Fluency Research Research Articles

A Systematic Review of Speech Fluency Measurement in L2 Monologues and Dialogues

This study synthesises measures of L2 speech fluency in both monologues and dialogues. About monologue fluency measurement, we provide a synthesis of measurement based on Skehan's (2003) three dimensions (speed, breakdown, and repair) and discrepancies among scholars. As for dialogue fluency, the limited number of studies precludes a conclusion of well-established measurement. Furthermore, the reasons for the paucity of studies in this area are elucidated. The study revealed inconsistencies in the standardisation and methodological definitions employed by scholars in monologue fluency research, resulting in a lack of uniformity in the data collected. Concerning dialogues, there is a notable absence of theoretical and operational frameworks.

Word searches and fluency during problem-solving tasks: a mixed-methods study of L1 Finnish and L2 English interaction

Word searches (WSs) have been widely studied in L1 and L2 interaction but have rarely been combined with fluency research. The present study bridges the gap between these research fields by examining WSs and their connections to fluency in L1 and L2 dialogue data. From a larger project, 50 participants’ dialogues (25 L1 Finnish, 25 L2 English) were analyzed for WSs. The mixed-methods analyses focused on potential differences and connections in WS use across the L1 and L2 dialogues and the connections between WSs and fluency among selected participants. The results demonstrated differences especially in the use of solitary WSs across L1 and L2 and some connections between L1 and L2 WSs among individual participants, despite group-level connections not being statistically significant. The qualitative analyses illustrated the potential fluency-enhancing functions of collaborative WSs. The study has implications for L2 speech fluency research and L2 teaching.

Replication research in the domain of perceived L2 fluency: Approximate and close replications of Kormos and Dénes (2004) and Rossiter (2009)

Abstract The primary objective of this paper is to contribute to the advancement of second language (L2) fluency research by outlining a specific proposal for future replication studies. The overarching goal is to assess the generalisability of the original findings of the two influential studies in the area of perceived fluency: Kormos and Dénes (2004) and Rossiter (2009). This objective will be achieved by first introducing the concept of L2 fluency that often conflates two categories: (1) overall language proficiency; (2) temporal features of speech production. The paper then highlights limitations in the current fluency research paradigm emphasising the variability in the methods employed for speech analysis and rating data collection. This diversity makes it somewhat challenging to compare results across various studies. In response to these challenges, the second part of the paper proposes several close and approximate replications of the two studies.

L2 repair fluency through the lenses of L1 repair fluency, cognitive fluency, and language anxiety

Abstract Repairs (including false starts, repetitions, and different types of self-corrections) have been examined in second language (L2) speech fluency research as one dimension of (dis)fluent speech. However, in contrast to other dimensions of L2 speech fluency (speed and breakdown), repair fluency is not equally well understood: the results are mixed, and more research investigating the factors behind L2 repair fluency is needed. While some previous studies suggest links between first language (L1) and L2 repair fluency, to what extent L2 repairs are connected with cognitive and affective factors is less understood. To achieve a comprehensive view of the factors behind L2 repair fluency, we combine perspectives of L1 repair fluency, attention control, and language anxiety (LA) that have individually been shown to potentially affect L2 repairs but have rarely been examined together. We analyzed data from L1 Finnish and L2 English monologue speech tasks, a Stroop task in L1 and L2, and surveys for general and task-specific LA from 59 advanced users of English to investigate how L1 repair fluency, cognitive fluency, and LA are related to L2 repair fluency. Correlational analyses revealed that task-specific LA and certain Stroop measures were connected with L2 repair measures, while correlations between L1 and L2 repair fluency measures were weak. An analysis of repair profiles of participants displaying the highest levels of L2 repair fluency revealed that, overall, repairs are more common in the L2 than in the L1, but patterns regarding preferences for repair types vary across individuals. The study has methodological implications for psycholinguistic and SLA research into L2 repair fluency and broader implications for L2 classrooms and assessment.

What contributes to fluent L2 speech? Examining cognitive and utterance fluency link with underlying L2 collocational processing speed and accuracy

AbstractSecond language (L2) fluency research has suggested that a range of linguistic knowledge and processing speed serve as cognitive fluency (CF) underlying L2 utterance fluency (UF). Building on prior CF-UF link studies, this study explored L2 collocational processing speed and accuracy as underlying CF measures. This study also explored the phrasal frequency effect on the relationship between collocational processing speed and UF to test whether the processing speed of higher-frequency collocations is more strongly related to UF. A total of 108 Japanese university students completed a phrasal acceptability judgment task with adjective–noun collocations pooled from the Academic Collocation List. Speech was elicited in an argumentative speech task, and UF measures were computed based on speed, breakdown, and repair fluency. The results revealed that the collocational processing speed was weakly tied to articulation rate and mid-clause and end-clause silent pause ratio (rho = |.271–.322|), while the collocational processing accuracy was weakly to moderately tied to most UF measures except filled pause ratio (rho = |.281–.368|). The collocation frequency moderated the relationship between the processing speed and UF, suggesting that high-frequency collocations served as a proxy for automaticity in speech production. Implications for CF-UF link research are discussed.

