engleski

Speech rate as a key predictor of perceived fluency

This study focuses on the analysis of perceived fluency, which, according to researchers, is based on the listener's impression that the psycholinguistic processes of speech planning and speech production are functioning smoothly and efficiently, i.e. that these two processes can be performed almost simultaneously by the speaker (Segalowitz, 2010). Although it is a subjective impression of utterance and cognitive fluency, numerous studies indicate that there is a correlation with objective measurements of speech (Götz, 2013). Speech rate as a temporal speech variable indirectly points to the degree of the speakers' control over their linguistic knowledge and the overall efficiency and automation of all mechanisms involved in the production of speech. Speech rate, as one of the best predictors of perceived fluency, is identified as the number of syllables per unit time in this study (Kormos and Dénes, 2004). The aim of this research is to examine the difference between prepared and unprepared speech based on a group of native Croatian participants with a very good knowledge of German. The results of the analysis show that the speech rate in the prepared speech is about ten percent higher than in the unprepared one, and evaluated as more fluent by two native speakers of German. The increased speech rate in the prepared speech can be explained by the reduced requirements at the conceptualization level and by the existence of strong links between all levels of speech production, as well as a higher degree of activation due to familiarity with the prepared content. The pedagogical implications of the findings suggest the incorporation of more speech tasks based on formulaic sequences in language instruction, providing the speakers with additional time for the planning of utterances. This could lead to increased speech rate in unprepared speech due to the freeing-up effect of attentional resources required for utterance planning, and consequently, gains in perceived fluency.

speech production, speech fluency, speech rate, formulaic sequences

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