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A considerable body of research has investigated the influence of linguistic variables on comprehensibility and accentedness in L2 speech. However, studies on this topic have overwhelmingly focused on L2 English, with little known about other L2s. This study investigated linguistic influences on accentedness and comprehensibility in L2 Korean. Participants included 198 L2 Korean speakers of varying proficiency levels and L1 and 82 L1 Korean listeners from South Korea. The speakers completed a monologic speaking task and their speech samples were coded for phonological, lexical, grammatical, and fluency variables. Listener ratings indicated speakers were perceived as more comprehensible than they were nativelike, but the correlation between the two was extremely strong (r = 0.90). Regression models using linguistic variables to predict comprehensibility and accentedness yielded R2 values of 0.71 and 0.65, respectively. Most linguistic variables had similar influences on comprehensibility and accentedness, with some notable exceptions: intonational phrasing errors and lexical diversity predicted comprehensibility, but not accentedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes the development process and examines the construct validity of an English placement test of oral communication (EPT OC) developed at a Midwestern university in the United States. This test includes a one‐on‐one oral interview and paired discussion task, and test performance is judged on an analytic rating scale. A confirmatory factor analysis conducted on the ratings of 338 students who took the initial fully operational EPT OC revealed the test structure was represented by a correlated four‐factor model with interactional competence, fluency, pronunciation/comprehensibility, and grammar/vocabulary as sub‐constructs, in line with its targeted theoretical framework. Both tasks were effective in measuring the targeted sub‐constructs, but the sub‐constructs were not sufficiently distinct from each other to completely justify a four‐factor model. The findings provide some support for the proposed interpretations of the EPT OC test scores but indicate the need for some modifications to the assessment, such as more thorough rater training and/or revised rating scales to better distinguish the targeted sub‐constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study investigated the role of creativity in second language (L2) speech production using a picture narrative and an open‐ended argumentative task administered to 60 Japanese‐speaking learners of English. Following recent findings in the field of psychology, the participants' creativity was assessed in terms of cognitive dimensions (divergent thinking fluency, convergent thinking) and a personality dimension (openness to experience). Participants' speaking performance was analyzed using a set of complexity, accuracy, fluency and discourse measures. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that both divergent thinking fluency and convergent thinking played a role in the cohesion of speech (indexed by the frequency of connectives) in both speaking tasks, while only in the argumentative task did divergent thinking fluency contribute to an increase in the amount of information (indexed by the total number of words produced). Meanwhile, openness to experience was found to enhance syntactic and lexical complexity only in the picture narrative task. These findings suggest that speakers' creativity is linked to syntactic and lexical sophistication and discourse aspects of L2 oral performance, all of which are related to conceptualization processes in L2 speech production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peer‐to‐peer feedback exchanges have been recognized as crucial to language learning. While studies on peer feedback proliferate, little is known about whether and how peer feedback is affected by learners' motivational levels. Objectives: Situated in a mobile collaborative learning context, the current study examined how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students with different motivational levels participated in mobile‐assisted peer feedback provision, as well as the characteristics of the feedback they provided. Methods: A total of 61 sophomores majoring in Business English at a Chinese university participated in this 16‐week‐long study. They were asked to complete oral assignments and give and receive peer feedback via MosoTeach (a popular mobile learning application in China). Multiple types of data (peer feedback records, questionnaires, reflective journals and interviews) were collected, analysed, and triangulated. Results and Conclusions: Results revealed that EFL learners with higher motivation were more likely to provide feedback on time using more words. Unique characteristics of mobile‐assisted peer feedback among highly motivated learners were also observed. Implications: The study highlights the importance of learner motivation in mobile‐assisted peer feedback practice and provides pedagogical suggestions for better designing and implementing peer feedback in mobile collaborative learning contexts. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Previous research has recognized mobile‐assisted peer feedback as an effective way of mobile collaborative language learning.Previous studies on mobile‐assisted oral peer feedback have examined different dimensions of feedback in relation to their effects on speaking performance.Previous research is less clear about how learners' motivational characteristics may influence peer feedback performance. What this paper adds: Situated in a mobile learning context, this study investigated how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students with different motivational levels participated in mobile‐assisted peer feedback provision, and examined the characteristics of the feedback they provided.Results revealed that EFL students with higher motivation were more likely to provide feedback on time using more words. Some unique characteristics of mobile‐assisted peer feedback among students with different motivational levels were also observed. Implications: This study demonstrates the importance of considering learners' motivational levels in teachers' design and implementation of peer feedback with technology.It is crucial for teachers to provide training and scaffolding to students in their construction of peer feedback with mobile technologies.Teachers are suggested to encourage the students to provide detailed positive comments for their peers, which may increase students' confidence and reduce their anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a study of the operation and culture of debate in the house of commons during the English Protectorate. Drawing principally upon the manuscript diaries of Thomas Burton