Exploring speech learning ability at an advanced age: A comparison of the efficacy of Mandarin tone training with young adults and seniors

The present study tests the claim that speech learning ability extends over the entire life span. This claim is well supported for learners up to the age of ca. 35 years, but studies of older learners are very scarce. We compared the efficacy of High Variability Perceptual Training with Mandarin tones for 18 participants each in two age groups, 19–34 and 61–77 years, with the non-tone language Danish as their L1. Results were compared with age-matched control groups (n = 9 each). Perceptual accuracy increased significantly for the two age groups of trainees, who participated in 10 training sessions over 3 weeks, between pre-training and post-training. However, the mean increase in identification accuracy was significantly higher for juniors (from 56.2% to 93.6%) than for seniors (from 54% to 74.0%). Whereas all juniors benefited significantly from training, several seniors did not. Participants’ identification accuracy before and after training will be compared to individual measures of musical sophistication and pitch discrimination thresholds. Overall, the study suggests that an advanced chronological age does not necessarily affect speech learning ability negatively. [Research supported by a grant from the Independent Research Fund Denmark, grant DFF2 0132-00008B.]