LANGUAGE EXPOSURE BENEFIT TO TALKER LEARNING IN AN UNFAMILIAR LANGUAGE Adriel John Orena 1 , Rachel M. Theodore 2 , Linda Polka 1 1 McGill University, 2 University of Connecticut adriel.orena@mail.mcgill.ca ABSTRACT Recent research shows that exposure to an unfamiliar language is sufficient in improving talker learning. Here, we further investigated the nature of this effect by exploring individual differences and methodological issues. Two groups of English- monolingual adults were recruited: one with regular exposure to French (Montréal), and the other without (Storrs). Both groups learned the voices of English talkers faster than French talkers; however, in contrast to previous findings, no group differences were found in talker learning, which may be due to task differences (4-AFC vs. 2-AFC task). However, stable patterns in individual differences emerged: performance in identifying English talkers was correlated with performance in identifying French talkers for Storrs residents, but not for Montréal residents. These findings suggest that a language- general “talent” contributes to talker learning only in encounters with highly novel languages, and that exposure to the surface acoustic-phonetic properties of an unfamiliar language drives the language exposure benefit. Keywords: Speech Perception, Talker Learning, Talker Identification, Language Exposure 1. INTRODUCTION Over two decades ago, Goggin, Thompson, Strube and Simental [3] showed that listeners are better at learning the voices of talkers who speak a familiar language than talkers who speak an unfamiliar language. This language familiarity effect is robust and has been observed in many cross-language studies with different language pairs [5, 9]. Subsequent studies have extended this effect to a gradient of unfamiliar talkers: listeners are better at learning the voices of talkers who speak like them than talkers with different regional accents [8], talkers with foreign accents [10], and talkers who speak the listener’s second language [5]. Collectively, these studies suggest a relationship between talker-learning performance and familiarity with a dialect or language: the more familiar you are with a language, the better you are at recognizing talkers in that language. There is strong evidence that phonological knowledge mediates talker learning [3, 7]. However, infants also show a language familiarity effect for talker discrimination [4], suggesting that language exposure alone can promote talker learning. This hypothesis was recently tested by [6], who confirmed a role for phonetic sensitivity in the gradient effects of the language familiarity benefit. In [6], groups of monolingual-English adults were trained to learn the voices of talkers speaking either a familiar language (i.e., English) or an unfamiliar language (i.e., French). The results showed that listeners who have had regular exposure to French via their living situation (Montréal, Québec residents) outperformed listeners who have had no French exposure (Storrs, Connecticut residents) in learning the voices of French talkers. Despite not having any proficiency in French, monolingual- English Montréal residents already gained some benefit in talker learning. Thus, these findings extend the gradient effects of language experience on talker learning to include perceptual learning that precedes word comprehension. The current study investigates the nature of this language exposure benefit to talker learning by exploring individual differences in talker learning. First, we aimed to replicate the language exposure benefit found in [6] using an easier training paradigm than previous studies (see Methods section for justification). Second, we asked whether individual differences contribute to talker learning, and if so, how they might present themselves differently according to our language groups. For example, it is possible that some listeners may be better at recognizing talkers solely based on language-general acoustic properties of the voice. Thus, we asked whether such a ‘talent’ exists for identifying talkers speaking a highly novel language, and whether it continues to play a large role after having systematic exposure to that language. Finally, we conducted exploratory analysis to determine what kinds of language exposure (e.g., print media? TV/film?) are important for predicting talker learning abilities in individuals with exposure to an unfamiliar language.