The Poster Carousel in theESLClassroom: What Happens to Learners'L2Fluency During Same and Parallel‐Task Repetition?

AbstractThis paper reports on the impact of an English as a Second Language (ESL) speaking activity—the poster carousel—on English learners' second language (L2) fluency. Two versions of the poster carousel were developed to observe the effect of talking about (a) the same poster three times (same‐task repetition) or (b) three different posters (parallel‐task repetition). 46 ESL learners took part, and their performances were audio‐recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using PRAAT to detail their L2 utterance fluency. The findings suggest that learners were more fluent during repeated performances in thesame‐task repetitionposter carousel group. No changes in fluency were observed for theparallel‐task repetitionposter carousel group. A detailed case study explores these observed fluency increases in the same‐task repetition group and generates further hypotheses for empirical exploration. Some observations are made which relate to the selection of fluency measures in L2 fluency research.

Scientific research on verbal fluency tests: A bibliometric analysis

Verbal fluency tests are easy and quick to use in neuropsychological assessments. The aim of this study is to explore their relevance through a bibliometric analysis. We performed a search in the Web of Science, involving documents published between 1960 and 2021. We used bibliometric indicators to explore articles distribution, doubling time, and annual growth. We calculated the participation index of the different countries and institutions. Through bibliometric mapping, we explored the co-occurrence networks for the most frequently used terms in verbal fluency research. 1718 articles were found, distributed in two different periods (1960–1995 and 1995 to 2021), the second one containing more than 88% of the documents. Price's law shows an exponential growing. Literature on verbal fluency has grown at a rate of 6,7% per year, doubling its size every 10.7 years. Bradford's law shows a high concentration of articles published in a small core of specialized journals. Finally, the map network visualization shows a change in the most important topic related to verbal fluency during the most recent period analysed. Verbal fluency task has undergone an exponential growth. Its easy application, its sensitivity to different brain dysfunction, the possibility of implementation with neuroimaging studies, and the potential analysis of more complex components (clustering or switching) might have played a key role in its growing interest.

Fluency in L2: Read and Spontaneous Speech Pausing Patterns of Turkish, Swahili, Hausa and Arabic Speakers of English.

Language learners' actual speech performances constitute an essential aspect of studies on second language learning and teaching. Although there is ample research on fluency and pauses in English, current literature does not touch on this issue from a multilingual perspective by comparing both read and spontaneous speech performances. In this descriptive study, the researchers investigated pausing patterns with 40 Turkish, Swahili, Hausa, and Arabic speakers of English. For the read speech fragments' elicitation, the participants read out a short story, and for spontaneous speech, the data was gathered through structured interviews. In total, 4007 pauses were measured through Praat, and the findings obtained from the data were analyzed using multiple regression and several multivariate analyses of variance. The findings revealed crucial insights into the nature of fluency research in terms of (a) speech registers, (b) positions, (c) conjunctions, and (d) mother tongues.

The Relationship Between Utterance and Perceived Fluency: A Meta‐Analysis of Correlational Studies

AbstractListener‐based judgements of fluency play an important role in second language (L2) communication contexts and in L2 assessment. Accordingly, our meta‐analysis examined the relationship between different aspects of utterance fluency and listener‐based judgements of perceived fluency by analyzing primary studies reporting correlation coefficients between objective measures of temporal features and subjective ratings of fluency. We analyzed 263 effect sizes from 22 studies (N = 335–746) to calculate the mean effect sizes of the links between utterance and perceived fluency. We also investigated the moderator effects of 11 methodological factors—such as speech stimuli, listeners’ background, rating procedure, and computation of utterance fluency measures—on the relationship between utterance and perceived fluency. Perceived fluency was strongly associated with speed and pause frequency, r = |.59–.62|; moderately with pause duration, r = |.46|; and weakly with repair fluency, r = |.20|; while composite measures showed the strongest effect sizes, r = |.72–.76|. Moderator analyses revealed that the utterance–perceived fluency link is influenced by methodological variables related to how speech samples are prepared for listeners’ judgements and how listeners’ attention is directed in evaluations of fluency. These findings suggest future directions for L2 fluency research and implications for language assessment.

