The present study aims to examine perceptual differences in the identification of
English words between Japanese professional interpreters educated in English in
childhood in a foreign country (returnee interpreters) and Japanese professional
interpreters educated in Japanese in childhood in Japan (non-returnee
interpreters). We conducted an identification test of English words in sentences
with returnee interpreters and non-returnee interpreters. In the test, the
participants were asked to listen to recordings including English words and to
identify the words. The results showed that the returnee interpreters identified the
English words significantly better than the non-returnee interpreters. Also, we
found some commonalities in phonetic perception (listening skills) between the
returnee and non-returnee interpreters.
