Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-swr86 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-21T13:31:07.818Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of pause location on perceived fluency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2017

JIMIN KAHNG
JIMIN KAHNG*
Affiliation:
University of Northern Iowa
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Jimin Kahng, Department of Languages and Literatures, University of Northern Iowa, 1001 Bartlett Hall, Cedar Falls, IA 50614. E-mail: jimin.kahng@uni.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Speech disfluency in first language (L1) and second language (L2) is not only quantitatively different (e.g., number and length of pauses) but also qualitatively different (e.g., distribution of pauses); however, how pause distributions in L1 and L2 affect judgments of perceived fluency is unclear. The study examined the relationship between pause phenomena and perceived fluency using two experiments. Experiment 1 investigated the relative contributions of frequency, length, and distribution of silent pauses to perceived fluency of L2 speech. Experiment 2 tested causal effects of pause location on perceived fluency of L1 and L2 speech using phonetic manipulations. Findings suggest a significant role of pause location in perceived fluency. In Experiment 1, silent pause rate within a clause demonstrated the strongest correlation with L2 fluency ratings, and in Experiment 2, perceived fluency of L1 and L2 speech was influenced by pause location. The findings suggest that listeners seem to be sensitive to pause location and to understand that pauses within clauses tend to reflect reduced cognitive fluency.

Keywords

cognitive fluencyfirst languagepause locationperceived fluencysecond language
Type
Original Article
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , May 2018 , pp. 569 - 591
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aaronson, D. (1968). Temporal course of perception in an immediate recall task. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 76, 129–140.Google Scholar
Arnold, J. E., Fagnano, M., & Tanenhaus, M. K. (2003). Disfluencies signal theee, um, new information. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 32, 25–36.Google Scholar
Arnold, J. E., Hudson Kam, C. L., & Tanenhaus, M. K. (2007). If you say -thee uh- you're describing something hard: The on-line attribution of disfluency during reference comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33, 914–930.Google Scholar
Arnold, J. E., Tanenhaus, M. K., Altmann, R. J., & Fagnano, M. (2004). The old and thee, uh, new: Disfluency and reference resolution. Psychological Science, 15, 578–582.Google Scholar
Arons, B. (1993). SpeechSkimmer: Interactively skimming recorded speech. Paper presented at the 6th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, San Jose, CA.Google Scholar
Beattie, G. W., & Butterworth, B. L. (1979). Contextual probability and word frequency as determinants of pauses and errors in spontaneous speech. Language and Speech, 22, 201–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2012). PRAAT [Computer software]. Retrieved from http://www.praat.orgGoogle Scholar
Boomer, D. S. (1965). Hesitation and grammatical encoding. Language and Speech, 8, 148–158.Google Scholar
Bortfeld, H., Leon, S. D., Bloom, J. E., Schober, M. F., & Brennan, S. E. (2001). Disfluency rates in conversation: Effects of age, relationship, topic, role, and gender. Language and Speech, 44, 123–147.Google Scholar
Bosker, H. R. (2014). The processing and evaluation of fluency in native and non-native speech. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Utrecht University).Google Scholar
Bosker, H. R., Pinget, A., Quené, H., Sanders, T., & de Jong, N. H. (2013). What makes speech sound fluent? The contributions of pauses, speed and repairs. Language Testing, 30, 159–175.Google Scholar
Bosker, H. R., Quené, H., Sanders, T., & de Jong, N. H. (2014a). Native “um”s elicit prediction of low-frequency referents, but non-native “um”s do not. Journal of Memory and Language, 75, 104–116.Google Scholar
Bosker, H. R., Quené, H., Sanders, T., & de Jong, N. H. (2014b). The perception of fluency in native and nonnative speech. Language Learning, 64, 579–614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosker, H. R., Tjiong, V., Quené, H., Sanders, T., & de Jong, N. H. (2015). Both native and non-native disfluencies trigger listeners’ attention. Poster presented at the International Congress of Phonetic Sciences Satellite Meeting: Disfluency in Spontaneous Speech, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Bower, G. H., & Springston, F. (1970). Pauses as recoding points in letter series. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 83, 421–430.Google Scholar
Brennan, S. E., & Schober, M. F. (2001). How listeners compensate for disfluencies in spontaneous speech. Journal of Memory and Language, 44, 274–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, N. T. (2011). Designing and analyzing language tests. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cenoz, J. (1998). Pauses and communication strategies in second language speech (ERIC Document ED 426630). Rockville, MD: Educational Resources Information Center.Google Scholar
