1. Bi-dialectalism: the investigation of the cognitive advantage and non-native dialect perception in noise
Brittany Moore, Jackie Rayyan, & Lynn Gilbertson, Ph.D University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders
Evaluating the Cognitive Advantage
Evaluating Speech–in-Noise Disadvantage
Bi-dialectal similar to bilingual?
Highly effective executive functions have been shown to assist individuals when listening to speech in a noisy environment. Existing research has shown that bilinguals score higher on measures of cognitive function compared to their monolingual peers, but exhibit greater difficulty listening to their second language in noise2,3,4. This is known as the “cognitive advantage” and the “speech-in-noise disadvantage”. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether or not the “executive function advantage” and the “speech-in-noise disadvantage” hold true for bi-dialectals.
Bilinguals have command of two rule-based languages where similarly, individuals who are bi-dialectal command two rule-based variations within a single parent language. It was hypothesized that the ability to command two rule-based variations within a parent language would stimulate brain regions that improve executive functions while at the same time create difficulty listening to speech in noise for individuals who are bi-dialectal.
Existing research reveals that bilinguals score higher on measures of cognitive function compared to their monolingual peers 2,3,4. Does this hold true for bi-dialectal speakers?
Existing research shows that bilinguals have difficulty listening to their second language in noise.2,3,4 Does this hold true for bi-dialectal speakers?
Speech in Noise Task
Cognitive Tasks
Participants
Participants performed a series of cognitive measures. These measures were based on working memory, inhibition, and processing speed.
Participants performed a speech in noise task with both standard American English (SAE) and African American English (AAE). Participants repeated target sentence in background noise.
Mono-dialectal
Bi-dialectal n 15 4
Sex
Male 1
Female 14 3
Age (yrs)
Mean
19.5
21.5
Range
19-21
19-24
All participants passed a hearing screen in both ears prior to completing any study tasks.
Participants self-identified as mono-dialectal (speaking only one dialect) or bi-dialectal.
RESULTS
Conclusions & Future Directions
Due to the very small sample size the conclusions from the data are limited.
Having the ability to command two variations of the same language may stimulate brain regions that improve cognitive functions.
Years of practice with two dialects in the education systems may explain the better performance in noisy listening of college age bi-dialectal speakers.
Future directions:
Conduct study with young children entering the school setting who use a different dialect at home than in school to evaluate if indeed experience over many years reduces the speech in noise disadvantage for bi-dialectal speakers.
Results
Results
The bi-dialectal group revealed a higher mean than the mono-dialectal group in all three cognitive measures. Data supports cognitive advantage of bi-dialectal speakers, similar to bilingual speakers.
Data doesn’t reveal a speech in noise disadvantage for the bi-dialectal group, but the mono-dialectal group perform more poorly in their non-native dialect condition.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the Undergraduate Research Program for funding the initial version of this research study. We are also very grateful to the various student organizations and programs that allowed us to recruit participants for the study. We also thank the student participants for donating their time to this project.
References
Lutfi, R. A., Gilbertson, L., Heo, I., Chang, A., & Stamas, J. (2013). The information-divergence hypothesis of informational masking. Journal Of The Acoustical Society Of America,134(3), doi: /
Gilbertson, L., & Lutfi, R. A. (2014). Correlations of decision weights and cognitive function for the masked discrimination of vowels by young and old adults. Hearing research, 317, 9-14.
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