Utterance Fluency Research Articles

Using VoiceThread for extended independent practice in giving short academic presentations

This study investigates the potential of VoiceThread (VT) as a learning tool in order to enhance learners’ performance and confidence, and to provide the basis for continuing independent practice. The participants were students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds on a 10-week English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programme in academic speaking and listening skills in an Australian university. Students carried out a weekly extended speaking task in the form of an academic presentation, on a theme/topic related to their own interests. To prepare for this they used VT to record and rehearse their presentation, uploading their recordings to the Learning Management System for other students to listen to, and for the teacher to provide individual feedback. The recordings were analysed in relation to a number of features to measure utterance fluency, including speed, repairs and pauses. Questionnaires were used to investigate students’ perceptions of the value of the task, of their performance on the task, and of changes in their performance and confidence over time. Interviews were used to investigate the potential of recording and rehearsal for long term independent practice. The study involved a total of 34 students in 10 week courses, 22 students using the Voicethread software, and 12 students in a comparison class following the same curriculum, but without the Voicethread software. The results suggest that, over time, regular VT tasks help students develop their performance and confidence in spoken English. Such voice-recording activities have the potential to improve oral performance by encouraging independent practice of oral activities, and so tackling the limitations on time, practice and feedback inherent in classroom-based courses. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2021.2003407 .

Prior processing, foreign language classroom anxiety, and L2 fluency

Abstract This study examines the role of prior processing (understood as L2 use earlier in discourse) in moderating the contributions of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and proficiency to L2 utterance fluency. Two groups with comparable FLCA and proficiency scores performed the same narrative task. One group completed it in the absence of any other L2 task, and one group completed it immediately after responding to a similar but not identical prompt. The participants’ speech was analyzed using breakdown, speed, and repair fluency measures. Results showed that prior processing can reduce FLCA’s interference during L2 production. Unexpectedly, prior processing did not produce significant fluency gains associated with lexical retrieval and syntactic encoding. Instead, the patterns of variation revealed that more attention was paid to message conceptualization. This finding implies that prior processing can moderate FLCA’s role in L2 production because it alters the way attentional resources are allocated in subsequent performance.

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.

Interpretations of spoken utterance fluency in simulated and face-to-face oral proficiency interviews

Interpretations of spoken utterance fluency in simulated and face-to-face oral proficiency interviews

Can explicit instruction of formulaic sequences enhance L2 oral fluency?

The role of formulaic language in enhancing L2 oral performance is largely discussed in the literature; however, there is a lack of instructional research. In order to address this issue, the present investigation examined effects of explicit learning and practice of formulaic sequences on L2 utterance fluency with advanced EAP learners. Two groups of freshmen students were assigned as the experimental group and the comparison group. For five weeks, the experimental group studied and practiced 80 formulaic sequences (FS) that frequently occur in spoken academic corpora. The comparison group, on the other hand, learned single academic vocabulary. Target vocabulary in both groups were introduced through concordances and practiced in communicative oral production tasks in a freshmen EAP program. L2 fluency was measured in terms of temporal qualities at three points and compared in a series of repeated measures ANCOVA analyses, with L1 fluency included as covariate. Results showed that both groups improved significantly in speed fluency from pretest to posttest and the FS group outperformed the comparison group in pruned speech rate, the global fluency measure. Effects of FS instruction were maintained on delayed posttest. Implications of the findings were discussed.

An investigation into utterance-fluency patterns of advanced LL bilinguals

Abstract Adult late-LL learners are the main source of participants for research on utterance fluency. Although there are ample opportunities to study these learners, bilinguals who come from a more diverse background are under-researched. This paper investigates the effects of long-term bilingualism on the second-language fluency patterns of a community of LL-Afrikaans/LL-Spanish bilinguals residing in Patagonia, Argentina. These third-generation bilinguals are dominant in their LL and are undergoing LL attrition. The acoustic analysis draws from a corpus of Spanish sociolinguistic interviews obtained from the bilinguals, who were compared to Spanish monolinguals on speed, breakdown, and repair fluency. For some measures (mean-syllable duration and phonation-time ratio), the bilinguals performed similarly to the Spanish monolinguals, whereas for other measures the results were mixed: the bilinguals produced less filled pauses, but used longer silent pauses and more reformulations, than the monolinguals. These outcomes are theorized within current models of LL-speech production.

