Speaker variability in spoken word recognition: Evidence from non-native listeners

Abstract

Non-native listeners face many challenges during spoken word recognition. On the lexical level, the vocabulary size of non-native listeners is usually reduced relative to native listeners. Lexical competition can arise from the lexicon in both the native and the non-native language during speech perception. How do non-native listeners resolve speaker variability, a challenge that is presumably non-lexical in spoken word recognition? This study aims to explore non-native spoken word recognition in the face of speaker variability. Mandarin speakers using English as a second or foreign language are recruited to listen to pairs of English words (e.g., cat—dog). Lexical decision time and accuracy on the second item in a pair (e.g., dog) are measured. The pairs are either spoken by the same or different native speakers of American English to examine the effect of speaker change on reaction time and accuracy in a short-term priming paradigm. Non-native listeners’ pattern of response is explored as a function of the amount of priming received against speaker variability.