Challenges for second-language learners in difficult acoustic environments

Most anyone who has lived in a foreign country for any length of time knows that even everyday tasks can become tiring and frustrating when one must accomplish them while navigating a seemingly endless maze of unfamiliar social customs, vocabulary and speech that seem far removed from one’s language laboratory experience. Add to these challenges noise, reverberation, and/or cognitive demand (e.g., learning caculus, responding to multiple customer, and co-worker demands) and even experienced learners may begin to question their proficiency. This presentation will provide an overview of the speech perception and production challenges faced by second-language learners in difficult acoustic environments that we may encounter every day, such as in large lecture halls, retail or customer service, to name a few. Past and current research investigating the effects of various environmental challenges on both relatively early and later learners of a second language will be considered, as well as strategies that may mitigate challenges for both speakers and listeners in some of these conditions.