Comparing Speech Intelligibility and Listening Effort Between Native and Non-Native Languages: Application to French...

In a complex acoustic environment, speech intelligibility and listening effort vary depending on both listener characteristics and environmental conditions. A key factor is the language of the speech stimuli, which can influence measured outcomes, particularly when the corpus language differs from the listener's native language. This study compared speech intelligibility and subjective listening effort among 51 French listeners using both the original English and the French version of the coordinate response measure.

To assess performance across different auditory conditions, participants completed tasks in two scenarios: speech-in-noise, to evaluate energetic masking; and speech-in-speech, to assess informational masking.

Participants showed significantly better intelligibility and reduced listening effort in French compared with English. In both conditions, the language effect increased at more challenging masking levels. In the speech-in-speech condition, however, a floor effect emerged beyond a certain threshold. The interaction between language and task difficulty highlights the importance of using a native language corpus to reduce experimental bias.

Overall, measuring speech intelligibility in a listener's native language reduces the confounding effects of language proficiency, enabling a more accurate assessment of the effects of listening conditions, intelligibility, and effort.