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Article

Perceptual Differences in Urban Soundscape Assessment Using Protocol Proposed in Method a of the ISO/TS 12913–2: A Cross-Language Comparison between Arabic and French Attributes

by
Djihed Berkouk
1,2,*,
Tallal Abdel Karim Bouzir
3,
Sara Khelil
1,
Nader Azab
1 and
Mohamed Mansour Gomaa
1,4
1
Department of Architecture, Dar Al-Hekma University, Jeddah 22246, Saudi Arabia
2
Department of Architecture, Biskra University, Biskra 07000, Algeria
3
Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning, Blida University, Blida 09000, Algeria
4
Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Aswan University, Aswan 81542, Egypt
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Urban Sci. 2024, 8(3), 116; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci8030116
Submission received: 11 May 2024 / Revised: 27 July 2024 / Accepted: 31 July 2024 / Published: 16 August 2024
(This article belongs to the Collection Urban Acoustic Environments)
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Abstract

:
The urban soundscape contributes significantly to defining human perception and experience. Several standard assessment methods for data collection refer to in situ evaluations to determine how people perceive urban acoustic qualities. These methods, which generally involve soundwalks accompanied by questionnaires, are valuable but need to be validated in different cultural contexts. To address this need, international efforts such as the Soundscape Attribute Translation Project (SATP) are underway to ensure the effectiveness of a data collection standard in non-English-speaking regions. As a part of the SATP project, this study explores potential variations in how people experience urban soundscapes in North Africa. A standardized listening experiment was used to compare how Arabic speakers and French speakers rate the perceived affective qualities (PAQ) of urban soundscapes. Using data collected in public urban spaces in London, participants from both language groups rated 27 recorded urban soundscapes using a PAQ questionnaire. Findings from the Kruskal–Wallis H-test suggest that the perception of pleasant, chaotic, and vibrant are significant, while the dimensions of eventful, monotonous, and quiet show no significant distinctions between the two PAQ groups. Furthermore, opposing Pearson correlations were observed for the attributes of pleasantness and eventfulness, along with contradictions for vibrant, monotonous, and calm. The two-dimensional circumplex models visually map the differences in perceptual responses between the two PAQ groups, displaying distinct circular distortions along the monotone-vibrant axis for Arabic PAQs and the chaotic-calm axis for the French PAQs. The findings of this study suggest that further investigations are needed to understand whether the differences in the urban soundscape perception between these two PAQs are due to linguistic factors or other factors.

