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Showing all 13 results Save | Export
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Ockey, Gary J.; Chukharev-Hudilainen, Evgeny – Applied Linguistics, 2021
A challenge of large-scale oral communication assessments is to feasibly assess a broad construct that includes interactional competence. One possible approach in addressing this challenge is to use a spoken dialog system (SDS), with the computer acting as a peer to elicit a ratable speech sample. With this aim, an SDS was built and four trained…
Descriptors: Oral Language, Grammar, Language Fluency, Language Tests
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Jiang, Yan; Chun, Dorothy – Computer Assisted Language Learning, 2023
This paper examines whether a web-based training on English discourse intonation leads to better spontaneous speech quality for Mandarin Chinese speakers who reside in the U.S. and in China. The four-week fully online training consisted of meta-instruction videos as well as listening and speaking activities, including instant visual pitch contour…
Descriptors: Oral Language, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, English (Second Language)
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Tsunemoto, Aki; Lindberg, Rachael; Trofimovich, Pavel; McDonough, Kim – Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2021
This study examined the role of visual cues (facial expressions and hand gestures) in second language (L2) speech assessment. University students (N = 60) at English-medium universities assessed 2-minute video clips of 20 L2 English speakers (10 Chinese and 10 Spanish speakers) narrating a personal story. They rated the speakers'…
Descriptors: Cues, Visual Stimuli, Nonverbal Communication, Second Language Learning
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Llanes, Àngels; Cots, Josep M. – International Journal of Multilingualism, 2022
This study compares the language proficiency gains of two groups of students taking a business English course module in a bilingual university in Catalonia (Spain). Whereas one of these groups followed a 'translanguaging' or 'plurilingual' pedagogy, the other followed a strictly monolingual approach. Participants were 54 mostly Catalan/Spanish…
Descriptors: Language Proficiency, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction
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Bosker, Hans Rutger; Quené, Hugo; Sanders, Ted; de Jong, Nivja H. – Language Learning, 2014
Where native speakers supposedly are fluent by default, nonnative speakers often have to strive hard to achieve a nativelike fluency level. However, disfluencies (such as pauses, fillers, repairs, etc.) occur in both native and nonnative speech and it is as yet unclear how fluency raters weigh the fluency characteristics of native and nonnative…
Descriptors: Language Fluency, Native Speakers, Second Language Learning, Speech Communication
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Szarkowska, Agnieszka; Krejtz, Krzysztof; Dutka, Lukasz; Pilipczuk, Olga – Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 2018
In this study, we examined whether interpreters and interpreting trainees are better predisposed to respeaking than people with no interpreting skills. We tested 57 participants (22 interpreters, 23 translators and 12 controls) while respeaking 5-minute videos with two parameters: speech rate (fast/slow) and number of speakers (one/many). Having…
Descriptors: Translation, Comparative Analysis, Professional Personnel, Video Technology
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Levis, John M.; Levis, Greta Muller – CATESOL Journal, 2018
Pronunciation features are not equal in how they affect listeners' ability to understand. Some are low value, while others are high value. This study explores whether contrastive stress is high value. Previous research has shown that identification of contrastive stress is learnable (Pennington & Ellis, 2000), and that explicit teaching about…
Descriptors: Pronunciation, Pronunciation Instruction, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning
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Galante, Angelica; Thomson, Ron I. – TESOL Quarterly: A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and of Standard English as a Second Dialect, 2017
Although the development of second language (L2) oral fluency has been widely investigated over the past several decades, there remains a paucity of research examining language instruction specifically aimed at improving this cognitive skill. In this study, the researchers investigate how instructional techniques adapted from drama can positively…
Descriptors: Drama, Oral Language, Language Fluency, Teaching Methods
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Saito, Kazuya; Shintani, Natsuko – TESOL Quarterly: A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and of Standard English as a Second Dialect, 2016
The current study examined the extent to which native speakers of North American and Singapore English differentially perceive the comprehensibility (ease of understanding) of second language (L2) speech. Spontaneous speech samples elicited from 50 Japanese learners of English with various proficiency levels were first rated by 10 Canadian and 10…
Descriptors: Native Speakers, North American English, Pronunciation, English
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Ahmadi, Alireza; Sadeghi, Elham – Language Assessment Quarterly, 2016
In the present study we investigated the effect of test format on oral performance in terms of test scores and discourse features (accuracy, fluency, and complexity). Moreover, we explored how the scores obtained on different test formats relate to such features. To this end, 23 Iranian EFL learners participated in three test formats of monologue,…
Descriptors: Oral Language, Comparative Analysis, Language Fluency, Accuracy
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McGuire, Michael; Larson-Hall, Jenifer – TESL Canada Journal, 2017
Formulaic sequences (FS) are frequently used by native speakers and have been found to help non-native speakers sound more fluent as well. We hypothesized that explicitly teaching FS to classroom ESL learners would increase the use of such language, which could further result in increased second language (L2) fluency. We report on a 5-week study…
Descriptors: Phrase Structure, Teaching Methods, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning
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Kennedy, Sara; Trofimovich, Pavel – Language Learning in Higher Education, 2014
By the end of their studies, non-native speakers of English studying at English-medium universities have had several years of exposure to English in that setting. Do non-native students, particularly those enrolled in non-language related programs, show different levels of second language (L2) speaking ability in their final semester of studies…
Descriptors: College Freshmen, College Seniors, Second Language Learning, Language of Instruction
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Kessler, Greg – Computer Assisted Language Learning, 2010
This study compares characteristics of fluency in student audio journals recorded in a laboratory setting with those recorded using mobile audio devices. Forty graduate students enrolled in four oral communication courses at an American university recorded weekly audio journals for a 10-week term. Students chose the environment in which they…
Descriptors: Graduate Students, Speech Communication, Academic Achievement, Laboratories