# Mechanisms of accented speech recognition in native and non-native listeners: Biological insights

> **NIH NIH R21** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $160,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The goal of this study is to identify the auditory, cognitive, and linguistic processes that support foreign-accented
speech recognition for native and non-native listeners. With increasing globalization, foreign-accented speech
occurs regularly in real-world human communication and is often a cause of miscommunication. Yet little is
known about how non-native speech alters the mechanisms of speech recognition. To understand the
mechanisms that support accented-speech recognition and their language-dependent plasticity, 60 middle-aged
adults from three different language backgrounds (native English monolingual, Spanish-English bilingual, and
Mandarin-English bilingual) are tested on accented-speech recognition, the frequency-following response (FFR),
and a battery of cognitive and linguistic measures. The accented-speech recognition test uses sentences of
varying linguistic complexity spoken by native-English monolinguals, Spanish-English bilinguals, and Mandarin-
English bilinguals, allowing evaluation of non-native speech recognition in individuals whose language
backgrounds either match or do not match the talkers. The FFR is a neurophysiological response to complex
auditory stimuli that provides fine-grained detail about how multifaceted, overlapping components of sound (e.g.,
fundamental frequency and harmonics) are transformed into discrete neural components. Thus, the FFR can
identify how individual sound components contribute to non-native speech recognition. Additionally, a
comprehensive battery of cognitive and linguistic processes thought to be important for non-native speech
recognition are measured on these participants. Together, these tests delineate the contribution of auditory,
cognitive, and linguistic processes on foreign-accented speech recognition for native and non-native listeners.
By identifying the neural mechanisms underlying accented-speech recognition and language-based plasticity of
these mechanisms, this project provides the groundwork for developing strategies to improve accented speech
recognition. Furthermore, outcomes from this project will aid in our overarching goal of understanding the shared
and separate mechanisms that support all types of degraded-speech recognition and how these mechanisms
are influenced by language experience. Identifying mechanisms of degraded-speech recognition and their
experience dependency will identify ways to improve communication in everyday settings, and will facilitate
development of remediation strategies for individuals whose speech recognition difficulties are exacerbated,
such as individuals with a hearing impairment or language disorder.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10610412
- **Project number:** 5R21DC019448-03
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer Krizman
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $160,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10610412

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10610412, Mechanisms of accented speech recognition in native and non-native listeners: Biological insights (5R21DC019448-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10610412. Licensed CC0.

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