Sujuvuustutkimuksen käänteitä

Fluency is a multifaceted concept used in language teaching and language learning research. Fluency is often approached as cognitive, utterance or perceived fluency. This review article focuses on Finnish fluency studies in which fluency has been examined with explicitly defined measures or criteria in a specific language skill. Our goal was to investigate what kinds of methods have been used and which subskills have been studied from the perspective of fluency. We also aimed to identify potential gaps in fluency research. According to our review, Finnish studies on L2 fluency have mostly focused on productive language skills (speaking and writing), while L1 fluency research has mostly focused on reading (dyslexia). Listening fluency has not been studied explicitly. The reviewed studies concerned various languages, populations and employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. We conclude that more research is needed on receptive skills, especially listening, multimodal fluency and fluency in new learning environments.

Reading fluency in mono- and multilinguals: Is there an additive effect of the number of languages spoken?

Reading is an adequate measure of fluency since it eliminates the use of memory (Pasquarella et al., 2014). Experimental data with lexical access tasks shows reduced fluency in bilinguals compared to monolinguals (Ouzia and Folke, 2016; Sandoval et al., 2010). However, bilinguals also displayed cognitive advantages compared to monolinguals (Bialystok et al., 2012; Spinu et al., 2018, 2020), but these findings are disputed (Marzecova, 2016). The main research aims for this study are to determine whether (1) being a bi- or multilingual is associated with reduced reading fluency and (2) there is an additive effect of the number of languages spoken on reading fluency. Audio recordings of a short English paragraph were collected from 147 undergraduate students of diverse linguistic backgrounds (i.e., monolinguals, bilinguals, and trilinguals). The recordings are currently being analyzed manually for disfluencies such as hesitations, repetitions, mispronunciations / self-corrections, reading speed, and filled pauses (e.g., ‘er', ‘um', ‘ah', ‘like'). A final fluency score will be computed for each participant in order to evaluate our research questions. Our study thus expands bilingual fluency research to a reading task, adding to the body of work on multilingual cognition and the controversial phenomenon known as the bilingual advantage.

Making fluency research accessible to second language teachers: The impact of a training intervention

The study reported in this article was aimed at investigating whether making the findings of second language fluency research accessible to language teachers has an impact on their self-reported understanding of the concept of oral fluency, confidence in promoting it, and classroom practice in short and medium term. The data come from 106 initial and 32 delayed questionnaires, eliciting both qualitative and quantitative data, from second language teachers in England after attending a one-day research-informed and practice-oriented training workshop. The results indicate a positive impact of the intervention on teachers’ understanding of fluency, confidence in helping their learners, and self-reported practice in short term, with the impact being reported 10–12 weeks after the intervention. The findings imply that adopting a narrow perspective to defining and conceptualizing fluency is linked with a more in-depth understanding of fluency and enhanced confidence and ability for using fluency-focused classroom activities.

Oral fluency in a second language: A research agenda for the next ten years

AbstractThis paper reviews how the construct of oral fluency in a second language (L2) has been defined and researched over the last twenty-five years. The emerging picture is somewhat kaleidoscopic, as domains of cognitive, social, individual and linguistic influences on L2 speech have been opened up for study. L2 fluency research presents a wealth of directions for future exploration, five of which have been laid out here as an achievable, though not comprehensive, agenda for the coming decade. Four of these studies focus on the relationship between variables such as perceived fluency, utterance fluency, idiomaticity, task familiarity, vocabulary size and learner self-reflection, while the fifth focusses on supporting fluency development in the L2 classroom. As an aid to prospective researchers, the five studies are laid out in practical detail, together with suggestions on how these might need to be altered to fit the local context in which the research is undertaken.

PREDICTING L2 FLUENCY FROM L1 FLUENCY BEHAVIOR

AbstractThe article reports on the findings of a study investigating the relationship between first language (L1) and second language (L2) fluency behavior. Drawing on data collected from Turkish learners of English, the study also addresses the question of whether proficiency level mediates the relationship, if any. The data were coded for a range of breakdown, repair, speed, and composite measures. Language proficiency was measured by means of two tests: Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and an Elicited Imitation Task (EIT). The results show that some breakdown and repair measures were positively correlated in L1 and L2, but no correlations were observed for articulation rate and speech rate. The relationships were not mediated by proficiency level. Regression analyses show that a number of models predicted L2 fluency. L1 fluency contributed significantly to models predicting pausing behavior; EIT scores predicted L2 speech rate; and L1 fluency and OPT scores predicted L2 repair and mid-clause pauses. The important implications of the findings for fluency research and second language pedagogy are discussed.

