The Relationship between Japanese EFL Learners’ Perceived Fluency and Temporal Speech Measures in a Read-Aloud Task

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between holistic rater judgments of second language (L2) speech fluency (i.e., perceived fluency) and temporal measures of fluency (i.e., utterance fluency) in a read-aloud task. 63 L2 English Japanese secondary school students were audio-recorded while carrying out a 69-word read-aloud task. 11 L2 English-speaking instructors rated the speech for perceived fluency, and the speech samples were analyzed for utterance fluency. The linear regression model revealed that articulation rate and clause-internal pauses significantly predicted perceived fluency. Findings are discussed in relation to the use of read-aloud tasks for the teaching and assessment of L2 speech fluency. 本研究では、音読タスクにおける第二言語音声の流暢性に関する総合的評価と、スピーチの言語的特徴の関係性を調査した。高校生の日本人英語学習者63名が、69語の音読タスクを実施する様子を録音した。11人の言語指導経験のある第二言語英語話者が、スピーチの流暢性について評価した。更に、スピーチを言語的特徴について分析した。重回帰モデル解析の結果、発声速度と節内のポーズが流暢性の重要な予測変数として算出された。これらの成果に基づき、音読タスクを利用した第二言語における流暢性の指導や評価について教育的な示唆を行う。