Fluency in dialogue: Turn‐taking behavior shapes perceived fluency in native and nonnative speech

Fluency is an important part of research on second language learning, but most research on language proficiency typically has not included oral fluency as part of interaction, even though natural communication usually occurs in conversations. The present study considered aspects of turn-taking behavior as part of the construct of fluency and investigated whether these aspects differentially influence perceived fluency ratings of native and non-native speech. Results from two experiments using acoustically manipulated speech showed that, in native speech, too ‘eager’ (interrupting a question with a fast answer) and too ‘reluctant’ answers (answering slowly after a long turn gap) negatively affected fluency ratings. However, in non-native speech, only too ‘reluctant’ answers led to lower fluency ratings. Thus, we demonstrate that acoustic properties of dialogue are perceived as part of fluency. By adding to our current understanding of dialogue fluency, these lab-based findings carry implications for language teaching and assessmen

Vocabulary size influences spontaneous speech in native language users: Validating the use of automatic speech recognition in individual differences research

Previous research has shown that vocabulary size affects performance on laboratory word production tasks. Individuals who know many words show faster lexical access and retrieve more words belonging to pre-specified categories than individuals who know fewer words. The present study examined the relationship between receptive vocabulary size and speaking skills as assessed in a natural sentence production task. We asked whether measures derived from spontaneous responses to every-day questions correlate with the size of participants’ vocabulary. Moreover, we assessed the suitability of automatic speech recognition for the analysis of participants’ responses in complex language production data. We found that vocabulary size predicted indices of spontaneous speech: Individuals with a larger vocabulary produced more words and had a higher speech-silence ratio compared to individuals with a smaller vocabulary. Importantly, these relationships were reliably identified using manual and automated transcription methods. Taken together, our results suggest that spontaneous speech elicitation is a useful method to investigate natural language production and that automatic speech recognition can alleviate the burden of labor-intensive speech transcription

Formulaic Sequences as Fluency Devices in the Oral Production of Native Speakers of Polish

In this paper we attempt to determine the nature and strength of the relationship between the use of formulaic sequences and productive fluency of native speakers of Polish. In particular, we seek to validate the claim that speech characterized by a higher incidence of formulaic sequences is produced more rapidly and with fewer hesitation phenomena. The analysis is based on monologic speeches delivered by 45 speakers of L1 Polish. The data include both the recordings and their transcriptions annotated for a number of objective fluency measures. In the first part of the study the total of formulaic sequences is established for each sample. This is followed by determining a set of temporal measures of the speakers’ output (speech rate, articulation rate, mean length of runs, mean length of pauses, phonation time ratio). The study provides some preliminary evidence of the fluency-enhancing role of formulaic language. Our results show that the use of formulaic sequences is positively and significantly correlated with speech rate, mean length of runs and phonation time ratio. This suggests that a higher concentration of formulaic material in output is associated with faster speed of speech, longer stretches of speech between pauses and an increased amount of time filled with speech

Temporal Parameters of Spontaneous Speech in Forensic Speaker Identification in Case of Language Mismatch: Serbian as L1 and English as L2

Celem badania jest analiza możliwości identyfikacji mówcy kryminalistycznego i sądowego podczas zadawania pytań w różnych językach, z wykorzystaniem parametrów temporalnych. (wskaźnik artykulcji, wskaźnik mowy, stopień niezdecydowania, odsetek pauz, średnia czas trwania pauzy). Korpus obejmuje 10 mówców kobiet z Serbii, które znają język angielksi na poziomie zaawwansowanym. Patrametry są badane z wykorzystaniem beayesowskiego wzoru wskaźnika prawdopodobieństwa w 40 parach tcyh samych mówców i w 230 parach różnych mówców, z uwzględnieniem szacunku wskaźnika błędu, równiego wskaźnika błędu i Całościowego Wskaźnika Prawdopodobieństwa. badanie ma charakter pionierski w zakresie językoznawstwa sądowego i kryminalistycznego por1) ónawczego w parze jezyka serbskiego i angielskiego, podobnie, jak analiza parametrów temporalnych mówców bilingwalnych. Dalsze badania inny skoncentrować się na porównaniu języków z rytmem akcentowym i z rytmem sylabicznym. The purpose of the research is to examine the possibility of forensic speaker identification if question and suspect sample are in different languages using temporal parameters (articulation rate, speaking rate, degree of hesitancy, percentage of pauses, average pause duration). The corpus includes 10 female native speakers of Serbian who are proficient in English. The parameters are tested using Bayesian likelihood ratio formula in 40 same-speaker and 360 different-speaker pairs, including estimation of error rates, equal error rates and Overall Likelihood Ratio. One-way ANOVA is performed to determine whether inter-speaker variability is higher than intra- speaker variability across languages. The most successful discriminant is degree of hesitancy with ER of 42.5%/28%, (EER: 33%), followed by average pause duration with ER 35%/45.56%, (EER: 40%). Although the research features a closed-set comparison, which is not very common in forensic reality, the results are still relevant for forensic phoneticians working on criminal cases or as expert witnesses. This study pioneers in forensically comparing Serbian and English as well as in forensically testing temporal parameters on bilingual speakers. Further research should focus on comparing two stress-timed or two syllable-timed languages to test whether they will be more comparable in terms of temporal aspects of speech.