1. Introduction

Humans relate emotionally to their urban acoustic environment by interpreting the sensory information it provides [1]. This explains the researchers’ interest in urban sound and why soundscape has become a worthy research topic [2]. In cases where researchers consider soundscapes to be referring to the urban acoustic environment as it is perceived, experienced, and/or understood by humans in any context [3,4], their studies have generally focused on ecological validity and generalization of their findings by studying a range of urban soundscapes that represent the perceptual attribute of the studied spaces [5]. As the future of urban sound research and practice evolves toward a more holistic soundscape focus [6], the focus of most soundscape studies is on how people perceive their urban acoustic environment because there is potential to more realistically improve the sound of spaces by looking at how people perceive the current soundscape [7]. For this reason, it is becoming clear that a predictive model of the users’ perceptual response to the auditory environment is required before attempting to apply soundscape in practical applications in the built environment [6]. However, even though many urban soundscape examination methods have been particularly tested to collect human perception data as well as physical and psychoacoustic knowledge about the acoustic environment [8] and socio-acoustic consideration [9], there is still a need for a model defining the fundamental aspects of urban soundscape perception, which can be used to measure and improve urban soundscape quality [10].
Listening tests [11,12] and focus groups are among the most commonly used methods for collecting data on various aspects of urban soundscape studies [9], including sound quality [13,14] and sound source identification and evaluation [15,16]. These methods of urban sound listening experiments use certain types of questions, such as the differential semantic scale [17,18] and rating scale for effective data collection. For this, questionnaires are widely used in this field as a data collection tool, often in combination with in situ measurements and sound recordings, to comprehensively assess the soundscape [19]. This approach involves listening to recorded soundtracks from the field, followed by in-depth analyses of completed questionnaires by listeners. On this subject, several studies have attempted to develop and propose perceptual attributes representative of the soundscape [5,20]. For example, Axelsson et al. (2010) [10] tested 116 different affective attributes such as pleasant, exciting, and calm, among others. Their study resulted in a circumplex model that integrates many potential perceptual attributes into a small number of fundamental dimensions of soundscape perception, grouped into three main components including pleasantness, eventfulness, and familiarity. Other research has also been based on indicators of perceived soundscape quality [21], such as pleasantness [22], eventfulness and satisfaction [23], valence and arousal [24], and calmness and vibrancy [25]. However, most of these studies are essentially linked to the model proposed by Axelsson et al. (2010) [10]. For example, the study by Axelsson (2015) [26] was based on eight soundscape adjectives (pleasant, vibrant, eventful, chaotic, annoying, monotonous, uneventful, and calm), while the study by Romero et al. (2019) [27] used attributes similar to those of Axelsson [26], such as (pleasant, unpleasant, monotonous, exciting, eventful, uneventful, chaotic, calm). Furthermore, Masullo et al. (2021) [28] proposed two sets of attributes (17 and 12) related to emotional salience. The first set comprises 17 items mainly derived from Axelsson’s original model, including adjectives related to familiar and unfamiliar, while the second set of 12 items was obtained from previous studies [29,30,31,32,33,34]. Proposals for perceptual attributes to assess the soundscape have attracted a great deal of interest and have had a significant impact on the field. As soundscape research has traditionally been based on environmental acoustics and environmental psychology, it is usually necessary to interview people to gather relevant data [35]. It is important to note that these subjects are not necessarily native English speakers or conducted in a language other than English. Therefore, some studies aim to provide recommendations for the future development of protocols in the standardization process, especially because these indicators suggest that the field is still evolving [36]. Hence, more and more researchers around the world, such as the Acoustics Group of the Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering (IEDE) of the University College London (UCL), are paying more and more attention to attribute validation to assess urban soundscape perception across different countries.
The lack of sufficient translations for the validation of standardized attributes is a major challenge to the inclusion and understanding of the differences in both psychoacoustic and psycholinguistic senses in soundscape studies [37]. Translations can lead to a loss of meaning [38], misleading designers and decision-makers about noise-abatement policies and soundscape design. To address this gap, from the year 2019, the SATP collaborative project attempted to successfully create validated translations of the international standard ISO/TS 12913-2:2018 [36] to measure soundscapes. With a network of over 60 researchers in 20 different institutions, the Soundscape Attributes Translation Project (SATP) has set its sights on providing an accurate translation of the attributes of Axelsson’s circumplex model to standardize soundscape assessments in different languages, cultures, and countries, translating the ISO descriptors through two main stages: collecting a set of attributes in each local language during stage 1 and through experiments in stage 2 [39].
During stage 1, several studies were published that focused on validating the method of translating perceptual urban soundscape attributes from English into different languages, such as Turkish [40], Bahasa Melayu [41], Indonesian [42], Thais [37], Greek [43], French [44], and Arabic. Some other non-SATP studies have presented soundscape attributes translated using other languages [45,46] or by the use of facial emojis, as in the study by Aumond et al. (2023) [47]. On the other hand, there is a small body of studies carried out as part of the SATP project, which has finalized their work in stage 2. On this subject, a recent study was published by Antunes et al. (2023) [48] on a transnational European and Brazilian investigation of the Portuguese translation of the perceptual attributes of the soundscape. Although studies have investigated to some extent subjective responses to sounds using attributes in French [49] and Arabic [50,51], no study in the scientific literature has yet performed a cross-language comparison of soundscape evaluation using perceptual attributes translated into Arabic and French by bilingual researchers and carried out by bilingual participants in Algeria.
Arabic and French are distinct languages spoken in different regions of the world, and they have significantly influenced the history, culture, and identity of the people who speak them. Despite their different origins and histories, both languages play a crucial role in the North African region, offering a diverse range of linguistic and cultural richness. In North Africa, especially in the Maghreb countries such as Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, Standard Arabic (ISO 639-3 code: arb) [52] is widely spoken and often used as an official language. On the other hand, the French language (ISO 639-3 code: fra) [52] holds a prominent position in the region due to French colonial influence. Today in Algeria, Arabic is the official language, but French is also extensively used. During the French colonial period between 1830 and 1962, French served as the official language and was widely used in administration, education, and media, but the French historical culture continues to hold significance due to its historical legacy and its value in commercial and diplomatic relations with France and other Francophone nations. Most Algerians today are bilingual, speaking French and Algerian Arabic, a distinct dialect from modern standard Arabic. Additionally, the French language continues to strongly influence Algerian culture, especially in literature, music, and cinema. However, it is essential to note that translations of the eight Perceived Affective Qualities (PAQs) into Standard Arabic and French were conducted by two Algerian bilingual research groups. These groups included both native Arabic speakers (during the initial stage of the SATP project) [53] and individuals with French as a second language (incorporated for this specific study). The validity of these translations extends to the North African context, where most individuals are considered bilingual in Arabic and French, sharing a similar cultural background. It is also worth emphasizing that translating the eight PAQs into Arabic is applicable across the entire Arab world, despite existing cultural differences between countries in this region.
This paper aims to highlight the second phase of the SATP project, which investigates soundscape’s eight perceived affective qualities (PAQs). The aims of this research are (1) to identify whether there are differences in the evaluation of soundscape using these eight PAQs in Standard Arabic and French through a cross-language comparison of listening experiences in a North African context for a bilingual population; (2) to explore possible correlations between the different attributes using these two languages; and (3) to examine potential variations in the circumplex of PAQs in Standard Arabic and French.

