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Article published In:
Journal of Second Language Pronunciation
Vol. 6:1 (2020) ► pp.96–121
Best Doctoral Student Paper Award

Rating L2 speaker comprehensibility on monologic vs. interactive tasks

What is the effect of speaking task type?

ORCID logo | University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
Second language (L2) scholars generally agree that pronunciation development should prioritize understandable over nativelike speech. However, which linguistic features enable understanding lacks clarity. While monologic research indicates a combined effect of segmental and suprasegmental measures, interactive research has emphasized a segmental focus. The current study takes a step in addressing this divide by applying a monologic methodology to interactive speech. 20 L2 English learners completed one interactive and three monologic tasks. 36 native listeners rated each speaker per task for comprehensibility. I additionally coded all utterances for a series of phonological and fluency measures. Surprisingly, segmental and suprasegmental measures had minimal impact on listerners’ ratings. Instead, ratings for the two more linguistically-constrained monologic tasks demonstrated stronger associations with fluency measures than the less-constrained monologic and interactive tasks. This finding is likely an effect of (a) increased cognitive task demands placed on speakers, and (b) listener familiarity with L2 English speech.
Keywords: comprehensibility, interaction, second language pronunciation, task effect
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Global perception of second language speech
    • 1.2From monologues to interaction
    • 1.3Phonological sources of communicative breakdowns
    • 1.4Methodological concerns
    • 1.5The current study
  • 2.Methodology
    • 2.1Participants
      • 2.1.1Speakers
      • 2.1.2Listeners
    • 2.2Speaking tasks
      • 2.2.1Task comparisons
    • 2.3Procedure – Speech elicitation
      • 2.3.1Monologic session
      • 2.3.2Interactive session
    • 2.4Procedure – Speech rating
      • 2.4.1Monologic
      • 2.4.2Interactive
      • 2.4.3Speech rating
      • 2.4.4Linguistic coding
    • 2.5Data analysis
      • 2.5.1Reliability
      • 2.5.2Linguistic coding
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Comprehensibility between task comparisons
    • 3.2Spearman correlations
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Exploring task differences
      • 4.1.1Task complexity
    • 4.2Variation in linguistic associations
      • 4.2.1Proficiency
      • 4.2.2Listeners
        • Limitations and future directions
      • 4.2.3Monologic bias
      • 4.2.4Interactive task complexity and interlocutor relationships
      • 4.2.5Linguistic coding
  • 5.Conclusion & implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 February 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.19019.cro
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