Identyfikacja parametrów czasowych mowy spontanicznej mówców kryminalistycznych w przypadku niedopasowania językowego: język serbski jako L1 i język angielski jako L2

The purpose of the research is to examine the possibility of forensic speaker identification if question and suspect sample are in different languages using temporal parameters (articulation rate, speaking rate, degree of hesitancy, percentage of pauses, average pause duration). The corpus includes 10 female native speakers of Serbian who are proficient in English. The parameters are tested using Bayesian likelihood ratio formula in 40 same-speaker and 360 different-speaker pairs, including estimation of error rates, equal error rates and Overall Likelihood Ratio. One-way ANOVA is performed to determine whether inter-speaker variability is higher than intra- speaker variability across languages. The most successful discriminant is degree of hesitancy with ER of 42.5%/28%, (EER: 33%), followed by average pause duration with ER 35%/45.56%, (EER: 40%). Although the research features a closed-set comparison, which is not very common in forensic reality, the results are still relevant for forensic phoneticians working on criminal cases or as expert witnesses. This study pioneers in forensically comparing Serbian and English as well as in forensically testing temporal parameters on bilingual speakers. Further research should focus on comparing two stress-timed or two syllable-timed languages to test whether they will be more comparable in terms of temporal aspects of speech. Celem badania jest analiza możliwości identyfikacji mówcy kryminalistycznego i sądowego podczas zadawania pytań w różnych językach, z wykorzystaniem parametrów temporalnych. (wskaźnik artykulcji, wskaźnik mowy, stopień niezdecydowania, odsetek pauz, średnia czas trwania pauzy). Korpus obejmuje 10 mówców kobiet z Serbii, które znają język angielksi na poziomie zaawwansowanym. Patrametry są badane z wykorzystaniem beayesowskiego wzoru wskaźnika prawdopodobieństwa w 40 parach tcyh samych mówców i w 230 parach różnych mówców, z uwzględnieniem szacunku wskaźnika błędu, równiego wskaźnika błędu i Całościowego Wskaźnika Prawdopodobieństwa. badanie ma charakter pionierski w zakresie językoznawstwa sądowego i kryminalistycznego por1) ónawczego w parze jezyka serbskiego i angielskiego, podobnie, jak analiza parametrów temporalnych mówców bilingwalnych. Dalsze badania inny skoncentrować się na porównaniu języków z rytmem akcentowym i z rytmem sylabicznym.

Foneettinen sujuvuus suomessa toisena kielenä: Lukiolaisten spontaanin puheen akustinen analyysi