The Predicting Power of Cognitive Fluency for the Development of Utterance Fluency in Simultaneous Interpreting.

Although simultaneous interpreting (SI) is generally recognized as a highly demanding cognitive activity in nature, the role of cognitive processes in SI fluency is yet to be determined. While utterance fluency refers to the set of objectively determined oral features of utterances, cognitive fluency means the speaker’s efficient mobilization and integration of underlying cognitive processes responsible for utterance production. An investigation into the relationship of the two dimensions of fluency helps to reveal the cognitive bases of interpreting. This study explores the predicting power of cognitive fluency in the utterance fluency development of L2 (English)–L1 (Chinese) SI output of trainee interpreters. Cognitive fluency was operationalized as measures of lexical access, linguistic attention control, and working memory capacity. Measures of utterance fluency were obtained through simulated SI tasks under conditions of low and high input rates. Twenty-eight trainees interpreted two speeches, one with a high input rate and the other with a low input rate, at the beginning and end of an SI training period of 13 weeks. A bilingual corpus of the participants’ SI output was built, and indicators of SI utterance fluency were annotated systematically. Utterance fluency was indexed by the speech rate, mean length of run, phonation time ratio, mean number of silent pauses, and mean number of disfluencies. Results of analyses indicated that (1) the predicting power of cognitive fluency for SI utterance fluency development was only shown under high cognitive load over a training period of 13 weeks; (2) predictors for the development of SI utterance fluency tended to be the efficiency of cognitive processes involved in the target language production stage; and (3) the inclusion of measures of working memory capacity significantly increased the predicting power of cognitive fluency for SI utterance fluency development. This study for the first time provides evidence for the role of cognitive fluency in trainee interpreters’ SI utterance fluency development, having implications for the theoretical framework of cognitive fluency and the information processing mechanism in interpreting process, as well as for interpreter aptitude tests and interpreting pedagogy.

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.

Modeling the relationship between utterance fluency and raters’ perceived fluency of consecutive interpreting

Abstract Fluency is an important, yet insufficiently understood, construct in interpreting studies. This article reports on an empirical study which explored the relationship between utterance fluency measures and raters’ perceived fluency ratings of English/Chinese consecutive interpreting. It also examined whether such relationship was consistent across interpreting directions and rater types. The results partially supported the categorization of utterance fluency into breakdown, speed and repair fluency. It was also found that mean length of unfilled pauses, phonation time ratio, mean length of run and speech rate had fairly strong correlations with perceived fluency ratings in both interpreting directions and across rater types. Among a number of competing regression models that were built to predict raters’ fluency ratings, a parsimonious model, using mean length of unfilled pauses and mean length of run as predictors, accounted for about 60% of the variance of fluency ratings in both directions and across rater types. These results are expected to help create, rewrite and modify rubrics and scalar descriptors of fluency scales in rater-mediated interpretation assessment and to inform automated scoring of fluency in interpreting.

Explaining second language utterance fluency: Contribution of cognitive fluency and first language utterance fluency

AbstractGiven that utterance fluency in a second language (L2) is associated with not only L2 cognitive fluency but also utterance fluency in the first language (L1), the study examined to what extent different measures of L2 utterance fluency can be explained by L2-specific cognitive fluency and/or the corresponding L1 utterance fluency measures. Utterance fluency measures on speed, breakdown, and repair phenomena and cognitive fluency measures including speed of lexical retrieval, syntactic encoding, and articulation were collected in the L1 and the L2 from 44 Chinese learners of English. The results show that most L2 utterance fluency measures are accounted for by the combination of L2-specific cognitive fluency measures and the equivalent L1 utterance fluency measure, whereas the number of mid-clause silent pauses and corrections, and mean syllable duration are largely explained by L2-specific cognitive measures, suggesting that they reflect L2-specific knowledge and cognitive skills. In contrast, mean silent pause duration and the number of filled pauses are mainly explained by the corresponding L1 utterance fluency measures.