2. Materials and Methods

The methodology of this study is considered experimental research based on laboratory listening experiments during the second stage of the SATP project, where the urban sound experiment was done based on UK group material from University College London by using 27 urban sound stimuli [54,55] recorded in London urban open public spaces, which are audio files with representative recordings of daily acoustic environments experienced in London urban open public spaces chosen by the SATP group. Table 1 summarizes the codes for all the stimuli, and their LAeq levels using an open-circuit voltage (OCV) calibration method that was originally developed for SATP use [56].
The listening sessions in Algeria were conducted in the Architecture Department of the University of Biskra, in rooms where the A-weighted sound pressure levels were below 40 dB. However, it is important to note that before the sessions were started, a crucial calibration step was carried out in accordance with the protocol established by the SATP group [56] to ensure a standardized sound level for the 27 sound stimuli. This operation involved the utilization of a sound card and the amplifier’s headphones. The headphones were connected to the headphone output of the sound card, while a calibration sinusoidal signal of 94 SPL at 1 kHz, also provided by the SATP group, was emitted. The experimental configuration was meticulously adjusted until the measured voltage at the headphone socket precisely matched a 94 dB level, considering the specific sensitivity of the headphones.
The 27 audio extracts, each lasting 30 s, were randomly distributed over various playlists. During the listening session, which extended up to 1 h, each participant answered the questionnaire consisting of 8 PAQs. The questionnaire was presented on paper sheets. These questions were rated on a point scale from 0 to 100, without the use of any labels, and were translated either into Arabic (group 1, native speakers) or into French (group 2, bilingual speakers). The attributes utilized are outlined in Table 2. The experts engaged in translating the PAQs from English to French started with the original 8 PAQs in English while aligning their translations with the work of a group of French speakers from the University of Cergy Paris, McGill University, and University Gustave Eiffel [39]. They adjusted specific attributes to ensure alignment with bilingual participants in the Algerian context. Meanwhile, the Arabic translation was accomplished during the first stage of SATP by the Arabic speakers’ group, consisting of five specialists in architecture and two specialists in psychology from the University of Biskra, who are familiar with soundscape studies and understand the purpose of PAQs.

2.1. Participants

In this study, 57 individuals participated in the listening experiment. Most of them were bilingual (Arabic and French) and were grouped into two different groups corresponding to each language (See Table 3). All participants were Algerians and shared similar backgrounds, primarily consisting of students, PhD candidates, and teachers working mainly in architecture departments at the University of Biskra. They ranged in age from 21 to 55. Among them, 30 participants completed the Arabic questionnaire (their results are available in Zenodo [54]), while 27 completed the French one. The first group was composed of 53% men and 47% female, with an average age of 36 ± 8.67 years. The second group was made up of 33% men and 67% female, with an average age of 31 ± 8.46 years. It is noteworthy that the second group of participants had a complete mastery of the French language. None of the participants claimed to suffer from hearing problems. The participants in the listening experiment who used the PAQs in English with the SATP group were aged between 21 and 47, with an average age of 30 [54], which is similar to the age category of the participants in this study.

2.2. Data Analysis

Analyses of the results of this study were based primarily on the use of SPSS 26 software. The mean scores of participants’ perceptual responses to the 27 auditory stimuli were examined to assess the overall soundscapes of the two listening experience groups. The Kruskal–Wallis H test was further performed to evaluate the PAQ rating differences. Considering the non-normal distribution of data, Pearson correlation tests were also carried out to check for possible statistical associations between the perceptual responses of the two groups. On the other hand, the distributions of perceptual responses were analyzed using Python package Soundscapy (0.3.8) with an ISO Pleasant and ISO Eventful circumplex model proposed by Mitchell et al. (2022) [57] to examine similarities and differences between languages. Soundscapy is an open-source Python library, available on GitHub, designed for the analysis and visualization of soundscape assessments and serves as a valuable toolbox for processing quantitative soundscape data [6]. The core analysis techniques employed in Soundscapy revolve around the transformation of the eight PAQs into projected coordinates values representing pleasantness and eventfulness, referred to as ISO Pleasant and ISO Eventful. In particular, the results for the languages studied were compared with those obtained in English from the dataset of the United Kingdom group of the SATP project [54]. It is important to clarify that SPSS software was used for statistical assessments such as mean scores, Pearson correlation, and the H test, while Soundscapy facilitated circumplex model-based assessment of perceptual responses in non-normal distributions. All visual representations were generated using the Python library.