and Guybon Goddard, it will explore the substantial degree of contingency and flexibility which parliamentary debate permitted within a commonly‐understood framework of disciplines. While these troublesome parliaments are commonly associated with insoluble conflict between members, it will be demonstrated that debate was conceptualised as a mechanism for resolving conflict rather than merely as a forum for expressing conflict. By first analysing the peculiar and often informal ways in which parliamentary discipline worked to identify and correct 'disorderly' behaviour, and then evaluating what that reveals about members' expectations of what debate was supposed to achieve, this article will uncover an underlying parliamentary culture in which the institution of debate was highly valued as a means for reaching agreement. The tightrope between freedom and moderation of speech could be tricky to negotiate, but it was the admittedly imperfect synthesis of the two which best characterised the debates of the Protectorate Parliaments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an exploration of the effects of task‐repetition practice on fluency development, English‐as‐a‐foreign language learners performed three oral narrative tasks involving six‐frame cartoons for 3 consecutive days. They engaged in task‐repetition practice under either a blocked (Day 1: A‐A‐A; Day 2: B‐B‐B; Day 3: C‐C‐C) or an interleaved (Day 1: A‐B‐C; Day 2: A‐B‐C; Day 3: A‐B‐C) task repetition schedule. The results yielded by a posttest involving new six‐frame cartoons indicated that blocked practice resulted in greater fluency development (faster articulation rate and shorter mid‐clause pause duration) than did interleaved practice. Moreover, the learners in the blocked‐practice group tended to pause more frequently at clause boundaries. Blocked practice also led to significantly longer mean length of run and higher phonation/time ratio during training, although this advantage failed to transfer to meaningful pretest–posttest changes. These dynamic fluency developmental patterns are discussed to elucidate the underlying proceduralization in L2 speech processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the theoretical and pedagogical affordances and challenges highlighted in studies on correcting second language (L2) learners' errors via computer‐mediated feedback (CMF) in blended and distance learning. The study aimed at understanding and conveying the reported challenges and affordances of CMF to inform the computer‐assisted language learning practitioners. To this end, 97 peer‐reviewed articles published from 2012 to 2020 that discussed CMF with respect to receptive and productive language skills were systematically reviewed. The collected data were tabularized in terms of receptive and productive skills. To visualize the results, the obtained data were arranged in four hierarchical database formats with respect to four language skills. The implications of the study are twofold. Pedagogically, teachers are informed useful affordances that can be used to give feedback during teaching. Theoretically, researchers are informed about challenges that require further investigation. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: The efficacy of providing via computer‐assisted tools and affordances What this paper adds: Presenting a hierarchy of affordances that can be utilized by L2 teachers for giving computer‐mediated feedbackInforming the CALL practitioners about the challenges that reportedly require further analysis to expand the research in the field Implications for practice and/or policy: The main theoretical implication is the need to consider individual learner differences before using any feedback type to correct errors plus several other implications that are discussed in the article.The main pedagogical implication of the study is the need to contextualize the reported affordances for computer‐mediated feedback based on the nonlinearity and dynamicity of the individual learner differences [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-infection with speech aerosol may contribute to COVID-19 severity Keywords: aerosol; disease severity; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; self-inoculation; speaking EN aerosol disease severity COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 self-inoculation speaking 1275 1277 3 11/19/21 20211201 NES 211201 Dear Editor, SARS-CoV-2 infections commonly start in the upper respiratory tract, often with mild symptoms. The self-infection hypothesis suggests that more transmissible variants raise the effectiveness of this pathway and therefore will increase disease severity in persons whose adaptive immune system has not been activated by vaccination or a prior infection, consistent with observation [10]. [Extracted from the article]

The construct of oral ability is multifaceted, but due to technological and practical constraints, the majority of computer‐delivered speaking assessments are designed to measure only certain aspects of this ability. Most notably, interactional competence, which we define as the ability to actively structure dialogic speech in real time, is often not assessed. Innovations in technology, namely, computer‐mediated video, make it possible for test takers in different locations to see and speak with others in real time and may make it achievable for computer‐based tests to assess more aspects of oral communication, including interactional competence. This report gives the findings from a study that explored to what extent computer‐mediated video, namely, Skype, could function in conjunction with a platform designed to present four innovative speaking tasks that could conceivably assess a broad construct of oral ability. The overarching goals of this project were twofold. First, we aimed to determine (a) the degree to which current computer video‐mediated technology can be used effectively to deliver assessments remotely and (b) the extent to which participants felt that four specific tasks could assess speaking ability by means of this technology. The speaking tasks included giving short responses to an interlocutor's questions, summarizing a proposal, defending a position in a group discussion, and giving a prepared presentation and responding to questions from other participants. Two data collections were conducted: one with all 72 participants located in the United States and one with all 74 participants located in China. The findings provide preliminary evidence that the stability of computer video‐mediated technology varies considerably, with technical disruptions being relatively few in the U.S. trial but very frequent in the China context. Moreover, the findings suggest that participants viewed the tasks as generally representing interactive speaking activities that they encounter in the oral language use domain, affording