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Article In: International Journal of Learner Corpus Research: Online-First Articles

The contributions of L1 speaking style and L2 proficiency to L2 fluency

A corpus-based study on Chinese learners of English

ORCiD logo with link | Marburg University
 | Marburg University
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Abstract
This study examined the contributions of first language (L1) speaking style, second language (L2) proficiency, and their interaction to different dimensions of L2 fluency among adult Mandarin-speaking learners of English. Forty-one learners completed comparable speaking tasks in both Mandarin and English. Multiple regression analyses revealed that L1 speaking style significantly predicted a wide range of L2 fluency measures, including articulation rate, pausing behavior, and repetition frequency, indicating substantial cross-language association in fluency performance. L2 proficiency emerged as a significant predictor of nearly all fluency measures, suggesting that fluency is shaped not only by stable individual speaking tendencies but also by developing linguistic abilities. Interaction effects were not significant for all measures. These findings highlight the joint contribution of stable individual speaking style and proficiency-driven processing efficiency to L2 fluency and underscore the importance of accounting for L1 fluency in L2 fluency research.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.State of the art
    • 2.1Definition and understanding of fluency
    • 2.2Operationalizing utterance fluency
    • 2.3Relationships between L1 and L2 fluency and between L2 fluency and proficiency
  • 3.Database and methodology
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Data collection and task description
    • 3.3Data processing
    • 3.4Statistical analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Descriptive statistics
    • 4.2Predicting L2 fluency across dimensions
      • 4.2.1Speed fluency
      • 4.2.2Breakdown fluency
      • 4.2.3Repair fluency
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • AI use disclosure statement
  • Data availability statement
  • Author queries
  • References
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