3. Results

3.1. General Soundscape Evaluation

To explore the overall soundscape evaluation of the two participant groups of the listening experiment, the mean scores of the participants’ perceptual responses on a scale from 0 to 100, concerning the 27 sound stimuli of the SATP, were analyzed. The results of this analysis are shown in Figure 1, where the mean responses of the first group (PAQs in Arabic) are illustrated in Figure 1a, while the responses of the second group (PAQs in French) are presented in Figure 1b. Figure 1 illustrates common trends and notable distinctions in the evaluation of soundscapes by the two groups. The attributes eventful, uneventful, vibrant, annoying, monotonous, and calm exhibited comparable values in both languages. The differences in mean scores were marginal, with a variance of only 10.79 for the eventful attribute, 6.03 for uneventful, 8.60 for vibrant, 10.50 for annoying, 10.26 for the calm attribute, and monotonous. In contrast, the disparities observed are mainly seen in the pleasant and chaotic attributes, with mean differences of 14.13 and 14.50, respectively, between the average scores of all soundtracks. The most important differences between the highest scores for the pleasant attribute were consistently found for the recordings CG04, CG07, E01b, E02, E05, E09, KT01, LS06, W16, and W23, with variations from 20.09 for E09 to 38.45 for CG07. In contrast, CG01, CT301, E02, E05, E09, LS06, RPJ01, W01, W09, W11a, and W23 showed mean differences between the highest scores of the chaotic attribute, ranging from 1815.06 for W01 to 46.17 for LS06. These distinctions suggest that the participants who used the French PAQ scored higher on the pleasant and chaotic attributes compared to their counterparts who used the Arabic PAQ. However, it is crucial to note that these differences in scores, due to the linguistic nuances involved in the perception of soundscapes, do not reflect the overall evaluation of the soundscape for these specific attributes.
The noticeable variations in participants’ assessments, where those employing French PAQs consistently awarded higher scores for the pleasant and chaotic attributes in comparison to their counterparts using Arabic PAQs, can be also ascribed to a combination of linguistic nuances, cultural associations, and subjective interpretations. Furthermore, certain sound recordings with distinctive acoustic characteristics were influential in this regard (See Table 1). The LAeq values, representing the equivalent continuous sound level for each recording in decibels (dB), contributed significantly to these distinctions. Recordings such as CG01 (65.19 dB), CT301 (91.08 dB), and W09 (77.07 dB) showcased higher LAeq values and were associated with differences in the chaotic attribute. Conversely, recordings with lower LAeq values, like W16 (46.39 dB) and W23a (51.58 dB), demonstrated lower chaotic attribute scores. Additionally, the type of sound, categorized as human, traffic, nature, and equipment, influenced participants’ perceptions. For instance, recordings associated with human sounds, such as CG07 and LS06, consistently received higher scores for both pleasant and chaotic attributes. Differences in the pleasant attribute were notable in human, traffic, and nature sounds, suggesting that participants found certain acoustic qualities more pleasant in these categories. On the other hand, the chaotic attribute exhibited distinctions in recordings associated with human and equipment sounds, indicating that participants perceived higher chaos in specific acoustic contexts.
On the other hand, Table 4 shows the marked disparities in feature ratings between Arabic (arb) and French (fra) at different percentiles (25th, 50th, 75th), whereas Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of PAQ scores using violin and box plots, providing a visual representation of centrality and dispersion points, to highlight potential variations in perceptions when evaluating the soundscape by the two participant groups. Figure 2 and Table 4 show that the median scores for Arabic are notably high for pleasant (61), vibrant (65), and eventful (79), but there is variability in chaotic 25th–75th percentile (6–70), annoying (10–85), monotonous (15–79), uneventful (10–65), and calm (6–75). In comparison, scores for French are relatively stable, with high medians for pleasant (51), vibrant (51), and eventful (50) and less variation in chaotic (15–45), annoying (12–32), monotonous (17–38) and uneventful (14–31). Although variability is lower than in Arabic, there is a slight but noticeable increase in vibrant between the 25th and 75th percentiles. These disparities in scores highlight distinct trends in the way participants perceive soundscapes when evaluating soundtracks using PAQs translated into these two languages, emphasizing the potential influence of linguistic nuances within this bilingual population on soundscape evaluation. Looking at specific attributes such as pleasant (arb), vibrant (arb), and eventful (arb), it is possible to identify a marked preference among participants using the Arabic language for positive, energizing sound experiences. The variability found in dimensions such as chaotic (arb) and annoying (arb) among participants using the Arabic language suggests a diversity of opinions within this group, reflecting differences in appreciation for sound features perceived as disturbing or tumultuous. It would also be interesting to replicate the experiment presented in this study with a more culturally or linguistically diverse population. Conversely, among participants who use French, the relative stability of ratings for similar attributes suggests greater consistency in the way these participants perceive soundscapes, with an inclination towards less varied experiences.

3.2. Rating Difference between Arabic and French Soundscape Attributes

For detecting differences in PAQs of soundscape evaluation between the two languages (Arabic and French), the non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test (H-test) was performed (Table 5). It is based on the null hypothesis that the mean ranks of the two groups (arb/fra) are equal. This test was used after a normality test, which gives p-values = 0.001 (inferior to 0.005) for all PAQs verified by both the Kolmogorov–Smirnova and Shapiro–Wilk tests while considering the Lilliefors significance correction correlation. The results revealed statistically significant variations for some of the attributes assessed. For pleasantness-related dimensions (pleasant and annoying), chaotic, and vibrant, significant differences were observed between the two languages, with p-values less than 0.01. This indicates that there is variation in the perception of these dimensions between the two language groups. In Arabic, for example, the mean ranks for the pleasant attribute were 975.01, while in French, they were 1223.10, showing a significant difference in the evaluation of this dimension between the two languages. On the other hand, for the dimensions related to eventfulness (eventful, uneventful), monotonous, and calm, no statistically significant difference was observed between the languages, with p-values greater than 0.05. This suggests that both Arabic and Francophone participants rated these dimensions similarly. For example, the mean ranks for the eventful attribute were 1149.05 for Arabic and 1126.41 for French, showing no significant difference between the two languages in this dimension. This can be explained by the differences and variations linked mainly to the pleasantness attributes observed in the Figure 1 analysis. To determine the overall impact of these variations in the soundscape perception evaluated through Arabic and French PAQs, a factorial analysis needs to be conducted in the following steps.

