Effect of Cross-word Context on Plosive Identification in Noise for Native and Non-native Listeners

Studies of second language speech perception can highlight the role of prior knowledge in native language processing. The current study compared native and non-native identification of plosives in words spliced from natural utterances when presented in noise, with and without the context of the preceding word. Both listener groups performed at the same level in the absence of context at high noise, suggesting that the cues surviving energetic masking and splicing were similar for the two languages or that they had already been acquired by the non-native group. However, native listeners gained significantly more when contextual information in the preceding word was present, indicating that cross-word, extra-syllabic, cues are not so easily exploited by non-native listeners. An acoustic analysis revealed subtle durational differences in the preceding word rhyme, knowledge of which may contribute to the native advantage. Other possible explanations for the native benefit from cross-word context are discussed.