Influence of language experience on digit recognition by English and Chinese listeners

Digit recognition was measured in quiet and in two noise conditions by English-native (EN) and Chinese-native (CN) listeners. EN listeners were tested using English digits and CN listeners were tested using both English and Chinese digits. In quiet, forward digit span recall worsened for both groups as the number of digits was increased. Significant effects of language experience were observed with five or more digits. Language experience had a significant effect on digit recognition in babble but not in steady noise. These results suggest that understanding of a nonnative language can be influenced by both cognitive load and listening environment.