3.3. Correlation Coefficients between the Eight PAQs

To determine whether the eight PAQs translated into Arabic and French generated significant correlations between the perceptual responses of the soundscape evaluation (of the 27 sound stimuli) by the two groups of participants in the listening experiment, Pearson tests were carried out. In both languages, Pearson tests revealed statistically significant correlations (p-value ≤ 0.05). Table 6 and Table 7 showed significant correlations between PAQs related to pleasantness, such as pleasant, chaotic, annoying, and calm, with Pearson correlation coefficients varying between −0.632 and 0.660 for Arabic and between −0.685 and 0.565 for French. In addition, significant correlations were observed between the eventfulness dimensions, including eventful, uneventful, vibrant, and monotonous in both languages, with Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from −0.475 to 0.718 for Arabic and from −0.616 to 0.579 for French.
However, some attribute correlations are primarily associated with attributes such as pleasantness and eventfulness, as well as with other attributes like vibrant, monotonous, and calm, showing contradictory directions between the two languages. This is exemplified by the correlation between the pleasantness attributes (pleasant and annoying) and the eventfulness attributes (eventful and uneventful), which exhibit opposite directions in the two languages. Similarly, there are relationships between vibrant and calm as well as the association of monotonous with the attributes calm, chaotic, and annoying (see Table 6 and Table 7). These contrasting correlations between the two languages highlight the necessity of reviewing these dimensions, as they influence how the perception of soundscapes can change, irrespective of the language used in the assessment.

3.4. Two-Dimensional Circumplex Models of Soundscape PAQs

To identify specific trends in the perceptual response distributions from participants in the two listening experiment groups, this section followed the analysis method of Mitchell et al. (2022) [57]. Figure 3 and Figure 4 illustrate the distributions of the perceptive responses for the 27 sound stimuli across the ISO Pleasant and ISO Eventful through a bi-dimensional circumplex model plot that is useful for analyzing the similarities and differences between the perceptive responses of the two languages Arabic and French (see Figure 3a). Figure 3b shows the zone of intersection between the Arabic and French score distributions, while Figure 4 represents the principal directions of score distribution for each language along the different axes.
The heat maps of the bivariate and superimposed marginal distribution plots, as depicted in Figure 3a, illustrate the overall distribution of Arabic and French languages in the two-dimensional space of the PAQs. This distribution takes on a distorted circular shape due to the aggregation of responses across 27 sound stimuli. However, when examining the superimposed contours of the 50th percentile for each language, representing the medians in Figure 3b, it becomes evident that the intersection zone between Arabic and French scores covers only a few portions of the perceptual response dispersion, primarily situated in the center for both languages. Notably, there is a substantial perpendicular distortion between the two languages. For this, the scatter plots in Figure 4a,b reveal that the responses in Arabic and French exhibit circular distortions along different axes. Specifically, there is a circular distortion for French along the chaotic-calm axis and a distortion for Arabic along the monotonous-vibrant axis.

4. Conclusions and Discussion

4.1. Synthesizing the Findings

Following analysis of the mean scores of participants’ perceptual responses to 27 urban sound stimuli using the PAQs in Arabic and French, the findings from this research suggest that there are differences in the evaluation of urban soundscapes between the two language groups, where participants using the French PAQs exhibited higher average scores in certain attributes such as pleasant and chaotic compared to their counterparts using the Arabic version. This finding is confirmed by the H-test, which indicates significant variations in dimensions related to pleasantness-related dimensions (pleasant and annoying), chaotic, and vibrant, while dimensions related to eventfulness (eventful, uneventful), monotonous, and calm have no significant differences between the two languages.
It is also interesting to note that findings from the SATP project (stage 2) analysis method [57] from the participants’ perceptual response distributions using two-dimensional circumplex models suggest distinct circular distortions between evaluations in Arabic and French. In the case of French, the distortion is observed along the chaotic-calm axis, while for Arabic, it occurs along the monotonous-vibrant axis. This illustrates the profound impact of the translation of PAQs on the perception of soundscapes.