Christenfeld, N. (1995). Does it hurt to say um? Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 19, 171–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corley, M., & Hartsuiker, R. J. (2011). Why um helps auditory word recognition: The temporal delay hypothesis. PLOS ONE, 6, e19792.Google Scholar
Corley, M., MacGregor, L. J., & Donaldson, D. I. (2007). It's the way that you, er, say it: Hesitations in speech affect language comprehension. Cognition, 105, 658–668.Google Scholar
Cucchiarini, C., Strik, H., & Boves, L. (2000). Quantitative assessment of second language learners’ fluency by means of automatic speech recognition technology. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 107, 989–999.Google Scholar
Cucchiarini, C., Strik, H., & Boves, L. (2002). Quantitative assessment of second language learners’ fluency: Comparisons between read and spontaneous speech. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 111, 2862–2873.Google Scholar
Davies, A. (2003). The native speaker: Myth and reality (2nd ed.). Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
de Jong, N. H. (2016). Predicting pauses in L1 and L2 speech: The effects of utterance boundaries and word frequency. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 54, 113–132.Google Scholar
de Jong, N. H., & Bosker, H. R. (2013). Choosing a threshold for silent pauses to measure second language fluency. Paper presented at the 6th Workshop on Disfluency in Spontaneous Speech, Stockholm.Google Scholar
de Jong, N. H., Groenhout, R., Schoonen, R., & Hulstijn, Y. H. (2015). Second language fluency: Speaking style or proficiency? Correcting measures of second language fluency for first language behavior. Applied Psycholinguistics, 36, 223–243.Google Scholar
Derwing, T. M., Munro, M. J., & Thomson, R. I. (2007). A longitudinal study of ESL learners’ fluency and comprehensibility development. Applied Linguistics, 29, 359–380.Google Scholar
Derwing, T., Rossiter, M., Munro, M., & Thomson, R. (2004). Second language fluency: Judgments on different tasks. Language Learning, 54, 655–679.Google Scholar
Ferreira, F. (1993). Creation of prosody during sentence production. Psychological Review, 100, 233–253.Google Scholar
Ferreira, F. (2007). Prosody and performance in language production. Language and Cognitive Processes, 22, 1151–1177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, A. P. (2005). Intraclass correlation. In Everitt, B. S. & Howell, D. C. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of statistics in behavioral science (Vol. 2, pp. 948–954). Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Foster, P., Tonkyn, A., & Wigglesworth, G. (2000). Measuring spoken language: A unit for all reasons. Applied Linguistics, 21, 354–375.Google Scholar
Fox Tree, J. E. (1995). The effects of false starts and repetitions on the processing of subsequent words in spontaneous speech. Journal of Memory and Language, 34, 709–738.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox Tree, J. E. (2001). Listeners’ uses of um and uh in speech comprehension. Memory & Cognition, 29, 320–326.Google Scholar
Fox Tree, J. E. (2002). Interpreting pauses and Ums at turn exchanges. Discourse Processes, 34, 37–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraundorf, S. H., & Watson, D. G. (2011). The disfluent discourse: Effects of filled pauses on recall. Journal of Memory and Language, 65, 161–175.Google Scholar
Freed, B. F. (1995). Do students who study abroad become fluent? In Freed, B. F. (Ed.), Second language acquisition in a study abroad context (pp. 123–148). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freed, B. F. (2000). Is fluency, like beauty, in the eyes (and ears) of the beholder? In Riggenbach, H. (Ed.), Perspectives on fluency (pp. 243–265). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Goldman-Eisler, F. (1968). Psycholinguistics: Experiments in spontaneous speech. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Griffiths, R. (1991). Pausological research in an L2 context: A rationale, and review of selected studies. Applied Linguistics, 12, 345–364.Google Scholar
Hawkins, R. R. (1971). The syntactic location of hesitation pauses. Language and Speech, 14, 277–288.Google Scholar
Hollich, G., & Houston, D. (2007). Language development: From speech perception to first words. In Slater, A. & Lewis, M. (Eds.), Introduction to infant development (pp. 170–188). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Holmes, V. M. (1988). Hesitations and sentence planning. Language and Cognitive Processes, 3, 323–361.Google Scholar
