摘要

本研究探討語言學習經驗和語音處理能力兩項因素與英語口說流利度之間的關係，並探究這兩項因素與英語口說流利度的相對關係是否因學生英語能力不同而有所不同。研究對象為臺灣98位以英語為外語的成人學習者。語言學習經驗透過一對一結構式訪談取得，內容包括語言學習時間、語言接觸、和語言學習環境；語音處理能力則包括語音工作記憶和語音提取兩項測驗。口說流利度採故事圖片敘述作業，並以口說速度和停頓現象作為口說流利度之指標；在此作業中，受試者須根據圖片進行兩次英語敘述，第一次為「無示範敘述」，施測者不給予任何提示，第二次為「示範重述」，施測者先示範敘述圖片後，再請之描述。
研究結果發現，停頓現象與主要變數之間的關係都不明確。控制語音處理能力後，學習經驗仍可預測英語口說速度之表現；然控制學習經驗後，兩項語音處理能力中，僅語音工作記憶能預測「示範重述」口說速度之表現，顯示語音工作記憶在利用即時資訊做為立即口說輸出的處理上扮演著重要的角色。研究結果亦發現，不論對英語能力較高或對英語能力較低的學習者而言，控制語音處理能力的變異後，語言學習經驗都能解釋英語口說速度的變量。就語音處理能力而言，無論是語音工作記憶或語音提取，皆與低英語能力學習者的口說流利度無關；但語音提取能預測高英語能力學習者「無示範敘述」口語速度之表現。
根據研究結果，對學習英語已相當長時間的成人學習者而言，語言學習經驗在英語口說流利度上扮演著主要決定性的角色；語音處理能力則是附加因素，且受限於不同作業之要求和學習者的語言能力。

Abstract

This study investigated the relative contributions of experiential and phonological processing factors to oral fluency performance among 98 adult EFL learners in Taiwan and the mediating role of language proficiency in influencing the relative contributions of the two factors. The experiential factor was assessed by a structured interview with questions about length of language learning, learning contact, and learning context. The phonological processing factors included phonological working memory and phonological retrieval. Oral fluency performance indexed by temporal and hesitation phenomena was gauged by a picture narrative task, in which the participants were asked to tell a story twice, first without linguistic prompts and second after hearing a model storytelling with linguistic prompts.
The results showed that the relationships between pause phenomena and the principal factors were unclear. The experiential factor contributed to predicting oral fluency performance independently of the phonological processing factors. One of the phonological processing factors, phonological working memory, predicted participants’ speech rate independently of the experiential factor only in prompted but not in unprompted storytelling, underscoring the importance of phonological working memory capacity in utilizing available input information for the purpose of immediate production. In terms of the mediating role of proficiency in the relationship between oral fluency and the two factors, the experiential factor was a unique predictor of speech rate independently of phonological processing among low- and high-proficiency learners. While neither of the phonological processing factors was related to speech rate among low-proficiency learners, phonological retrieval uniquely contributed to speech rate in unprompted storytelling among high-proficiency learners.
The results suggest that the experiential factor plays a major role in determining oral fluency in adult EFL learners who have a long history of English learning. Phonological processing can be an additional limiting factor depending on the demands of the task and the proficiency level of the learners.

Table of Contents
Approval Sheet…………………………………………………………………. i
Copy Right Page………………………………………………………………... ii
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………... iii
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………. iv

List of Tables vi

English Abstract………………………………………………………………... viii

Chinese Abstract……………………………………………………………….. ix

Chapter 1 Introduction…………….…………………………………………… 01
1.1 Background.……………………………………………………............... 01
1.2 Research Questions and Predictions……………………………….......... 07
1.3 The Significance of the Study……………………………………..…….. 08
Chapter 2 Literature Review………………………………………………..….. 09
2.1 Oral Fluency………………………………………………..…………..... 09
2.2 Phonological Processing Factors and Oral Fluency……………………..... 13
2.2.1 Phonological Memory……………………………………………..... 13
2.2.2 Phonological Retrieval……………………………………………… 16
2.3 Experiential Factors and Oral Fluency…………………………………... 19
2.4 The Mediating Role of Language Proficiency…………………………... 21
2.5 Overview of the Present Study…………………………………………... 23
Chapter 3 Methods……………………………………………………………... 25
3.1 Participants……………………………………………………………..... 25
3.2 Measures……………………………………………………………….... 26
3.2.1 Structured Interview for English Learning Experiences………….... 26
3.2.2 Language Proficiency……………………………………………..... 27
3.2.3 Nonword Repetition………………………………………………… 28
3.2.4 Rapid Automatized Naming………………………………………… 29
3.2.5 Oral Fluency………………………………………………………… 29
3.3 Procedures……………………………………………………………….. 32
Chapter 4 Results………………………………………………………………. 33
4.1 Preliminary Analyses……………………………………………………. 33
4.2 Relative Contributions of the Phonological Processing and the Experiential Factor………………………………………………………. 37
4.2.1 Speech Rate ………………………………………………………… 37
4.2.2 Hesitation…………………………………………………………… 39
4.3 Proficiency Effect in the Relative Contributions of the Phonological Processing and the Experiential Factors………………………………… 40
4.3.1 Low-Proficiency Group…………………………………………….. 42
4.3.2 High-Proficiency Group…………………………………………….. 46
Chapter 5 Discussion…………………………………………………………... 51
5.1 Relative Contributions of the Phonological Processing and the Experiential Factors……………………………………………………... 52
5.2 Proficiency Effect in the Relative Contributions of the Phonological Processing and the Experiential Factors………………………………… 59
5.2.1 Low-Proficiency Group…………………………………………….. 60
5.2.2 High-Proficiency Group…………………………………………….. 62
5.3 Limitation………………………………………………………………... 64
5.4 Implication………………………………………………………………. 66
Appendices………………………………………………………………………. 68
Appendix A…………………………………………………………………….. 68
Appendix B…………………………………………………………………….. 70
Appendix C…………………………………………………………………….. 72
Appendix D…………………………………………………………………….. 73
Appendix E…………………………………………………………………….. 75
Appendix F…………………………………………………………………….. 83
Appendix G…………………………………………………………………….. 84
References……………………………………………………………………… 86


List of Tables

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of all measures…………………………………… 33
Table 2. Bivariate correlations among the experiential factor, phonological processing factors, and oral fluency indices of both storytelling recordings………………………………………………………………... 36
Table 3. Regression analyses for relative contributions of the experiential factor and the phonological processing factors to speech rate…………………. 38
Table 4. Regression analyses for relative contributions of the phonological processing and experiential factors to hesitation………………………… 39
Table 5. Descriptive statistics of all measures for the two proficiency groups……………………………………………………………………. 41
Table 6. Bivariate correlations among the experiential factor, phonological processing factors, and oral fluency indices of both storytelling recordings for the low-proficiency group………………………………... 43
Table 7. Regression analyses for unique variance of the phonological processing and experiential factors to speech rate for the low-proficiency group…... 44
Table 8. Bivariate correlations among the experiential factor, phonological processing factors, and oral fluency indices of both storytelling recordings for the high-proficiency group……………………………….. 47
Table 9. Regression analyses for unique variance of the phonological processing and experiential factors to speech rate for the high-proficiency group….. 48

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