4.2. Strength and Limitations

The main strength of this research lies in its urban sound experimental approach based on listening experiments from the second stage of the SATP project, which explores similarities and differences in soundscape evaluation using the eight PAQs proposed by Axelsson [26] and ISO/TS 12913-2:2018 [36], translated into Arabic and French, and also examines possible correlations between Arabic and French PAQs. Furthermore, the strength and challenge of this study lie in the fact that it focuses on a comparison between languages and not between nations to limit the variables that can affect the perception of soundscapes, such as context and culture [58]. It is based on the same context (bilingual participants from Biskra in Algeria) but with two different groups. No previously published scientific article has studied comparisons between languages in the context and culture of North Africa.
Since the results of this study are based on the general urban soundscape evaluation of the SATP project’s urban sound stimuli using the eight PAQs translated into French and Arabic, it is considered a complementary step to the work of the first SATP stage, which focused on the translation of the eight PAQs [39]. In addition, it complements the efforts of the second stage of SATP group works, specifically the work by Antunes et al. (2023) [48] and Vida et al. (2023) [59], which focuses on the evaluation of urban soundscapes using the eight PAQs translated during the first stage of the project after listening experiments.
Although the methodology of this research is based on descriptive analysis and correlation analysis, examining the general soundscape scores of 27 sound stimuli from the SATP project with PAQs in two languages (Arabic and French) and encompassing the study of the distribution of perceptual responses for these 27 sound stimuli along the ISO Pleasant and ISO Eventful dimensions, it is crucial to highlight certain limitations of this study. The study focuses mainly on the North African context for Arabic and does not extend its scope to the Arab world. In addition, this research does not compare responses in French in the North African context with those of the SATP project’s French group in France. These limitations underline the need for cautious interpretations of the study’s findings and suggest potential future avenues of research to further scope the analysis and improve the study’s comprehensiveness.
Another significant limitation pertains to the homogeneity of the participant group, all of whom work and study in the same academic environment and reside in the same city. This uniformity in background and living conditions may potentially bias the results, as participants share similar experiences and environmental factors. Future research endeavors would benefit from incorporating more diverse participant samples to ensure the robustness and generalizability of our initial findings.
Additionally, insufficient consideration has been given to the potential impact of participants’ bilingualism on their responses. Exploring whether the transition between languages influences their reasoning processes, comprehension levels, and responses to the questionnaire is crucial. Furthermore, understanding how cultural nuances associated with each language shape individuals’ perceptions and judgments is essential for a comprehensive analysis.

4.3. Implication on Practice and Future Research

The findings of this research explore the differences and stimuli in the urban soundscape evaluation by the eight PAQs translated into Arabic and French by the SATP group during the first stage. Based on our findings, it appears that the translation into Arabic seems more suitable than the translation into French to describe the urban soundscape among bilingual individuals in the North African context of Algeria, especially in simple evaluations that consider the language proficiency of participants (bilingual Algerian students and teachers). The results of this study provide initial insights into slight differences between the two languages, which may be attributed to varying linguistic competencies within this bilingual population.
From the findings of this study, the authors encourage researchers to replicate this experiment in diverse geographic regions, in urban environments, and with participants of varying age groups. This replication should encompass both bilingual populations and native speakers of each target language. To achieve a more comprehensive and generalizable evaluation, particularly for cross-cultural comparisons, future studies must account for a wider range of variables. These include national, cultural, and social influences, along with language and translation considerations, environmental factors, and individual participant differences.
This is crucial because the perception of urban soundscapes can be influenced by more universal factors, such as common acoustic characteristics and sensory experiences, rather than linguistic differences. Furthermore, it is critical to emphasize that the findings from this specific study may vary in other cultural [60] and linguistic contexts. For this reason, it would also be interesting to reproduce the experiment presented in this study with a more culturally diverse population or focused on their language skills. The focus should be exclusively on the detailed interpretation of specific attributes, such as chaotic (arb/fra) and vibrant (arb/fra), along with the hedonic dimension, especially pleasant (arb/fra) and annoying (arb/fra). This step will be crucial to confirm the relevance of using standard Arabic and French languages within the framework of ISO/TS 12913-3:2019 [61].
Another interesting implication of this study is that it calls on researchers, urban planners, and decision-makers in North African and Middle Eastern (MENA) countries to use these eight PAQs to assess their urban soundscapes. In addition, the authors invite Arab legislators and government authorities [62,63] to use the eight Arabic PAQs proposed by SATP members in the formulation of soundscape preservation laws, especially since there is no trace of any text for soundscape preservation in Arab world legislation, in contrast to that on noise pollution [62]. The authors also invite French-speaking countries that have soundscape preservation laws to consider the French PAQs proposed by the SATP group [39] for updating their soundscape-related legislation.
Further research in SATP Stage 2 should focus on the subjective investigation of cross-nation comparisons between French-speaking and Arabic-speaking countries to investigate the impact of context and culture on the perception of the urban soundscape. In addition, this study invites future researchers to investigate the effect of bilingual culture, whether in French or any other language, by exploring whether bilingual individuals respond in the same way as native speakers. Furthermore, the authors are aware that the subjective results of urban soundscape perception measurements have important potential in the urban soundscape evaluation [64], but they needs to be compared with the objective results of the different physical dimensions of the urban acoustic environment [65,66] from binaural sound recordings of each stimulus. Therefore, further research will be carried out based on the Soundscapy dataset [57] to compare the objective and subjective results of the SATP project.
To deepen our understanding of the effects of bilingualism on auditory perception, it would be relevant to explore the impact of language switching on subjective responses to acoustic stimuli. A pilot study with a small group of bilingual participants could be considered to assess how responses in one language influence responses in another, while adjusting methodological protocols to minimize linguistic and order biases. These investigations could illuminate the underlying mechanisms behind these distinct perceptions and guide larger-scale studies on the topic.
Furthermore, a systematic comparison between responses from native speakers and bilingual participants would be essential for a thorough understanding of the effects of bilingualism on auditory perception. By examining differences in how these groups interpret and attribute auditory characteristics to similar stimuli, we could identify specific influences of bilingualism on perceptual processes. This comparative approach would enrich our understanding of the complex interactions between language, culture, and auditory perception.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, D.B. and T.A.K.B.; methodology, D.B. and T.A.K.B.; software, M.M.G.; validation, S.K. and M.M.G.; formal analysis, D.B. and T.A.K.B.; investigation, D.B., T.A.K.B. and S.K.; resources, D.B. and T.A.K.B.; data curation, S.K.; writing—original draft preparation, D.B. and T.A.K.B.; writing—review and editing, D.B., T.A.K.B., M.M.G., and N.A.; visualization, S.K.; supervision, D.B. and T.A.K.B.; project administration, D.B., T.A.K.B., S.K., N.A., and M.M.G.; funding acquisition, D.B., N.A., and M.M.G. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Vice President for Graduate Studies, Research and Business (GRB), at Dar Al-Hekma University, Jeddah, under grant no. (RFC/23-24/01). The author, therefore, acknowledges with thanks GRB for technical and financial support.