Aspects of Fluency Across Assessed Levels of Speaking Proficiency

AbstractRecent research in second language acquisition suggests that a number of speed, breakdown, repair, and composite measures reliably assess fluency and predict proficiency. However, there is little research evidence to indicate which measures best characterize fluency at each assessed level of proficiency and which can consistently distinguish one level from the next. This study investigated fluency in 32 speakers’ performing 4 tasks of the British Council's Aptis Speaking Test, which were awarded 4 different levels of proficiency (Common European Framework of Reference for Language levels A2–C1). Using PRAAT, the performances were analyzed for various aspects of utterance fluency across different levels of proficiency. The results suggest that speed and composite measures consistently distinguish fluency from the lowest to upper‐intermediate levels (A2–B2), and many breakdown measures differentiate between the lowest level (A2) and the rest of the proficiency groups, with a few differentiating between lower (A2, B1) and higher levels (B2, C1). The varied use of repair measures at different levels suggests that a more complex process is at play. The findings imply that a detailed micro‐analysis of fluency offers a more reliable understanding of the construct and its relationship with assessment of proficiency.

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.
 
 

The role of foreign language anxiety on L2 utterance fluency during a final exam

This study examines how foreign language anxiety (FLA) and proficiency relate to second language (L2) utterance fluency during a final oral exam. Thirty-eight learners of Spanish (L1 English) completed unplanned narratives that were coded for ratio and length of pauses between and within Analysis of Speech Units, mean length of run, phonation-time ratio, and articulation rate. Learners’ oral proficiency was measured with an aural/oral sentence imitation task. Multiple regression analyses showed that anxiety is a strong predictor for certain temporal features associated with subjective ratings of fluency. Overall oral proficiency, however, was not a significant predictor in any case. The findings confirm the interference of FLA with cognitive processing and contribute to our understanding of the challenges faced by anxious learners during classroom-based language assessment.

What Features Best Characterize Adult Second Language Utterance Fluency and What Do They Reveal About Fluency Gains in Short-Term Immersion?

This study reports on how one can examine a second language (L2) speech corpus in order to define which of many possible features of L2 utterance fluency (i.e., speech fluidity) should be the focus of an L2 fluency gains investigation. Participants were 100 adult English-speakers enrolled in a French immersion program. Data from 50 randomly selected participants were assigned to Sample A for Analysis 1 and the remainder to Sample B for Analysis 2. In Analysis 1, 23 candidate speech features, drawn from the literature at large, were examined in Sample A through a series of logical and statistical steps and systematically reduced to four features as constituting a core set of L2 utterance fluency features. In Analysis 2, these four features were examined in the Sample B corpus for gains after 5 weeks of immersion. Results indicated strong gains on all four. In Analysis 3, by way of replication, we reversed the process by using the Sample B data to first define the target fluency features and then the Sample A data to test for fluency gains. The main results replicated those of Analyses 1 and 2. The four features that emerged as core L2 utterance fluency features were mean syllable run length and mean phonation run length between silent pauses, and mean syllable duration and mean silent pause duration. Mean filled pause duration did not meet the criteria for belonging to the same fluency construct. Overall, the results showed that it is possible (a) to operationally define L2 fluency markers without reference to fluency gains, and (b) to then use these fluency markers to study L2 fluency gains without the gains data having shaped the operational definition of fluency in the first place, thereby avoiding the circularity of post hoc identification of relevant variables.

L2 Utterance Fluency Development Before, During, and After Residence Abroad: A Multidimensional Investigation

This study investigated second language fluency development over a nearly 2‐year period which included an academic year abroad and the year immediately following the participants' return to their home university. Data from 24 L1 English learners of Spanish were collected 6 times: once before, 3 times during, and 2 times after a 9‐month stay abroad. Participants were recorded orally retelling a picture‐based narrative, and data were coded for 9 measures of utterance fluency. Results indicated different developmental trends: Gains in speed fluency appeared quickly and were maintained after the return from study abroad, whereas gains in breakdown fluency often took longer and were more sensitive to attrition after returning home. There were no changes over time in repair fluency. These results appear to indicate that some fluency improvements are more robust and less likely to be affected by the change in context (study abroad vs. home country). The findings fill a gap in our understanding of the relationship between oral fluency development and second language speech production processes, and have implications for study abroad researchers as well as post‐study abroad instruction.

