babble when listening to their native speech.