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Dialectal effects on a clinical Spanish word recognition test
Lu-Feng Shi1, Luz Adriana Canizales
1Long Island University–Brooklyn Campus, NY, USA. lu.shi@liu.edu
American Journal of Audiology
|October 16, 2012
Summary
Spanish dialectal variations significantly impact word recognition test performance in bilingual individuals. Highland dialect speakers and Spanish-dominant listeners generally performed better, highlighting the need for dialect awareness in clinical assessments.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Linguistics
- Speech-Language Pathology
Background:
- American Spanish exhibits significant phonetic and lexical diversity.
- Understanding dialectal variations is crucial for accurate clinical assessments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of American Spanish dialectal differences on the performance of Spanish/English bilinguals in a clinical word recognition test.
Main Methods:
- Forty Spanish/English bilinguals were grouped by language dominance (Spanish vs. English) and dialect (Highland vs. Caribbean/Coastal).
- Participants completed a Spanish word recognition test with bisyllabic words presented at varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) in speech-spectrum noise.
Main Results:
- Both dialect and language dominance significantly influenced word recognition scores.
- Highland dialect speakers and Spanish-dominant listeners demonstrated higher performance.
- Dialectal differences were more pronounced in quiet and +6 dB SNR conditions.
Conclusions:
- Spanish dialects substantially affect the clinical evaluation of word recognition abilities.
- Clinicians should consider the specific phonetic characteristics of a client's dialect when interpreting test results.
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