Perceptions Of Fluency Research Articles

Perception of ‘broad’ and ‘narrow’ fluency in the EFL performance of student interpreters

The oral fluency of non-native speakers is an important measure in evaluating a person’s second language (L2) proficiency. The present study investigates the relationship between the perception of fluency in its broad sense, meaning overall speaking proficiency, and in the narrow sense, in which flow and smoothness as well as grammar and vocabulary are evaluated. An experiment was conducted in which the speech fluency of 25 interpreter trainees was rated by 12 raters – three native experts, three native non-experts, three non-native experts and three non-native non-experts – in the narrow and broad senses, and then again after one month’. The results of the study showed that the raters’ judgements of fluency in the narrow sense were significantly lower than that of broad fluency. The expert raters were significantly less lenient than the non-experts overall, and more so when using the narrow definition of fluency. There was no statistically significant difference found in the scores of the native and non-native raters. It is suggested that interpreter trainees develop both broad and narrow fluency skills through training and practice. This can include improving their linguistic knowledge as well as practicing speaking skills.

Speech Fluency Production and Perception in L1 (Slovak) and L2 (English) Read Speech.

Research on fluency in native (L1) and non-native (L2) speech production and perception helps us understand how individual L1 speaking style might affect perceived L2 fluency and how this relationship might be reflected in L1 versus L2 oral assessment. While the relationship between production and perception of fluency in spontaneous speech has been studied, the information provided by reading has been overlooked. We argue that reading provides a direct and controlled way to assess language proficiency that might complement information gained from spontaneous speaking. This work analyzes the relationship between speech fluency production and perception in passages of L1 (Slovak) and L2 (English) read by 57 undergraduate Slovak students of English and rated for fluency by 15 English teachers who are Slovak natives. We compare acoustic production measures between L1 and L2 and analyze how their effect on perceived fluency differs for the two languages. Our main finding is that the articulation rate, the overall number of pauses, and the number of between-clause and mid-clause pauses predict ratings differently in L1 Slovak versus L2 English. The speech rate and durations of pauses predict ratings similarly in both languages. The contribution of our results to understanding fluency aspects of spontaneous and read speech, the relationship between L1 and L2, the relationship between production and perception, and to the teaching of L2 English are discussed.

What Drives Customer Engagement in Omnichannel Retailing? The Role of Omnichannel Integration, Perceived Fluency, and Perceived Flow

Omnichannel retailers are under intense pressure to harness synergetic management of retail technologies and channels in order to promote customer engagement in the competitive market. Drawing on service-dominant (S-D) logic, we develop a research model to examine how omnichannel integration generates customer engagement through facilitating perceptions of fluency and flow in the shopping experience. We empirically validate the model with a multimethod approach, including an instrument development study to establish the measures of omnichannel integration and a field survey study to validate hypotheses. We find that omnichannel integration has three types: informational integration, transactional integration, and relational integration. These types all positively influence perceived fluency, which further generates customer engagement. Moreover, transactional and relational integration positively influence perceived flow, which ultimately facilitates customer engagement. Our article advances the omnichannel retailing literature by proposing three types of omnichannel integration and developing the S-D logic of customer engagement. Our empirical findings also inform omnichannel retailers about how synergetic technology and channel management in omnichannel integration can be used to promote customer engagement.

Physiological Indicators of Fluency and Engagement during Sequential and Simultaneous Modes of Human-Robot Collaboration

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS An understanding of fluency in human-robot teaming from a physiological standpoint is still incomplete. In our experimental study involving 24 participants, we designed a scenario for shared-space human-robot collaboration (HRC) for a material sorting task. When compared to a sequential mode of interaction, the simultaneous mode resulted in significantly higher perceptions of fluency and engagement, primarily by reducing human idle time. These observations were complemented by significant changes in physiological responses, such as ECG entropy and low frequency power. These responses could predict fluency and engagement with accuracies of 90 and 97%, respectively. Notably, the perception of fluency and preferred mode of interaction were influenced by individual preferences. Hence, it is crucial to consider both physiological responses and user preferences when designing HRC systems, to ensure a positive experience with the robot teammate and to foster engagement in long-term teamwork. Furthermore, these signals can be obtained using a single robust, low-cost, and comfortable sensor.

