scholarly journals The influence of pre-task planning on speed and breakdown fluency

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-102
Author(s):  
Mirjana M. Kovač ◽  
Gloria Vickov
Keyword(s):  
Speech Rate ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
Temporal Variables ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Planning Condition ◽  
Description Task ◽  
Conscious Attention

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of pre-task planning on L2 fluency performance by measuring the temporal variables. Performing a picture description task, two groups of thirty-seven students were given 10 minutes of planning time and no planning time before the performance, respectively. The temporal fluency variables are extracted by means of the PRAAT speech analysis program in order to be automatically measured for evaluation purposes. Fluency is operationalized as speed fluency (i.e. speech rate and articulation rate) and breakdown fluency (i.e. average pause duration and number of pauses). The results indicate that no significant difference is found when comparing the non-planning and planning condition for each temporal variable. Presumably, the chosen task type containing highly frequent lexemes does not seem to impose increased conscious attention on the part of the more proficient speakers, and thus the formulation and articulation can, to a high degree, run in parallel. Based on the observed results, a modified task design is proposed, i.e. guided pre-task planning directed to attend to less frequent formulae as vocabulary or lexical items for everyday contexts, having a clear potential as a pedagogic device, aiming at activating relatively underused vocabulary and promoting ultimate fluency in the temporal sense.

scholarly journals The impact of pre-task planning on speaking test performance for English-medium university admission

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan O’Grady
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
English Language ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
University Admission ◽  
The Impact

This study investigated the impact of different lengths of pre-task planning time on performance in a test of second language speaking ability for university admission. In the study, 47 Turkish-speaking learners of English took a test of English language speaking ability. The participants were divided into two groups according to their language proficiency, which was estimated through a paper-based English placement test. They each completed four monologue tasks: two picture-based narrative tasks and two description tasks. In a balanced design, each test taker was allowed a different length of planning time before responding to each of the four tasks. The four planning conditions were 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes. Trained raters awarded scores to the test takers using an analytic rating scale and a context-specific, binary-choice rating scale, designed specifically for the study. The results of the rater scores were analysed by using a multifaceted Rasch measurement. The impact of pre-task planning on test scores was found to be influenced by four variables: the rating scale; the task type that test takers completed; the length of planning time provided; and the test takers’ levels of proficiency in the second language. Increases in scores were larger on the picture-based narrative tasks than on the two description tasks. The results also revealed a relationship between proficiency and pre-task planning, whereby statistical significance was only reached for the increases in the scores of the lowest-level test takers. Regarding the amount of planning time, the 5-minute planning condition led to the largest overall increases in scores. The research findings offer contributions to the study of pre-task planning and will be of particular interest to institutions seeking to assess the speaking ability of prospective students in English-medium educational environments.

scholarly journals Analysis of the frequency of verbal and vocal signs in true and false statements

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-19
Author(s):  
Valentina Baić ◽  
Zvonimir Ivanović ◽  
Milan Veljković
Keyword(s):  
Response Latency ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Speech Errors ◽  
Criminal Investigation ◽  
True Statement ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Spoken Words ◽  
The University ◽  
Police Studies

The paper presents research aimed at analysing the frequency of verbal and vocal signs in a situation of false and true statements, by introducing a secondary task. The research involved 100 students (47 men and 53 women) of the master's studies of criminal investigation at the University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies, aged 23-44. Students had the task, based on the observation of twenty selected videos (10 true statements and 10 false statements), to mark the frequency of each individual verbal and vocal sign, on a previously generated and prepared list. The results show that there is a statistically significant difference in terms of the frequency of all verbal and vocal signs in a false or true statement: response latency, speech hesitation, speech errors, speech rate, number of spoken words in the utterance, and length of utterance. Response latency, speech hesitation, and speech errors have higher median values in false utterances than in true ones, while speech rate, number of words spoken, and length of utterance show higher median values in true than false utterances.

scholarly journals Taxa de elocução e taxa de articulação em corpus utilizado na perícia de Comparação de Locutores

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Cintia Schivinscki Gonçalves
Keyword(s):  
Formal Education ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Intraclass Correlation ◽  
Semistructured Interview ◽  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Discriminating Power ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Temporal Measures ◽  
Forensic Phonetics ◽  
Global And Local

