Non-native listeners experience greater difficulty perceiving second-language (L2) speech in noise, yet whether first-language (L1) phonological skills continue to support L2 perception under adverse acoustic conditions remains unclear.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No immediate actionable change for clinical practice; findings are primarily relevant to speech-language researchers and educators working with bilingual pediatric populations in noisy environments.
Clarifying how native-language phonology interacts with second-language speech perception in noise has implications for designing auditory training programs for bilingual children.
- 01Behavioral study of Chinese children identifying English vowels in noise.
- 02Machine-learning analysis used to interpret perceptual data.
- 03Native Mandarin phonological skills showed reduced influence on English vowel identification in noisy conditions.
- 04Findings challenge the assumption that L1 interference is dominant in noise.
- 05Implications for auditory training in bilingual pediatric populations.
Native-language (L1) phonological skills have reduced influence on English vowel identification in noise for Chinese children.
studypartially supportedMachine-learning analysis can effectively characterize perceptual patterns in pediatric bilingual speech perception.
studyunclear- PMID
- 42851588
- DOI
- 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1952327.
- Journal
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 2b
- Population
- Chinese children learning English as a second language
- Intervention
- English vowel identification task in noise
Primary outcomes
English vowel identification accuracy in noise; Degree of native-language phonological influence on L2 vowel perception