The role of pragmatic markers in perceptions of L2 fluency in dialogue

This matched-guise study helps identify the features of interaction that contribute to perceptions of fluency in L2 dialogue. We focus on pragmatic markers (PM) that occur frequently in L1 interaction but relatively less so in L2 English learners' speech (Fung & Carter, 2007), namely, interpersonal (e.g., I see, okay) and cognitive PMs (e.g., I mean, well, I think). Despite evidence of their functional value in interaction (McCarthy, 2009), they are often considered markers of disfluency and rarely introduced in L2 classrooms. Speech samples of highly proficient L2 interaction were digitally manipulated to control for interpersonal and cognitive PMs simulating expert speaker-like PM use. L1 and L2 English listeners (N = 231) rated and commented upon interlocutor's fluency. The quantitative results suggest that listeners generally perceived speakers as more fluent when using PMs, although the magnitude of the effect was relatively small and driven by L1 raters. Raters' qualitative comments suggest covert influence of PM use on fluency perceptions and uncovered a bias favoring English L1 speaker PM use. Results support the potential value of explicitly addressing PMs in teaching L2 fluency and help researchers in understanding the construct of spoken fluency in dialogue to guide in its measurement and assessment.

Let voice assistants sound like a machine: Voice and task type effects on perceived fluency, competence, and consumer attitude

Voice Assistants (VA) are increasingly penetrating consumers’ daily lives. This study aimed to investigate the effects of synthetic vs. human voice on users’ perception of the voice, social judgments of the VA, and attitudes towards VAs. Drawing from CASA(Computers-as-socialactors) framework and social perception literature, we developed a theoretical model that explains the psychological underlying mechanism of the voice effects. Through two online experiments, we rejected our initial hypotheses that human voice would increase users’ perception and evaluation of the VAs. Instead, our findings support that the VAs were favored when they spoke with a synthetic voice only when the users engaged in functional tasks. There was no difference between the voices for social tasks. A further investigation revealed that participants perceived the synthetic voice to be more fluent when VA responds to functional tasks. This enhanced perception of fluency increased competence perception and attitudes. The findings imply that VAs should not be designed to closely resemble humans. Rather, consideration of usage contexts and consumer expectations should be prioritized in developing most likable VAs.

Prolongamentos no final de palavras: características acústicas e influência na percepção da fluência de fala

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to characterize word final prolongations in individuals with and without stuttering as well as to investigate the influence of end of words prolongations on speech fluency perception. In Experiment 1, 14 subjects were submitted to speech fluency evaluation for analysis of duration and average frequency of extended phones at the end of words. In Experiment 2, twenty lay judges were asked to judge the fluency degree of utterances without disfluency, utterances containing prolongations and utterances containing filled pauses. In experiment 1 the groups differed only in the duration’s variation; in both groups the prolongations in monosyllabic words prevailed; 80% of the prolonged phones in both groups were vowels. In experiment 2 no significant difference was found in the comparison between the judgements of prolongations and filled pauses. The utterances without disfluency differentiated themselves significantly from the others. We suggest that characteristics such as position in the word, duration and physical concomitants should be considered before deeming prolongations as a stuttering-like disfluency.

Waiting for a download: The effect of congruency between anthropomorphic cues and shopping motivation on consumer patience

AbstractConsumers tend to be impatient during an online wait (e.g., waiting for webpages to download), which may decrease their satisfaction with online retailers. The current research addresses this important issue by identifying a simple and viable strategy to boost consumer patience: the presence of anthropomorphic cues on the download interface. In particular, we postulate a matching effect between anthropomorphic cues and shopping motivation on consumer patience, such that hedonic (vs. utilitarian) consumption benefits from exciting (vs. sincere) anthropomorphism, whereas utilitarian (vs. hedonic) consumption benefits from sincere (vs. exciting) anthropomorphism (Study 1). Notably, these effects are driven by a match between anthropomorphic cues and shopping motivation that creates perceptions of fluency, and the ensuing enjoyment experience yields enhanced patience (Study 2). In addition to having substantive theoretical implications for the anthropomorphism, patience, and persuasion literature, our findings offer novel insights regarding ways for marketers to effectively manage online wait.

Investigating Relationship between EFL Teachers’ Personality Traits and Fluency Ratings

The objective of this study was to investigate the connection between EFL teachers" personality traits and fluency perceptions, assuming that personality could play a role in deciding listeners" fluency perceptions in the EFL context. Twenty-four listeners (13 NSs and 11 NNSs of English teachers) were asked to judge the fluency of 28 Korean high school students" narrative speech samples and complete the Big Five Aspects Scales personality test (DeYong et al., 2007). Listeners" mean fluency ratings were compared to their personality scores. Statistical analysis results indicated that Extraversion, one of the Big Five personality traits, was moderately correlated with fluency scores in the expected direction, suggesting that more extraverted people rated L2 speech as fluent. On the other hand, the other four traits were not substantially associated with fluency scores. This study not only emphasizes the significance of personality in influencing fluency perception, but also shows that fluency scores assigned by EFL teachers should be interpreted with caution. It opens up the possibility of using a more objective and accurate automated scoring method to assess oral fluency.