Affective factors influencing fluent performance: French learners’ appraisals of second language speech tasks

The present mixed-methods study examined the role of learner appraisals of speech tasks in second language (L2) French fluency. Forty adult learners in a Canadian immersion program participated in the study that compared four sources of data: (1) objectively measured utterance fluency in participants’ performances of three narrative tasks differing in their conceptualization and formulation demands, (2) a questionnaire on their interest, task-related anxiety, task motivation, and perceived success in task-completion, (3) an interview in which they elaborated on their perceptions of the tasks, and (4) subjective ratings of their performances by three native speakers. Findings showed the cognitive demands of tasks were associated with learners’ affective responses to tasks as well as objective and subjective measures of fluency. Furthermore, task-related anxiety and perceived success in task completion were the most important affective factors associated with fluent task performance, whereas interest and task motivation were correlated with native speakers’ fluency ratings. These results are discussed in terms of how task design and implementation can contribute to enhanced task motivation and performance in the classroom.

Speed, breakdown, and repair: An investigation of fluency in long-term second-language speakers of English

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The present study investigated which factors would best predict second-language (L2) fluency in a group of long-term L2 speakers of different English varieties with German as their first language. Design/methodology/approach: L2 fluency was conceptualized in terms of utterance fluency for which speed, breakdown and repair fluency were distinguished. Data and analysis: Multiple measures of utterance fluency were applied to four-minute speech fragments originating from 102 spontaneous oral interviews. Interviewees’ ages of onset ranged from 7 to 17, whereas their ages at interview ranged from 57 to 87. Multifactorial analyses yielded significant effects of age at interview. Findings/conclusions: Whereas the mean number of silent pauses and repairs increases, syllable duration decreases. This leaves room for interpretation as to why we find an aging effect. Overall, the evidence suggests that the usual, L2 acquisition-specific factors, such as age of onset or length of residence, are no longer at play to predict L2 fluency. Originality and significance/implications: To this point L2 fluency in very advanced, highly proficient L2 speakers has received little attention. The results point to the need for more research into highly proficient L2 users.

In This Issue

In This Issue

New directions and developments in defining, analyzing and measuring L2 speech fluency

In studying second language (L2) fluency attainment, researchers typically address questions about temporal and hesitation phenomena in a descriptive manner, cataloguing which features appear under which learning circumstances. The goal of this paper is to present a perspective on L2 fluency that goes beyond description by exploring a potential explanatory framework for understanding L2 fluency. This framework focuses on the cognitive processing that underlies the manifestation of fluency and disfluency, and on the ways social context might contribute to shaping fluency attainment. The framework provides a dynamical systems perspective of fluency and its development, with specific consequences for a research program on L2 fluency. This framework gives rise to new questions because of its focus on the intimate link between cognitive fluency and utterance fluency, that is, between measures of the speed, efficiency and fluidity of the cognitive processes thought to underlie implementation of the speech act and measures of the oral fluency of that speech act. Moreover, it is argued that cognitive and utterance fluency need to be situated in the social context of communication in order to take into account the role played by the pragmatic and the sociolinguistic nature of communication in shaping L2 fluency development.

Second language fluency and its underlying cognitive and social determinants

AbstractIn studying second language (L2) fluency attainment, researchers typically address questions about temporal and hesitation phenomena in a descriptive manner, cataloguing which features appear under which learning circumstances. The goal of this paper is to present a perspective on L2 fluency that goes beyond description by exploring a potential explanatory framework for understanding L2 fluency. This framework focuses on the cognitive processing that underlies the manifestation of fluency and disfluency, and on the ways social context might contribute to shaping fluency attainment. The framework provides a dynamical systems perspective of fluency and its development, with specific consequences for a research program on L2 fluency. This framework gives rise to new questions because of its focus on the intimate link between cognitive fluency and utterance fluency, that is, between measures of the speed, efficiency and fluidity of the cognitive processes thought to underlie implementation of the speech act and measures of the oral fluency of that speech act. Moreover, it is argued that cognitive and utterance fluency need to be situated in the social context of communication in order to take into account the role played by the pragmatic and the sociolinguistic nature of communication in shaping L2 fluency development.