Bilingualism Augments Memory Advantage of Accent Congruency in Word Recognition

Potential differences in word and speaker recognition, among monolinguals versus bilinguals, were investigated. Participants heard English words spoken by a male or female with a native Canadian English accent or a Chinese accent at study. Then, participants performed an old/new word recognition test with new words and half of the study words. Last, participants performed a same/different voice recognition test with the other half of the study words. Voice congruency varied so that each trial represented a same-talker, same-accent/different-gender, different-accent/same-gender, or different-accent/different-gender condition. Results indicated a word recognition benefit of accent congruency for participants fluent in the primary language of the talker. This finding suggests that familiarity with accent provides a benefit in verbal memory.