Exploring the Dynamic Nature of Second Language Listeners’ Perceived Fluency: A Mixed‐Methods Approach

Despite the status of English as the lingua franca of the world (Seidlhofer, 2011) and the growing number of English as a second language (L2) users (Pennycook, 2017), researchers have mostly investigated L2‐accented English based on native speakers’ perceptions. In particular, a number of previous studies have looked at native English speakers’ perceptions of fluency (e.g., Bosker, Pinget, Quene, Sanders, & de Jong, 2013). Only a limited number of studies have examined L2 speakers’ perceptions of the same phenomenon (for a rare exception, see Rossiter, 2009). Therefore, we know very little about how L2 users conceptualize fluency, and what their subjective conceptualizations of fluency are. Thus, the current study took the first step to investigate the factors affecting L2 users’ intuitive perceptions of L2 fluency using an explanatory sequential mixed‐methods design.

Investigating Teachers’ Perceptions of Fluency

This paper is a report on an investigation into spoken fluency as perceived by EFL professionals in China. Building on Segalowitz’s (2010) analysis of fluency into utterance and cognitive and perceived fluency, a study by Dore (2016) was replicated. China-based EFL teachers were asked to rate three speech samples then complete a questionnaire explaining the reasons for their ratings and their beliefs about fluency. The overall questionnaire results were similar to Dore’s, but the sample ratings showed greater divergence, with only 56% agreement on which sample exhibited a higher degree of fluency. The majority preferred a performance with fewer hesitations; the others appeared to be influenced by grammatical proficiency and accent. Respondents agreed that effortlessness and coherence were significant components of fluency. Ratings of components of utterance fluency correlated with automaticity, supporting the view that utterance fluency could be predictive of perceived fluency. 本論は、中国のEFLの教官たちに行った、流暢さに関するアンケート調査の報告である。流暢さの要素を、発声、認知、知覚される流暢さに分類したセガロヴィッツ（2010）の考え方を用い、ドーレ（2016）による研究を再現した。計４６人のEFLの教官たちが３つのスピーチサンプルを評価し、評価の理由と流暢さについての信条を説明する質問事項に答えた。結果は全体的にドーレの研究結果にかなり似たものになったが、評価において、ドーレの結果より大きな分散が見られた。サンプルがより高い程度の流暢さを示した場合でも、わずか56％の一致であった。多くは躊躇のない話し方を好み、文法の習熟と発音に影響を受けたのは少数だった。回答者たちが同意したのは、難なく話すことと首尾一貫性が流暢さの重要な要素であるということだった。発声の流暢さに関する評価 は、自動的処理に相関し、発声の流暢さが知覚される流暢さを予測しうるという見方を支持していた。

Not as gloomy as we thought: reassessing how the public understands probability of precipitation forecasts

ABSTRACTPrior research on probability of precipitation (PoP) forecasts showed that many people wrongfully believe that PoP forecasts are derived from a percentage of time, a percentage of a region or the strength of agreement among forecasters. We posit that the wording of interpretation selection tasks matters, because different response options are associated with different metacognitive feelings. We hypothesised that the incorrect PoP interpretations are more often chosen by participants because they are more fluent than the correct PoP interpretation. We assessed the role of fluency in correctness perception (Study 1) and reassessed PoP interpretations with a more fluent correct interpretation (Study 2). Fluency perception was positively related with perception of correctness. Furthermore, participants selected the correct fluent interpretation more often than the correct disfluent one. We have drawn a more optimistic picture of people’s PoP forecasts understanding than that shown before and have discussed the methodological and applied implications.

Translating Meschonnic's Ethics and Politics of Translating

This very short text recounts my experience of translating Henri Meschonnic's essays, which combine the trials of poetry and the tribulations of texts in the humanities. I explain the reasons why I chose to translate Éthique et politique du traduire (2007) and touch on the relation between reading habits and the perception of fluency.

Rethinking perceptions of fluency

Abstract The term “fluency” is used in two different ways in relation to second language speech. Whereas laypeople often equate fluency with proficiency in a given language, researchers define fluency as a speaker’s ease or fluidity in producing spoken language at a specific time point. This discrepancy in definitions has been problematic, especially when relying on ratings provided by naïve raters. This study seeks to determine whether “fluency” ratings differ from “fluidity” ratings assigned to 48 speech stimuli produced by native and non-native speakers of German. Samples were rated by participants from three distinct listener groups: native German listeners, second language (L2) German listeners, and non-speakers of German. On the surface, results reveal no significant differences along the two continua (“fluency” or “fluidity”). All groups rated native speakers as more fluent, and second language listeners were harshest in their ratings. Nonetheless, L2 listeners who rated speech samples along the “fluency” scale relied upon speech measures not associated with ease of speaking when compared with L2 listeners who rated the same samples for “fluidity.” Although listeners in all groups were most sensitive to speakers’ speech rate and use of filled pauses, native listeners and non-speakers relied more on temporal measures when they rated speech along the “fluidity” scale. These combined results thus indicate that “fluidity” may be the better term to use in future research relying on naïve listeners’ ratings of perceived fluency.