Neste estudo verificou-se a taxa de elocução (TE) e de articulação (TA), bem como a adequação do uso dessas medidas temporais na perícia de Comparação de Locutores. Calculou-se a TE/TA global e local média nas amostras de fala espontânea questionada (interceptações telefônicas judicialmente autorizadas realizadas sem a ciência dos locutores) e padrão (entrevista semidirigida gravada com o consentimento dos locutores) de sete falantes nativos do português brasileiro, de ambos os sexos, com idades entre 14 e 33 anos. Definiu-se o potencial individualizante da TE/TA e a relação entre essas e as variáveis independentes idade, sexo, escolaridade, tempo transcorrido entre as amostras (gap temporal), tipo de gravação e tamanho do intervalo de fala. Como resultado obteve-se coeficiente de correlação intraclasse satisfatório associado à TA, diferença significativa quanto à ciência da gravação na TE e correlação significativa entre gap temporal e TA e entre tamanho do intervalo de fala e TE.********************************************************************Speech rate and articulation rate in corpus used in the forensic Speaker ComparisonAbstract: This study examined the speech rate (SR) and the articulation rate (AR), as well as the appropriateness of the use of these temporal measures in the forensic Speaker Comparison. The global and local mean SR/AR in spontaneous speech samples – obtained from unaware audio recordings (legally authorized telephone interceptions) and known ones (semistructured interview) – from seven native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, of both sexes, aged between 14 and 33 years were considered. The speaker-discriminating power of SR and AR and the relationship between rates and the independent variables age, sex, formal education, temporal gap between the recordings, type of recording, length of speech stretch were defined. As a result we obtained satisfactory intraclass correlation coefficient for the AR, significant difference between the factors of the variable type of recording in SR and significant correlation between temporal gap and AR and between length of speech stretch and SR.Keywords: Speech rate; Articulation rate; Forensic phonetics; Speaker Comparison

scholarly journals The Effect of Pre-Task Planning Time on L2 Learners’ Narrative Writing Performance

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keivan Seyyedi ◽  
Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail ◽  
Maryam Orang ◽  
Maryam Sharafi Nejad
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Writing ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
Writing Performance ◽  
L2 Learners

THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS OF TIME FOR PLANNING ON SECOND LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uta Mehnert
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Time Complexity ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Language Performance ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
Speech Performance ◽  
Planning Condition ◽  
Lexical Density ◽  
Time Accuracy ◽  
Second Language Performance

This article reports on a study that investigated the effect of different amounts of planning time on the speech performance of L2 speakers. Subjects were 4 groups of learners of German (31 in total) performing 2 tasks each. The tasks varied in the degree of structure they contained and the familiarity of information they tapped. The control group had no planning time available; the 3 experimental groups had 1, 5, and 10 minutes of planning time, respectively, before they started speaking. Results show fluency and lexical density of speech increase as a function of planning time. Accuracy of speech improved with only 1 minute planning but did not increase with more planning time. Complexity of speech was significantly higher for the 10-minute planning condition only. No significant differences were found for the effect of planning on the different tasks. This study employed various general and specific constructs for measuring fluency, complexity, and accuracy of speech. The interrelationships and qualities of these measures are also investigated and discussed.

The Main and Interactive Effect of Oral Reading Rate on the Frequency of Stuttering

1999 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine Vanryckeghem ◽  
Jeffrey J. Glessing ◽  
Gene J. Brutten ◽  
Peter McAlindon
Keyword(s):  
Oral Reading ◽  
Slow Rate ◽  
Fast Rate ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Reading Rate ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Rate Condition ◽  
Management Procedures ◽  
Significant Difference

Twenty-four adults participated in a 2 (group) by 3 (rate) factorial study designed to determine the main and interactive effects of speech rate during reading on the frequency of stuttering. In this regard, the participants orally read three passages, one at their normal rate, one that was 30% faster than this rate, and one that was 30% slower. Rate was controlled by means of a computer software program, and passage order and reading rate were counter-balanced. The main effect of rate was significant. There was statistically more stuttering in the fast rate condition than in either the normal or slow rate condition. However, the frequency of stuttering in the normal and the slow rate conditions was not significantly different. Analysis of the experimental data of the eight participants who stuttered the most and the eight who stuttered the least, during base-rate oral readings, evidenced the presence of an interaction between group and rate. Those who stuttered the most showed a statistically significant increase in stuttering between the slow, normal, and fast rate conditions. In contrast, there was no significant difference in frequency between any of the three conditions for the group of eight participants who stuttered the least. These findings suggest that the extent to which rate affects fluency is a function of the degree to which stuttering is displayed. This possibility warrants consideration in relation to the use of rate management procedures.

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