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

Fundamental frequency height as a resource for the management of overlap in talk-in-interaction.

Overlapping talk is common in talk-in-interaction. Much of the previous research on this topic agrees that speaker overlaps can be either turn competitive or noncompetitive. An investigation of the differences in prosodic design between these two classes of overlaps can offer insight into how speakers use and orient to prosody as a resource for turn competition. In this paper, we investigate the role of fundamental frequency (F0) as a resource for turn competition in overlapping speech. Our methodological approach combines detailed conversation analysis of overlap instances with acoustic measurements of F0 in the overlapping sequence and in its local context. The analyses are based on a collection of overlap instances drawn from the ICSI Meeting corpus. We found that overlappers mark an overlapping incoming as competitive by raising F0 above their norm for turn beginnings, and retaining this higher F0 until the point of overlap resolution. Overlappees may respond to these competitive incomings by returning competition, in which case they raise their F0 too. Our results thus provide instrumental support for earlier claims made on impressionistic evidence, namely that participants in talk-in-interaction systematically manipulate F0 height when competing for the turn

Turn Taking System in TRANS7 “Indonesia Lawak Klub”

Manusia menggunakan bahasa untuk berkomunikasi. Dalam suatu proses komunikasi, seseorang menyampaikan suatu pesan kepada orang lain melalui sebuah ujaran dimana setiap ujaran memiliki makna tertentu yang ditujukan kepada pendengar. Sebuah komunikasi dapat berjalan dengan baik dengan adanya sistem alih wicara. Sistem alih wicara adalah sistem yang mengatur jalannya komunikasi antar pembicara dengan pembicara yang lain. Oleh karena itu, penulis tertarik mengamati fenomena sistem alih wicara pada percakapan di dalam acara ‘Indonesia Lawak Klub’ yang ditayangkan pada 18 Februari 2015 di TRANS7. Acara ini merupakan suatu acara bincang-bincang komedi yang dihadiri beberapa komedian ternama. Untuk mengetahui fenomena-fenomena di dalam sistem alih wicara yang terjadi di dalam percakapan, penulis menggunakan teori Turn Taking System. Penulis menulis project ini untuk memaparkan fenomena-fenomena sistem alih wicara yang terjadi pada percakapan tersebut. Data yang digunakan berupa keseluruhan ujaran dalam percakapan tersebut. Metode pengambilan sampel menggunakan teori Purposeful Sampling Technique. Dalam menganalisis data, penulis menggunakan Metode Deskriptif Kualitatif. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa fenomena-fenomena di dalam sistem alih wicara banyak terjadi pada percakapan tersebut

THE LECTURER-STUDENT CONVERSATIONAL STRUCTURE IN PRAGMATICS LEARNING INTERACTION

This study aims to describe the structure of the lecturer-student conversation in the interaction of Pragmatics Class. This type of research is descriptive qualitative. The technique of data collection is done by recording and note-taking techniques. The data analysis technique is carried out by heuristic techniques. The results of the study show that the interaction of the lecturer and the students in Pragmatics Class have conversational structures: 1) turn taking of speech that occurs because of the opportunity to speak, 2) pauses (long and short) that occur due to the absence of feedback in the form of speech and speakers feel hesitant in conveying the message. 3) Overlaps that occur due to speech or the use of the same lingual element, 4) backchannels that occur because there is understanding and acceptance or approval of the speech, and 5) adjunct pairs that occur because of greetings, questions, and requests. This indicates that the process of the lecturer-students interaction runs well. The students feel enthusiastic for responding the lecturer’s questions

On the acoustics of overlapping laughter in conversational speech

The social nature of laughter invites people to laugh together. This joint vocal action often results in overlapping laughter. In this paper, we show that the acoustics of overlapping laughs are different from non-overlapping laughs. We found that overlapping laughs are stronger prosodically marked than non-overlapping ones, in terms of higher values for duration, mean F0, mean and maximum intensity, and the amount of voicing. This effect is intensified by the number of people joining in the laughter event, which suggests that entrainment is at work. We also found that group size affects the number of overlapping laughs which illustrates the contagious nature of laughter. Finally, people appear to join laughter simultaneously at a delay of approximately 500 ms; a delay that must be considered when developing spoken dialogue systems that are able to respond to users’ laughs

Providing Objective Metrics of Team Communication Skills via Interpersonal coordination Mechanisms

Being able to communicate efficiently has been acknowledged as a vital skill in many different domains. In particular, team communication skills are of key importance in the operation of complex machinery such as aircrafts, maritime vessels and such other, highly-specialized, civilian or military vehicles, as well as the performance of complex tasks in the medical domain. In this paper, we propose to use prosodic accommodation and turn- taking organisation to provide objective metrics of communica- tion skills. To do this, human-factors evaluations, via a coordi- nation Demand Analysis (CDA), were used in conjunction with a dynamic model of prosodic accommodation and turn-taking organisation. Using conversational speech from airline pilots involved in a collaborative task (decision-making exercise), our study reveals that interpersonal coordination mechanisms are indicative of human evaluation of pilots’ communication skills. We discuss our results in terms of relevance for training simu- lation for personnel in safety or mission critical environment

Turn-timing in Norwegian Sign Language: A study of transition durations

Turn-taking requires collaboration between interlocutors, and previous research has found that there is a desire for minimal overlap and gap in informal conversations. Because there is limited research on this topic in signed languages, this thesis investigated turn transition durations in question-answer sequences in informal, Norwegian Sign Language (NTS) conversations. By analyzing a selection of files from two data sets within the Norwegian Sign Language Corpus, the aim was to find out whether mean transition durations in NTS are in the range observed for other spoken and signed languages, if transition durations are variable between individuals, and if age or question type affect mean transition durations. As this study relied on previously collected data the participants were not recruited for this research specifically. The transition durations of 159 question-answer sequences were measured in terms of stroke-to-stroke turn boundaries and yielded 100 gaps and 59 overlaps. The results were in line with previous research on turn-timing, measuring a mean turn transition duration within 250 ms of the cross-linguistic average observed for spoken languages, supporting the theory that turn-timing varies very little across languages, no matter the modality. Some individual differences could be observed, but no significant difference was found between question types, nor between age-ranges, due to few examples in each category.Lingvistikk mastergradsoppgaveLING350MAHF-LIN