What is it about?
We known American Spanish has many dialects. Our study included two dialects that differ significantly in phonology - Caribbean Spanish and Highland Spanish. These listeners were presented bisyllabic Spanish words recorded in a neutral dialect (Mexican Spanish), in quiet and in noise. Because the study was conducted in New York City, where many Spanish speakers also use English on a daily basis, we carefully controlled for the relative dominance of language (Spanish versus English) in our volunteers. Interestingly, a clear dialectal effect was seen regardless of listeners' dominant language.
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Why is it important?
We know people speaking Language A typically do not do as well when listening in Language B, but we often overlook the fact that people speaking a different dialect may be subject to a similar disadvantage. The very limited amount of information in the dialectal effect comes from studies comparing American or South African English with British English. Here, we provide the first set of data to show that not only does a dialectal effect exist among American Spanish speakers, but it is also clinically relevant and measurable. Evidence from our study helps raise awareness among clinical practitioners that all Spanish speakers do not speak the same dialect/language.
Perspectives
It is high time we acknowledged that dialects are not some inferior forms of language. Two dialects could be more closely related than two languages, but the differences between them are very real and have clinical and real-world implications. This study also demonstrate how important it is to factor into the design a sociolinguistic consideration. Because most Caribbean Spanish speakers in New York City are from Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, their ties with the States are stronger and their English exposure is considerably longer and more consistent than Highland Spanish speakers. Consequently, we designed our study with dominant language as a potentially confounding factor. Again, we cannot emphasis enough the importance for researchers to know well their volunteers and the communities they are from.
Lu Shi
Long Island University - Brooklyn Campus
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Dialectal Effects on a Clinical Spanish Word Recognition Test, American Journal of Audiology, June 2013, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/1059-0889(2012/12-0036).
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