Comparing soundscape evaluations in French and English across three studies in Montreal

Introduction: Soundscape evaluations rely heavily on verbal descriptors often using Likert-type scales such as the Swedish Soundscape Quality Protocol (SSQP). While these scales have been validated in Swedish and English, the French-speaking soundscape community has struggled to find suitable French equivalents.Methods: Questionnaires (N = ~500) were gathered in French and English in 3 urban locations (small and large park, restaurant) using the SSQP, noise sensitivity (NSS) and restorativeness scales in addition to open-ended questions.Results: A principal components analysis revealed that the French translation of the SSQP yielded similar components to the English translation, with one main difference concerning the "monotonous" scale. In line with previous studies using the SSQP, the first components refer to "pleasant" and "eventful" respectively for both French and English. The third component however was different across languages ("monotonous" only in English, "monotonous" and "calm" in French). Regarding NSS, both languages produced one component; however, minor, albeit significant differences, were explained by the age of the respondents.Conclusion: This across-study analysis, aided by Montreal's unique status as a bilingual city, supports future uses of French-language materials for soundscape evaluations, especially the SSQP and NSS.