Oct 31, 2011 12:34 PM
Are you a non-native speaker of English who frequently interacts with older adults? Older adults may have conditions that cause communication challenges such as reduced hearing acuity, dementia, or aphasia – a disorder in the ability to comprehend language and/or to speak. Is your speech difficult for others to understand?
According to audiologist Sandra Gordon-Salant, “A lot of older people will tell you they have trouble understanding accented English.” (“Accented Speech and the Older Listener,” Advance for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, May 18, 2009, by Alyssa Banotai.) Research that was conducted for the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in quiet and noisy settings by Dr.Gordon-Salant and her colleagues concluded that the older adults in the study had more difficulty understanding mildly and moderately accented English than the younger adults did. In a later study, which was also supported by the National Institute on Aging, all of the listeners performed more poorly as the degree of accent exhibited by the presenter increased. Older listeners with hearing losses performed more poorly than both the younger listeners and the older listeners with normal hearing in all of the accent conditions. (“Recognition of accented English in quiet by younger normal-hearing listeners and older listeners with normal hearing and hearing loss,” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, July, 2010, by Sandra Gordon-Salant, Grace H. Yeni-Komshian, and Peter J. Fitzgibbons.) Approximately 40 to 45 percent of people who are over the age of 65 and more than 83 percent of people over the age of 70 have a significant hearing impairment. (“Hearing loss and aging: New research findings and clinical implications,” Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, July/August, 2005, by Sandra Gordon-Salant, Ph.D.)
A study that was conducted by Nidhi Mahendra, Kathryn Bayles, and Cheryl Tomoeda in 1999 compared the performance of normal older individuals and individuals with Alzheimer’s disease on tasks presented by speakers with familiar versus unfamiliar accents. The researchers found that both the normal older individuals and those with Alzheimer’s disease had significantly lower scores in response to an unfamiliar accent. Those with Alzheimer’s disease demonstrated “… greater difficulty repeating items produced with an unfamiliar accent.” (“Investigating the impact of unfamiliar speaker accent on auditory comprehension in adults with aphasia,” International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, January-February, 2011, by Jane Dunton, Carolyn Bruce, and Caroline Newton.)
Jane Dunton, Carolyn Bruce, and Caroline Newton investigated the impact of a speaker’s accent on the ability of adults with aphasia following a stroke to comprehend sentences. The participants had significantly more difficulty understanding the sentences that were spoken using an unfamiliar accent than those that were spoken using a familiar accent. Some of them demonstrated a 50% reduction in the number of correct responses that they produced. A few participants who had perfect or almost perfect scores in the familiar condition had difficulty when an unfamiliar accent was used. (“Investigating the impact of unfamiliar speaker accent on auditory comprehension in adults with aphasia.”)
In the studies that were described, older adults – especially those with communication challenges – were often found to demonstrate significant difficulty in comprehending unfamiliar accents. When individuals who are older – especially those with conditions such as reduced hearing acuity, dementia, and aphasia – are treated by healthcare providers who are non-native speakers of English, the quality of the care that they receive can be compromised unless adjustments are made. As Dunton, Bruce, and Newton have suggested, “Accent is one of the factors that healthcare providers could consider when adapting their communication style to their listener.” Non-native speakers of English who work in a variety of fields other than healthcare interact with older adults on a regular basis.They could benefit from adapting their communication style to their listener as well. Speech-language pathologists who provide accent modification services can help non-native speakers make the adaptations that are needed, so they can communicate more effectively with older adults.
Celia C. Goldstein, M.A., CCC-SLP holds a certificate of clinical competence in speech-language pathology and is licensed in Tennessee. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree from Vanderbilt University. She has more than twenty-five years of experience as a speech-language pathologist and has had additional training in accent modification. Ms. Goldstein is the granddaughter of immigrants.
celiagoldsteintn@comcast.net 615-776-8674