Data Availability Statement

The results of the Arab group can be found via Zenodo using this link: https://zenodo.org/records/6914434 (accessed on: 10 June 2023). The Soundscape Attributes Translation Project (SATP) Dataset Version 1.2 was published on 23 September 2022.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the SATP founders for their help throughout the various stages of the project. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Arab team and everyone who participated in the listening experiments.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest, and the funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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Urbansci 08 00116 g001
Figure 1. Average scores for the overall urban soundscape evaluation of the 27 stimuli sounds by the two groups of participants in the listening experience: (a) PAQs in Arabic, (b) PAQs in French.
Figure 1. Average scores for the overall urban soundscape evaluation of the 27 stimuli sounds by the two groups of participants in the listening experience: (a) PAQs in Arabic, (b) PAQs in French.
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Urbansci 08 00116 g002
Figure 2. Distribution of PAQ scores on the violin and box plot in both Arabic and French groups: (a) Pleasant, (b) Vibrant, (c) Eventful, (d) Chaotic, (e) Annoying, (f) Monotonous, (g) Uneventful, (h) Calm.
Figure 2. Distribution of PAQ scores on the violin and box plot in both Arabic and French groups: (a) Pleasant, (b) Vibrant, (c) Eventful, (d) Chaotic, (e) Annoying, (f) Monotonous, (g) Uneventful, (h) Calm.
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Figure 3. Comparison between perceptual responses: (a) Two-dimensional circumplex models of urban soundscape PAQs, (b) The 50th percentile contours for Arabic (arb) and French (fra).
Figure 3. Comparison between perceptual responses: (a) Two-dimensional circumplex models of urban soundscape PAQs, (b) The 50th percentile contours for Arabic (arb) and French (fra).
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Figure 4. Soundscapy density plots of the perceptual responses for the 27 sound stimuli for each language: (a) Arabic, (b) French (fra).
Figure 4. Soundscapy density plots of the perceptual responses for the 27 sound stimuli for each language: (a) Arabic, (b) French (fra).
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Table 1. List of 27 SATP sound stimuli with LAeq values [56] and urban sound sources [48].
Table 1. List of 27 SATP sound stimuli with LAeq values [56] and urban sound sources [48].
No.Audio IDLAeqSourceNo.Audio IDLAeqSourceNo.Audio IDLAeqSource
1CG0165.19Human10E11b88.86Traffic19VP01b44.7Nature
2CG0456.86Human11E12b83.03Equipment20W0166.74Equipment
3CG0758.97Human12HR0178.54Equipment21W0655.4Nature
4CT30191.08Equipment13KT0152.44Equipment22W0977.07Equipment
5E01b62.24Traffic14LS0663.59Human23W11a58.62Human
6E0267.4Nature15N162.64Traffic24W1558.06Traffic
7E0555.06Human16OS01c71.34Human and Traffic25W1646.39Traffic
8E0961.6Human17OS01d76.78Human26W2252.72Human
9E1069.07Human18RPJ0155.98Human27W23a51.58Human
Table 2. Perceived Affective Qualities of Soundscape (PAQs) in Arabic (from SATP Stage 1) and French.
Table 2. Perceived Affective Qualities of Soundscape (PAQs) in Arabic (from SATP Stage 1) and French.
Soundscape Attributes in EnglishProposed Attributes in ArabicProposed Attributes in French
EventfulHafel Bel-Alahdath/Nabed Bel-HayatAnimé
VibrantHayawee/DynamekyDynamique
PleasantSar/MomteaPlaisant
CalmHadeaCalme
UneventfulKhal Men-Alahdath/HamedInerte
MonotonousMomel/RatybMonotone
AnnoyingMozej/Ghair MomteaDéplaisant
ChaoticFawdawy/SakhebChaotique
Table 3. Age and gender of the participants.
Table 3. Age and gender of the participants.
GenderAge (Years)
Participants (57)MaleFemaleMeanSD
Arabic (30)1614368.7