Speaking fluently is an important goal for second language (L2) learners. In L2 research, fluency is often studied by measuring temporal features in speech. These features include speed (rate of speech), breakdown (use of silent and filled pauses), and repair (self-corrections and repetitions) phenomena. Fluent speakers generally have a higher rate of speech and fewer hesitations and interruptions than beginner language learners. In this thesis, phonetic fluency of high school students’ L2 Finnish speech is studied in relation to human ratings of fluency and overall proficiency. The topic is essential for the development of automated assessment of L2 speech, as phonetic fluency measures can be used for predicting a speaker’s fluency and proficiency level automatically. Although the effect of different fluency measures on perceived fluency level has been widely studied during the last decades, research on phonetic fluency in Finnish as L2 is still limited. Phonetic fluency in high school students’ speech in L2 Finnish has not been studied before. The speech samples and ratings used in this thesis are a part of a larger dataset collected in the DigiTala research project. The analyzed data contained spontaneous speech samples in L2 Finnish from 53 high school students of different language backgrounds. All samples were assessed by expert raters for fluency and overall proficiency. The speech samples were annotated by marking intervals containing silent pauses, filled pauses, corrections and repetitions, and individual words. Several phonetic fluency measures were calculated for each sample from the durations of the annotated intervals. The contribution of phonetic fluency measures to human ratings of fluency and proficiency was studied using simple and multiple linear regression models. Speech rate was found to be the strongest predictor for both fluency and proficiency ratings in simple linear regression. Articulation rate, portion of long silent pauses, mean duration of long silent pauses, mean duration of breaks between utterances, and rate of short silent pauses per minute were also statistically significant predictors of both fluency and proficiency ratings. Multiple linear regression models improved the simple models for both fluency and proficiency: for fluency, a model with a combination of articulation rate and the portion of long silent pauses performed the best, and for proficiency, a model with a combination of speech rate and mean duration of short silent pauses. Perceived fluency level is often affected by a combination of different phonetic fluency measures, and it seems that human raters ground their assessments on this combination, although some phonetic fluency measures might be more important on their own than others. The findings of this thesis expand previous knowledge on phonetic fluency in L2 Finnish and can benefit both language learners and teachers, as well as developers of automatic assessment of L2 speech.Sujuvaa puhetaitoa pidetään tärkeänä tavoitteena toisen kielen (L2) oppimisessa. L2-puheen tutkimuksissa sujuvuutta tutkitaan usein puheesta mitattavilla temporaalisilla piirteillä, joita ovat esimerkiksi puheen nopeus, tauot, korjaukset ja toistot. Nopea, vähän epäröintiä ja keskeytyksiä sisältävä puhe mielletään usein sujuvaksi, ja toisen kielen oppimisen alkuvaiheessa puhe on epäsujuvampaa. Tässä tutkielmassa tutkitaan lukiolaisten L2-suomen foneettista sujuvuutta puheesta mitattavien foneettisten sujuvuuspiirteiden sekä sujuvuus- ja taitotasoarvioiden avulla. Tutkimusaihe liittyy myös puheen automaattisen arvioinnin kehittämiseen, sillä kielenoppijan sujuvuus- ja taitotasoa voidaan ennustaa automaattisesti foneettisten sujuvuuspiirteiden avulla. Vaikka sujuvuuspiirteiden ja arviointien välistä yhteyttä on tutkittu melko paljon viime vuosikymmeninä, L2-suomen foneettiseen sujuvuuteen liittyviä tutkimuksia on yhä vähän. Lukiolaisten L2-suomen foneettista sujuvuutta ei ole aiemmin tutkittu. Tutkielmassa käytetty puhe- ja arviointiaineisto on osa suurempaa aineistoa, joka on kerätty DigiTala-tutkimusprojektissa. Analysoitu aineisto sisälsi 53 spontaania puhenäytettä lukiolaisilta, jotka puhuvat suomea toisena kielenä. Lisäksi jokaisen puhenäytteen sujuvuus ja yleinen taitotaso oli arvioitu. Puhenäytteisiin annotoitiin hiljaiset ja täytetyt tauot, korjaukset ja toistot sekä yksittäiset sanat. Annotoitujen intervallien kestoista laskettiin useita foneettisia sujuvuuspiirteitä jokaiselle puhenäytteelle. Foneettisten sujuvuuspiirteiden vaikutusta ihmisarvioihin tutkittiin lineaaristen regressiomallien avulla. Puhenopeus ennusti yhden selittävän muuttujan malleissa sekä sujuvuus- että taitotasoarvioita parhaiten. Tämän lisäksi artikulaationopeus, pitkien hiljaisten taukojen osuus, pitkien hiljaisten taukojen keskimääräinen kesto, yhtenäisten puhejaksojen välisten keskeytysten keskimääräinen kesto ja lyhyiden hiljaisten taukojen suhteellinen lukumäärä olivat tilastollisesti merkitseviä ennustajia yhden selittävän muuttujan malleissa. Useamman selittävän muuttujan mallit paransivat aiempien mallien selitysvoimaa sekä sujuvuus- että taitotasoarvioissa: artikulaationopeuden ja pitkien hiljaisten taukojen osuuden yhdistelmä ennusti sujuvuusarvioita parhaiten, ja puhenopeuden ja lyhyiden hiljaisten taukojen keskimääräisen keston yhdistelmä taitotasoarvioita. Puheen havaittuun sujuvuuteen vaikuttaa usein yhdistelmä erilaisia sujuvuuspiirteitä, vaikka yksittäisten piirteiden vaikutukset voivat olla keskenään erilaisia. Tutkielman tulokset lisäävät tietoa L2-suomen foneettisesta sujuvuudesta, ja ne ovat tarpeellisia niin kielenoppijoille, -opettajille kuin puheen automaattisten arviointityökalujen kehittäjille