Housen, A., Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I. (2012). Complexity, accuracy and fluency: Definitions, measurement and research. In Housen, A., Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I. (Eds.), Dimensions of L2 performance and proficiency: Investigating complexity, accuracy and fluency in SLA (pp. 1–20). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Iwashita, N., Brown, A., McNamara, T., & O'Hagan, S. (2008). Assessed levels of second language speaking proficiency: How distinct? Applied Linguistics, 29, 24–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahng, J. (2012). How long should a pause be? Effects of cut-off points of pause length on analyzing L2 utterance fluency. Poster presented at Fluent Speech Workshop, Utrecht, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Kahng, J. (2014). Exploring utterance and cognitive fluency of L1 and L2 English speakers: Temporal measures and stimulated recall. Language Learning, 64, 809–854.Google Scholar
Kormos, J., & Deńes, M. (2004). Exploring measures and perceptions of fluency in the speech of second language learners. System, 32, 145–164.Google Scholar
Larson-Hall, J. (2010). A guide to doing statistics in second language research using SPSS. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Lass, N. J., & Leeper, H. A. (1977). Listening rate preference: Comparison of two time alternation techniques. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 44, 1163–1168.Google Scholar
Lennon, P. (1984). Retelling a story in English. In Dechert, H. W., Mohle, D., & Raupach, M. (Eds.), Second language productions (pp. 50–68). Tubingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.Google Scholar
Lennon, P. (1990). Investigating fluency in EFL: A quantitative approach. Language Learning, 40, 387–417.Google Scholar
Levelt, W. J. M. (1983). Monitoring and self-repair in speech. Cognition, 14, 41–104.Google Scholar
Levelt, W. (1989). Speaking: From intention to articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
MacGregor, L. J. (2008). Disfluencies affect language comprehension: Evidence from event-related potentials and recognition memory (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Edinburgh).Google Scholar
MacGregor, L. J., Corley, M., & Donaldson, D. I. (2010). Listening to the sound of silence: Disfluent silent pauses in speech have consequences for listeners. Neuropsychologia, 48, 3982–3992.Google Scholar
Maclay, H., & Osgood, C. E. (1959). Hesitation phenomena in spontaneous English speech. Word, 15, 19–44.Google Scholar
Martin, J. G., & Strange, W. (1968). The perception of hesitation in spontaneous speech. Perception and Psychophysics, 3, 427–438.Google Scholar
Pawley, A., & Syder, F. (2000). The one clause at a time hypothesis. In Riggenbach, H. (Ed.), Perspectives on fluency (pp. 163–191). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Reich, S. S. (1980). Significance of pauses for speech perception. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 9, 379–389.Google Scholar
Riazantseva, A. (2001). Second language proficiency and pausing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 23, 297–526.Google Scholar
Riggenbach, H. (1991). Towards an understanding of fluency: A microanalysis of nonnative speaker conversation. Discourse Processes, 14, 423–441.Google Scholar
Rossiter, M. J. (2009). Perceptions of L2 fluency by native and non-native speakers of English. Canadian Modern Language Review, 65, 395–412.Google Scholar
Schnadt, M. J. (2009). Lexical influences on disfluency production (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Edinburgh).Google Scholar
Segalowitz, N. (2010). Cognitive bases of second language fluency. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Seidl, A., & Cristià, A. (2008). Developmental changes in the weighting of prosodic cues. Developmental Science, 11, 596–606.Google Scholar
Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Skehan, P. (2003). Task based instruction. Language Teaching, 36, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skehan, P. (2009). Modelling second language performance: Integrating complexity, accuracy, fluency, and lexis. Applied Linguistics, 30, 510–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stemler, S. E., & Tsai, J. (2007). Best practices in interrater reliability: Three common approaches. In Osborne, J. W. (Ed.), Best practices in quantitative methods (pp. 29–49). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Sugito, M. (1990). On the role of pauses in production and perception of discourse. Paper presented at the 1st International Conference on Spoken Language Processing, Kobe, Japan.Google Scholar
Tavakoli, P. (2011). Pausing patterns: Differences between L2 learners and native speakers. ELT Journal, 65, 71–79.Google Scholar
Tavakoli, P., & Skehan, P. (2005). Strategic planning, task structure, and performance testing. In Ellis, R. (Ed.), Planning and task performance in a second language (pp. 239–276). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Towell, R., Hawkins, R., & Bazergui, N. (1996). The development of fluency in advanced learners of French. Applied Linguistics, 17, 84–119.Google Scholar
Wood, D. (2010). Formulaic language and second language speech fluency: Background, evidence and classroom applications. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Xi, X., Higgins, D., Zechner, K., & Williamson, D. M. (2008). Automated scoring of spontaneous speech using SpeechRaterSM v1.0. ETS Research Report Series, 2008, i–102.Google Scholar