Uh and Um in the Native and Non-Native Speech of Guests on a Saudi English-Language Podcast

Abstract

Filled pauses (FPs), uh and um, are an inherent characteristic of impromptu spoken English. However, despite the ubiquity of FP studies across languages and their impacts on speech production and comprehension, they have not been thoroughly examined in the context of second language learners of English whose mother tongue is Arabic. Hence, this study analyzed FPs in the speech of female and male non-native speakers of English and those of an American speaker who were guests on a popular English-language podcast. Combining Praat (speech analysis software), and manual coding of FPs and fillers based on previous studies, native and non-native speech was overall peppered with FPs. Although uh was more frequent than um, their frequencies among speakers and characteristic positions varied greatly. Whereas the majority comprised standalone FPs, the remaining FPs co-occurred with fillers (and, but, so, well, and you know) or were aspirated. The average length of the FPs was slightly longer for the native speaker. There were more FPs in the samples taken from early in the podcast episodes than around the middles and sometimes the endings. Regarding gender, male speakers uttered more FPs than the female speaker, whether they are native or non-native speakers.