Many people with hearing loss have difficulty understanding the speech of people with a foreign accent. This listening challenge is even present in favorable communication conditions, such as in a quiet environment and with speechreading. 

Foreign accented speech occurs when people use the sounds or rules of a language (usually typical to their native language) while speaking another language. Different languages affect the production of English in different ways. For example, native speakers of European languages may pronounce the English /r/ sound differently than native English speakers. One may even be able to determine the native language of the speaker, based on the way an individual pronounce specific sounds in English.

Various English dialects can add challenges in speech perception and understanding, even among those who speak English as their first language.  Understanding foreign-accented speech requires more effort and more complex auditory and linguistic processing. It may result in a strong preference for communication with people with typical speech and even avoiding interactions with people who have foreign-accented speech.

How can you improve your speech understanding of people with a foreign accent?

• The more experienced you are with a certain foreign accent, the better you will be at understanding them. People who regularly interact with people who have a foreign accent, such as family members and work colleagues, report improvement in speech understanding over time.

• Use voice-to-text apps. As this technology advances, apps may improve the accuracy of transcribing foreign-accented speech.

• Request that the speaker use shorter sentences. A study by Strori, Bradlow and Souza (2021) found that understanding foreign-accented speech in noisy conditions sometimes improved when the structure of the sentences was less complicated.

Practice listening to foreign-accented speech intentionally

• An evident improvement following a two-session intervention was found by Bieber &  Gordon-Salant (2017).  Study participants improved their sentence understanding of speakers with foreign accents and their reaction times by listening intentionally.  Although the effect was notable, it was not maintained when the participants were tested a week later. However, it is possible that a greater number of sessions and/or a more extended training period might have resulted in long-term improvement.

• Clinician-guided auditory training may help. Focused auditory training emphasizing the key acoustic characteristics of different accents can help someone to encode a speaker, resulting in better understanding of speech. 

• Self-practice. An individual may search for videos online that utilize individuals with accented-speech. Increasing one’s familiarity with the differences between the speech one normally hears and speech with a foreign accent can contribute to a better understanding of speech delivered by people with foreign accents.

Summary

Understanding foreign-accented speech is particularly challenging for people with hearing loss. It may be challenging and seem impossible. However, communicating with non-native English speakers in a global world is inevitable. Although there may be some difficulty, many people are able to improve their ability to understand foreign-accented speech. Regular communication with people who have foreign accents can result in an improvement in understanding them over time. Using voice-to-text apps may be helpful and hopefully even more accurate in the future. Focused training can contribute to better coping and a better understanding of people who speak English with foreign accents.  

Further Reading

Bieber RE &  Gordon-Salant S (2017). Adaptation to Novel Foreign-Accented Speech and Retention of Benefit Following Training: Influence of Aging and Hearing Loss. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 141, 2800.

Strori D, Bradlow AR & Souza PE (2021). Recognizing Foreign-Accented Speech of Varying Intelligibility and Linguistic Complexity: Insights from Older Listeners With or Without Hearing Loss. International Journal of Audiology. 60(2) 140-150.