Age-Related Changes in Speech Recognition Performance in Spanish-English Bilinguals' First and Second Languages

Purpose: The purposes of the current study were to examine the effect of age on Spanish-English bilinguals' speech recognition performance and to identify differences in speech recognition performance between Spanish and English bilinguals' 1st and 2nd languages. Method: Fifteen younger adult Spanish-English bilinguals, 15 older adult Spanish-English bilinguals, 15 younger adult English monolinguals, and 15 older adult English monolinguals participated in this study. Bilingual participants had learned Spanish from birth and began learning English by the age of 4 years (SD = 2.7). Speech recognition performance was measured using the Spanish and English versions of the Hearing in Noise Test (HINT; Nilsson, Soli, & Sullivan, 1994) presented in quiet and in a speech-shaped background noise. Participants also completed a self-assessment of the listening effort they expended on the HINT in background noise. Results: There were no significant differences in performance within or between the participant groups for the HINT in quiet. In background noise, Spanish-English bilinguals performed significantly poorer and had increased listening effort on the English HINT than English monolinguals, with the most significant effects evidenced for the older Spanish-English bilingual group. Overall, the bilingual participants performed significantly better and expended less listening effort on the Spanish than on the English HINT in background noise, despite learning both languages at an early age. Conclusions: Older Spanish-English bilinguals are at an increased disadvantage in understanding English in background noise compared to older English monolinguals. This suggests that current clinical audiological evaluation and treatment procedures may need to be modified to better serve an older bilingual population.