French (27)918318.46
Table 4. Medians and percentiles of responses to the Arabic and French PAQs (See Figure 2).
Table 4. Medians and percentiles of responses to the Arabic and French PAQs (See Figure 2).
PAQsPercentilesPleasantVibrantEventfulChaoticAnnoyingMonotonousUneventfulCalm
arb25th 6141661015106
50th2435542546453033.5
75th6165797085796575
fra25th 162124151217147
50th5151504532383128
75th777374756770.56569
50th Percentile = Median.
Table 5. Kruskal–Wallis test comparison of the mean ranks of the Arabic and French eight PAQs.
Table 5. Kruskal–Wallis test comparison of the mean ranks of the Arabic and French eight PAQs.
PleasantVibrantEventfulChaoticAnnoyingMonotonousUneventfulCalm
Mean Rankarb975.011019.101149.051013.031198.631153.411109.561161.19
fra1223.101198.611126.411201.981098.871123.991147.561119.67
Kruskal-Wallis (H-Test)74.76539.1380.62343.37012.0911.0511.7552.094
df11111111
p-value0.0000.0000.4300.0000.0010.3050.1850.148
Grouping Variable: Language.
Table 6. Pearson correlations between the 8 PAQs translated into Arabic (Pearson coefficient [C], p-value [p]).
Table 6. Pearson correlations between the 8 PAQs translated into Arabic (Pearson coefficient [C], p-value [p]).
Pearson Correlation
N 810		PleasantVibrantEventfulChaoticAnnoyingMonotonousUneventfulCalm
PleasantpC0.597 a0.483 a–0.431 a–0.632 a–0.539 a–0.194 a0.486 a
Vibrant0.000pC0.718 a0.001–0.292 a–0.420 a–0.378 a0.027
Eventful0.0000.000pC0.006–0.249 a–0.441 a–0.475 a–0.001
Chaotic0.0000.9870.870pC0.660 a0.287 a–0.129 a–0.648 a
Annoying0.0000.0000.0000.000pC0.589 a0.158 a–0.470 a
Monotonous0.0000.0000.0000.0000.000pC0.473 a–0.121 a
Uneventful0.0000.0000.0000.0000.0000.000pC0.293 a
Calm0.0000.4420.9680.0000.0000.0010.000pC
a. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed).
Table 7. Pearson correlation between the eight PAQs translated into French (Pearson coefficient [C], p-value [p]).
Table 7. Pearson correlation between the eight PAQs translated into French (Pearson coefficient [C], p-value [p]).
Pearson Correlation
N 810		PleasantVibrantEventfulChaoticAnnoyingMonotonousUneventfulCalm
PleasantpC0.379 a–0.060 b–0.401 a–0.685 a–0.264 a0.054 b0.418 a
Vibrant0.000pC0.436 a0.243 a–0.061 b–0.383 a–0.265 a–0.155 a
Eventful0.0210.000pC0.579 a0.241 a–0.390 a–0.616 a–0.447 a
Chaotic0.0000.0000.000pC0.535 a–0.118 a–0.432 a–0.646 a
Annoying0.0000.0190.0000.000pC0.195 a–0.143 a–0.513 a
Monotonous0.0000.0000.0000.0000.000pC0.527 a0.182 a
Uneventful0.0390.0000.0000.0000.0000.000pC0.565 a
Calm0.0000.0000.0000.0000.0000.0000.000pC
a Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed). b Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (two-tailed).
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Berkouk, D.; Bouzir, T.A.K.; Khelil, S.; Azab, N.; Gomaa, M.M. Perceptual Differences in Urban Soundscape Assessment Using Protocol Proposed in Method a of the ISO/TS 12913–2: A Cross-Language Comparison between Arabic and French Attributes. Urban Sci. 2024, 8, 116. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci8030116

AMA Style

Berkouk D, Bouzir TAK, Khelil S, Azab N, Gomaa MM. Perceptual Differences in Urban Soundscape Assessment Using Protocol Proposed in Method a of the ISO/TS 12913–2: A Cross-Language Comparison between Arabic and French Attributes. Urban Science. 2024; 8(3):116. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci8030116

Chicago/Turabian Style

Berkouk, Djihed, Tallal Abdel Karim Bouzir, Sara Khelil, Nader Azab, and Mohamed Mansour Gomaa. 2024. "Perceptual Differences in Urban Soundscape Assessment Using Protocol Proposed in Method a of the ISO/TS 12913–2: A Cross-Language Comparison between Arabic and French Attributes" Urban Science 8, no. 3: 116. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci8030116

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