Effects of listeners' and talkers' linguistic backgrounds on W-22 test performance

The effects of listeners' linguistic backgrounds on their word recognition performance were investigated. Equivalent 50-item CID W-22 word lists were recorded in English by three (Turkish, East Indian, and American) talkers and presented to 27 normal-hearing listeners representing each of these language groups. The listeners' word recognition results were compared within and across groups. A linguistic analysis of the subjects' errors indicated that only the Turkish listeners' word recognition scores were influenced by the talkers' or their own linguistic background. The Turkish listeners performed best with the Turkish talker, while the East Indian and American listeners' scores were not significantly affected by the talkers' linguistic backgrounds. Generally, the findings were not clinically significant and indicate that linguistic background should not be problematic in the clinical evaluation of these subjects' word recognition abilities. However, because some listeners' perceptions of some consonants and vowels showed language background effects, listeners having less experience with English may not perform as well as these subjects, and precautions should be taken in scoring non-native English listeners' responses to word recognition tests.