The Effect of Syntactic Complexity on Fluency in Speaking Performance of First and Second language

Abstract

In this study we investigated how syntactic complexity affects speaking performance in first (L1) and second language (L2) in terms of three measures of fluency: (1) breakdown fluency; (2) speed fluency; and (3) repair fluency. Participants (30 Dutch native speakers with an advanced level of English) performed two speaking experiments, one in Ducth (L1) and one in English (L2). Syntactic complexity was operationalized in four conditions, active vs. passive/nested vs. juxtaposed, and was found to affect the three types of fluency in different ways, and differently for L1 and L2. In passives as compared with actives, we found longer pauses, a lower total speaking duration, and a larger number of filled pauses and corrections. With respect to the nested and juxtaposed contrast, longer pauses were found in juxtaposed sentences. However, in terms of total speaking duration, and number of filled pauses and corrections, nested sentences were found to be more disfluent. Although results from total speaking duration in active and passive conditions, and from duration of pauses at the speech onset position in nested and juxtaposed conditions, had different effect across English and Dutch, the distinction between L1 and L2 were found to be significant. The overall results showed that participants were more fluent in their L1 than in their L2.