Evaluating Measures of Pausing for Second Language Fluency Research

Dans les écrits sur la fluidité en L2, la meilleure façon de définir les pauses de manière opérationnelle et de déterminer quel est le lien entre les différentes mesures des pauses et la maîtrise de la L2 est abondamment débattue. Cette question interpelle les chercheurs qui s’intéressent à la fluidité en L2, en particulier ceux qui travaillent auprès de groupes dont le degré de maîtrise de la L2 varie. Les auteures se penchent sur le sujet en étudiant les données relatives à la production orale de 48 apprenants de l’espagnol (dont la L1 est l’anglais), afin d’évaluer quelles mesures des pauses sont les meilleurs indicateurs de fluidité. Son analyse porte sur différentes mesures des pauses — par 100 syllabes ou par minute, selon la durée, la nature (remplies ou silencieuses) et l’emplacement (au milieu ou à la fin d’une proposition) — ainsi que sur leur relation avec la maîtrise de la L2. Le degré de maîtrise est opérationnalisé sous forme de score combiné en connaissances linguistiques obtenu dans des tests de grammaire et de vocabulaire. Les auteures ont effectué à des analyses de corrélation et de régression afin de déterminer comment les différentes mesures des pauses rendent compte de la variabilité des scores quant à la maîtrise. Les résultats de l’étude indiquent que des pauses plus longues (une seconde ou plus) sont de meilleurs prédicteurs de la maîtrise de la L2 que les pauses plus courtes, que les pauses silencieuses sont un prédicteur plus fort de la maîtrise de la L2 que les pauses remplies, et que les pauses en milieu de proposition permettent d’établir plus clairement que les pauses en fin de proposition la distinction entre les niveaux de maîtrise. Les résultats de l’étude guideront les chercheurs dans le choix de la mesure des pauses qui répond le mieux à leurs besoins.

Combinations of discourse markers with repairs and repetitions in English, French and Spanish

Discourse markers have a central role in planning and repairing processes of speech production. They relate with fluency and disfluency phenomena such as pauses, repetitions and reformulations. Their polyfunctionality is challenging and few form-function mappings are stable cross-linguistically. This study combines a functional and a structural approach to discourse markers and their combination with and within repetitions and self-repairs in native English, French and Spanish, in order to establish the inter-relation between these three fluency-related devices and to find potentially universal patterns of use. Qualitative coding and quantitative analyses of categories of markers and repairs allowed us to identify discourse markers which are specific to repair sequences and others which are much more pervasive. Combinations with repetitions vary across languages and repair types. Our findings fill a gap in cross-linguistic fluency research, disentangle the overlap between discourse markers, repairs and repetitions, and can be integrated into pedagogical materials.

Exploring the Role of Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) in Reading Instruction: A Classroom-based Study with Engineering Students

Teaching reading is a complicated task as reading entails the simultaneous interaction of various component processes. Learning to read fluently is a crucial part of reading acquisition. Despite research conducted in L1 contexts regarding reading fluency, this area has been relatively unexplored in L2 contexts. In reading fluency research, Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) is an important construct which has been closely associated with the reading comprehension of young learners in L1 contexts. This paper aims to investigate the nature of the relationship between ORF and reading comprehension in ESL learners. If ORF proves to be significantly related to reading comprehension, it would be a valuable addition to reading instruction for ESL learners.

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Exploring Connections Between First and Second Language Fluency: A Mixed Methods Approach

AbstractMany factors influencing second language (L2) speech fluency have been widely studied, but the effects of first language (L1) fluency on L2 speech fluency are still relatively poorly understood. In contrast to mostly quantitative previous studies, the present study adopted a mixed methods approach to examining the connections between L1 fluency and L2 fluency. Monologue speech samples in L1 and L2 were obtained from 42 Finnish learners of English at 2 school levels (9th grade and upper secondary school). The samples were examined for 13 measures capturing different aspects of fluency: temporal fluency, including speed and pausing, and stalling mechanisms. The results indicated positive correlations between the majority of temporal L1 and L2 fluency measures. Regression analyses further demonstrated that most temporal L2 fluency measures could be predicted from L1 fluency measures to a certain extent, although the predictive power varied across the measures. Regarding stalling mechanisms, a complementary qualitative analysis provided insights to idiosyncratic patterns in their use in L1 and L2. Together, the findings suggest that L1 fluency is an important factor in explaining L2 fluency and should be more widely acknowledged in L2 fluency research, assessment, and teaching.

Mitä on toisen kielen sujuvuus? Näkökulmia kognitiivisen ja puhetuotoksen sujuvuuden tutkimuksesta


 
 
 In this review article, we combine two approaches to the study of second language (L2) fluency: cognitive fluency and utterance fluency. The former concentrates on cognitive processing and its limitations, whereas the latter involves analyzing fluency-related features from speech samples. Despite theoretical links, the research traditions associated with the approaches have been relatively separate. In addition to providing an overview of the two approaches, the similarities and differences between them are illustrated with results related to one aspect of (dis)fluency, repetitions. Bringing together results related to cognitive and utterance fluency highlights the usefulness of combining different viewpoints in L2 fluency research and demonstrates the need for further interdisciplinary dialogue to gain a comprehensive picture of L2 fluency. Together, the results of studies emphasizing different aspects of L2 fluency also have important implications for L2 fluency assessment.