Competing cues: Older adults rely on knowledge in the face of fluency.

Consumers regularly encounter repeated false claims in political and marketing campaigns, but very little empirical work addresses their impact among older adults. Repeated statements feel easier to process, and thus more truthful, than new ones (i.e., illusory truth). When judging truth, older adults' accumulated general knowledge may offset this perception of fluency. In two experiments, participants read statements that contradicted information stored in memory; a post-experimental knowledge check confirmed what individual participants knew. Unlike young adults, older adults exhibited illusory truth only when they lacked knowledge about claims. This interaction between knowledge and fluency extends dual-process theories of aging. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Influence of Task Type on Perceived Fluency

<p><em>In foreign language teaching it is necessary to employ a variety of tasks with a different degree of narrative structure to influence learners’ performance in anticipated ways, thus enhancing overall fluency as a significant aspect of successful communication. This study examines how different task types influence the perceived fluency of EFL learners. The obtained results confirm that the perception of speakers’ fluency varied across tasks. The worst perception of fluency was achieved in the task based on the formulation of unrelated utterances, that is, the most unstructured task led to the least fluent performance. A frequent introduction of new topics demands a great amount of attention. Therefore, in foreign language teaching emphasis should be laid on tasks including frequent introductions of new topics, due to the observed decrease in perceived fluency.</em></p>

Neurophysiological evidence that perceptions of fluency produce mere exposure effects.

Recent exposure to people or objects increases liking ratings, the "mere exposure effect" (Zajonc in American Psychologist, 35, 117-123, 1968), and an increase in processing fluency has been identified as a potential mechanism for producing this effect. This fluency hypothesis was directly tested by altering the trial-by-trial image clarity (i.e., fluency) while Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded. In Experiment 1, clarity was altered across two trial blocks that each had homogenous trial-by-trial clarity, whereas clarity varied randomly across trials in Experiment 2. Blocking or randomizing image clarity across trials was expected to produce different levels of relative fluency and alter mere exposure effects. The mere exposure effect (i.e., old products liked more than new products) was observed when stimulus clarity remained constant across trials, and clear image ERPs were more positive than blurry image ERPs. Importantly, these patterns were reversed when clarity varied randomly across test trials, such that participants liked clear images more than blurry (i.e., no mere exposure effect) and clear image ERPs were more negative than blurry image ERPs. The findings provide direct experimental support from both behavioral and electrophysiological measures that, in some contexts, mere exposure is the product of top-down interpretations of fluency.

A qualitative analysis of perceptions of fluency in second language French

AbstractIn the field of second language (L2) fluency, there is a common adherence to quantitative methods to examine characteristics and features of speech. This study extends the field by reporting on an investigation that analyzed native-speaker listeners’ perceptions of L2 fluency in French from a qualitative perspective. Three untrained judges rated students’ performance on speech tasks varying in cognitive demand and provided justifications for their perceptions of fluency. The goal of the research was to examine the factors that affect raters’ evaluations of fluency in response to three oral performances from 40 adult learners of French of varying proficiency. Qualitative analysis revealed that the main speech features that influenced native listeners’ perceptions of L2 fluency were speed, rhythm, pause phenomena, self-correction and efficiency/effortlessness in word choice, but also in target-like rhythm and prosody. The results of using such qualitative methodology highlights the important role that rhythm plays in fluency judgements in syllable-timed languages such as French, a factor which has not always been given much prominence in previous L2 fluency quantitative research.

Commentary: Spacing as the friend of both memory and induction in young and older adults.

Commentary: Spacing as the friend of both memory and induction in young and older adults.

Looks good to me: How eye movements influence product evaluation

When processing visually presented information, people move their eyes. This eye movement is governed by the employment of a general motor procedure related to direction. In three studies, we show that when subjects re-employ this directional motor procedure (that had been employed in a prior or contemporaneous (unrelated) task) when evaluating a product, a perception of fluency ensues, and this perception of fluency is then misattributed to the product under evaluation and enhances evaluations. We demonstrate the effect for intra-modal (repetition of eye movement) as well as cross-modal (contemporaneous eye and finger movements) settings.