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

EREN Ö., Kılıç M., BADA E.

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, vol.51, no.2, pp.237-253, 2022 (SSCI, Scopus) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 51 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s10936-021-09822-y
  • Journal Name: Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Periodicals Index Online, Communication & Mass Media Index, Communication Abstracts, EMBASE, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Linguistic Bibliography, Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, MEDLINE, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo
  • Page Numbers: pp.237-253
  • Keywords: Conjunctions, Fluency, Pause, Read speech, Spontaneous speech
  • Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

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.