Talker- and language-specific effects on Cantonese and English speech intelligibility

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of talkers and languages on speech intelligibility in a tonal and non-tonal language. Using the matrix sentence test (Hochmuth et al., 2015), 4 bilingual speakers recorded Cantonese and English sentences that were presented to two groups of listeners according to their native language: 15 Cantonese and 15 English listening participants. Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) were obtained in 32 listening conditions to examine their effects on speech intelligibility. That is, 2 languages x 4 noise conditions (stationary and fluctuating noise, multi-talker babble, reverberant noise) x 2 speaking styles (Lombard and plain speaking) x 2 genders, in 2 sessions. The results suggested significant talker effects in speech intelligibility across both languages, but no strong correlation is found between their genders and speech intelligibility. While English yielded slightly better SRTs compared to Cantonese under certain noise conditions, SRTs obtained with Cantonese was considerably better than English in reverberant conditions. Lombard speaking style also yielded better SRTs compared to plain speaking style in both languages.