![]() ![]() Use of cloth face coverings to help slow the spread of COVID-19,” (Last viewed ). ![]() Face masks, along with physical distancing, have been recommended for widespread use by the Centers for Disease Control as a means of providing protection from COVID-19 infection ( CDC, 2020 10. The recent global spread of COVID-19 has significantly increased the use of protective face masks beyond health care settings, making speech communication more challenging. 1 for a summary of experimental conditions). Additionally, we examine whether a listener-oriented clear speaking style can alleviate some perceptual difficulty for speech produced with protective face masks (see Fig. Specifically, we look at word recognition and recall in quiet and in the presence of competing speech for native and non-native accented English produced with and without masks. Here, we examine unique speech processing difficulties arising from the use of protective face masks in combination with these frequently encountered communication challenges. Each of these factors plays a significant role in determining how well people understand each other. In addition to this variability within the auditory domain, listeners may or may not have the benefit of being able to see the person they are listening to. As indicated by United States demographics, everyday communication-including in educational and health settings-is increasingly likely to happen between native and non-native speakers of English who may have less experience communicating in their second language (L2). Background noise interferes with access to speech signals, and speech itself varies with respect to how clearly it is produced by speakers. The findings have implications for communication in classrooms and hospitals where listeners interact with teachers and healthcare providers, oftentimes non-native speakers, through their protective barriers.ĭuring everyday communication, the cues available to listeners for understanding speech vary widely. Speaking clearly, reducing noise, and using surgical masks as well as good signal amplification can help compensate for the loss of intelligibility due to background noise, lack of visual cues, physical distancing, or non-native speech. ![]() Clear speech with a mask significantly improved accuracy in all listening conditions. Masks affected non-native speech processing at easier noise levels than native speech. The results showed that word recognition and recall of speech produced with a mask can be as accurate as without a mask in optimal listening conditions. Native English listeners watched video clips presented in quiet or mixed with competing speech. One native and one non-native speaker of English recorded video clips in conversational speech without a mask and conversational and clear speech with a mask. We also test whether clear speech can alleviate perceptual difficulty for masked speech. The present study examines how signal degradation and loss of visual information due to masks affects intelligibility and memory for native and non-native speech. Though necessary, protective mask wearing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic presents communication challenges. ![]()
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