them the opportunity to demonstrate their oral abilities, and that these tasks can be effectively completed in a computer video‐mediated environment when technology cooperates. Report Number: ETS RR–19‐05 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reading aloud to children is considered one of the most highly effective strategies for fostering a range of literacy skills, both at home and within contemporary classrooms. However, little is known about teachers' attitudes toward reading aloud, their self‐reported frequency of engagement in the practice and what may pose as contemporary barriers to the practice. The 2016 Western Australian Study in Reading Aloud (WASRA) collected data from over 100 teachers at 14 Australian schools. The WASRA reveals tensions in translating reading aloud practices into daily practice due to reported lack of time and high curriculum demands. The findings suggest that primary school teachers typically enjoy reading aloud to children, though fewer enjoyed reading themselves. Recommendations are provided to address time and curriculum demands purported as being inhibitors of daily reading practices. These recommendations go some way to help mitigate against literacy inequities within our primary classrooms and in so doing encourage provision of daily reading opportunities for teachers and reading aloud practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of communicative strategies ( CSs) by L2 learners is a well-documented facet of second language research, with a number of studies suggesting a direct correlation between CS use and L2 proficiency. However, current research regarding learners' use of these strategies has not yet addressed the potential overuse of linguistic avoidance among FL learners. This study attempts to measure avoidance use among US university students of Spanish as a FL. Thirty-two participants completed two communicative writing assignments, one requiring the use of the preterit/imperfect aspect, and another the subjunctive. Participants were then interviewed regarding their use and/or conscious avoidance of these grammatical forms. Results indicate a great deal of purposeful, conscious avoidance of both of these targeted grammatical forms on the part of participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking a dynamic usage-based perspective, this longitudinal case study compares the development of sentence complexity in speaking versus writing in two beginner Taiwanese learners of English (identical twins) in an extensive corpus consisting of 100 oral and 100 written texts of approximately 200 words produced by each twin over 8 months. Three syntactic complexity measures were calculated: mean length of T-unit, dependent clauses per T-unit, and coordinate phrases per T-unit. The working hypothesis was that (a) the learners' oral texts would become more complex sooner than their written texts and that (b) the two learners would show similar developmental patterns. We found that these two learners initially demonstrated syntactic complexity in their oral language rather than in their written language, yet over time they were found to exhibit inverse trends of development. This observation was confirmed with dynamic modeling by means of a hidden Markov model, which allowed us to detect moments of self-organization in the learners' spoken and written output (i.e., moments where the interaction among various measures changes and takes on a new configuration). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important task for foreign language (FL) instructors and researchers is to understand how the development of each language skill affects other aspects of language acquisition. This case study seeks to determine if speaking and writing proficiencies develop at similar rates among FL learners. Seventeen students enrolled in beginning, intermediate, and advanced Spanish courses at a mid-sized U.S. university were administered the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview and Writing Proficiency Test. Speaking and writing proficiency scores were then correlated. Results showed a fairly strong correlation between speaking and writing scores among experimental group participants, but much weaker correlations between proficiencies when each of the three groups was examined individually. Some students were more proficient writers than speakers, others better writers than speakers, and others equally proficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic MRI studies of the upper airway during speaking, singing or swallowing are complicated by the need for high temporal resolution and the presence of air-tissue interfaces that may give rise to image artifacts such as signal void and geometric distortions. This work exploits a recently developed real-time MRI technique to address these challenges for monitoring speech production at 3 T. The method combines a short-echo time radial FLASH MRI sequence (pulse repetition time/echo time = 2.22/1.44 ms; flip angle 5°) with pronounced undersampling (15 radial spokes per image) and image reconstruction by regularized nonlinear inversion. The resulting serial images at 1.5 mm in-plane resolution and 33.3 ms acquisition time are free of motion or susceptibility artifacts. This application focuses on a dynamic visualization of the main articulators during natural speech production (Standard Modern German). Respective real-time MRI movies at 30 frames per second clearly demonstrate the spatiotemporal coordination of lips, tongue, velum, and larynx for generating vowels, consonants, and coarticulations. The quantitative results for individual phonetic events are in agreement with previous non-MRI findings. Magn Reson Med, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pilot study examined the development of complexity and fluency of second language (L2) spoken production among L2 learners who received extensive practice on grammatical chunks as constituent units of discourse. Twenty-two students enrolled in an elementary Japanese course at a U.S. university received classroom instruction on 40 grammatical chunks through communicative drills and memorization of dialogues that contained the target chunks. The students completed two spontaneous conversation tasks in Japanese at five-week intervals during the semester Development of their speech between the first and second conversation task was analyzed from three perspectives: 1) the number of accurately used chunks, 2) the complexity of utterances (the number of chunks per t-unit), and 3) oral fluency (pause length and speech rate). Matched-pair t tests revealed significant gains in the number and range of the grammatical chunks produced over time, as well as in the complexity of individual utterances. However, there were no significant gains in the fluency of oral production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]