Performance deficiencies and inconsistencies among SLA or FL learners can be attributed to variety of sources including both systemic (i.e., language issues) and individual variables.  Contrary to a rich background, the literature still suffers from a gap as far as delving into the issue from language proficiency and learning style is concerned. To fill the gap, this study addressed EFL learner...

Elicited imitation (EI) is an oral language testing method that has been experimented with since the 1960s. Its first uses were focused on assessing first language acquisition in children (Ervin-Tripp, 2001) and diagnosing language abnormalities (Berry, 1976; Lahey, Launer, & Schiff-Myers, 1983). Later, in the 1970s, researchers began to assess how useful the method would be within the field of...

This study examines the impact of a semester study abroad experience in Argentina on the second language acquisition of three American university Spanish learners. The goal is to measure development of two aspects of oral communication skills: fluency and performance in the oral functions of narration, and description and supporting an opinion. Research has shown that immersion in the target cu...

Fluency in terms of speed speech and (lack of) hesitations such as silent filled pauses (‘uhm’s) is part oral proficiency. Language assessment rubrics therefore include aspects fluency. Measuring fluency, however, highly time-consuming because the manual labour involved. The current paper aims to automatically measure L2 including pauses, both Dutch English. A revised existing script a new for ...

This paper describes a study exploring automated assessment of reading proficiency, in terms of oral reading and reading comprehension, for a middle school population including students with reading disabilities and low reading proficiency, utilizing automatic speech recognition technology. We build statistical models using features related to fluency, pronunciation, and reading accuracy to pre...

The goal of this exploratory study is to investigate the effect of working memory capacity on L2 oral fluency in 79 learners of English as a foreign language. Three tasks were used as measures of working memory (the reading span task, letter span task and an attention-switching task). Twelve measures of fluency were used spanning across speed, breakdown and repair fluency. Positive correlations...