Chapter 1 Orientation of the Present Study,Its Rationale and Key Research Questions 1
1.1 Orientation of the present study 1
1.2 Rationale 1
1.3 Key research questions 4
1.4 Content of remaining chapters 5
Chapter 2 Review of Related Research Literature 8
2.1 Need for indirect application of existing cognitive and SLA theories 8
2.2 Speech production 11
2.2.1 Pre-Leveltan speech production models 11
2.2.2 Levelt's(1989)"Speaking" model 13
2.2.3 De Bot's(1992)adaptation of Levelt' s model for bilingual oral production 18
2.3 Language skills development 19
2.3.1 Some learning theories 20
2.3.2 Anderson's Adaptive Control of Thought(ACT*) 21
2.3.2.1 The ACT*framework 23
2.3.2.2 The two processes and the five learning mechanisms 24
2.3.2.3 The three stages 26
2.4 The concept of oral fluency 28
2.4.1 L1 fluency 29
2.4.2 L2 fluency 31
2.5 Measuring L2 fluency 33
2.5.1 Factors influencing oral fluency 33
2.5.2 Indices commonly employed in the measurement of oral fluency 34
2.6 External learning contexts 39
2.6.1 The effect of classroom instruction on L2 learning 39
2.6.2 External learning variables in the FL classroom setting 40
2.7 Empirical studies on L2 oral fluency development 44
2.8 Summary and conclusions 46
Chapter 3 A Conceptual Framework:Understanding the Development of L2 Oral Fluency in the FL Classroom Setting 50
3.1 Prior considerations 50
3.2 Redefining L2 oral fluency 51
3.3 Fluency indices employed in the present study 52
3.4 External variables in the EFL classroom setting 56
3.5 Integrating external learning variables with Levelt' s model,Anderson's model,and the fluency indices 58
3.5.1 Prior attempts 58
3.5.2 A general framework of L2 oral fluency development for the present study 60
3.5.2.1 Two types of mental representation of knowledge:declarative and procedural 60
3.5.2.2 Two modes of information-processing;controlled and automatic 61
3.5.3 Dissecting the framework 64
3.5.3.1 Relationships among L2 input,learning mechanisms,production mechanisms and fluency indices 65
3.5.3.2 Relationships among types and amount of L2 practice,learning mechanisms,production mechanisms and fluency indices 67
3.5.3.3 Relationships among quality of L2 oral practice,learning mechanisms,production mechanisms and fluency indices 70
3.6 Summary of the conceptual framework 73
3.7 Sub-questions for the present research 76
Chapter 4 Research Design and Methodology 79
4.1 Research design 79
4.1.1 Prior considerations 79
4.1.1.1 Nature of the design 79
4.1.1.2 Investigative approach 80
4.1.1.3 Generalizability of the research results of the present study with a small number of subjects studied 81
4.1.2 Research site 81
4.1.3 The subjects 82
4.1.4 Procedures of investigation 84
4.2 Instrumentation 87
4.2.1 Observation of the subjects' classroom English learning 87
4.2.2 Students' Background Information Questionnaire 87
4.2.3 Daily English Learning Questionnaire 88
4.2.4 Oral English production:picture-story narration 92
4.2.5 Necessary Events Questionnaire 94
4.3 Data collection 95
4.3.1 Time frame for data collection 95
4.3.2 The subjects' classroom English learning experiences 96
4.3.3 The subjects' out-of-class contact with English 98
4.3.4 The information conveyed in the picture story as described by the students of the Humanities Experimental Class 99
4.3.5 The subjects' oral production 100
4.4 Data preparation 101
4.4.1 The subjects' classroom English learning experiences 101
4.4.1.1 Classroom instruction 101
4.4.1.2 Classroom practice 102
4.4.1.3 Classroom interactions 102
4.4.2 The subjects' out-of-class contact with English 103
4.4.3 Necessary events of the picture story 104
4.4.4 The subjects' oral production 104
4.4.4.1 Identification of pauses and calculation of the temporal indices 105
4.4.4.2 Identification of errors,T-units and c-units and calculation of the linguistic indices 106
4.4.4.3 Identification of repairs and calculation of the performing indices 107
4.4.4.4 Inter-rater reliability of the counting results 109
4.5 Data analysis 110
Chapter 5 Results for the Subjects' Learning Contexts:English Learning in the Classroom and Oat-of-class Contact with English 111
5.1 Results for the subjects' classroom English learning 111
5.1.1 Types of knowledge about English taught during instruction 113
5.1.1.1 Comprehensive English(CE) 114
5.1.1.2 English Reading(ER) 117
5.1.1.3 English Listening(EL) 118
5.1.1.4 Oral English(OE) 119
5.1.1.5 Western Culture(WC) 121
5.1.2 Types of practice in English which the subjects were required to do during classes 122
5.1.2.1 Comprehensive English(CE) 122
5.1.2.2 English Reading(ER) 126
5.1.2.3 English Listening(EL) 127
5.1.2.4 Oral English(OE) 127
5.1.2.5 Western Culture(WC) 129
5.1.3 Classroom interactions 130
5.1.3.1 Comprehensive English(CE) 130
5.1.3.2 English Reading(ER) 133
5.1.3.3 English Listening(EL) 134
5.1.3.4 Oral English(OE) 135
5.1.3.5 Western Culture(WC) 137
5.1.3.6 Summary of the subjects' classroom interactions 137
5.1.4 Summary of the subjects' English learning experiences in the classroom 139
5.2 Results for the subjects' out-of-class contact with English 142
5.2.1 Description of the Daily English Learning Questionnaire and scoring methods 142
5.2.2 The amount of time the subjects spent on English practice(DELQ data) 143
5.2.3 Summary of the subjects' out-of-class contact with English 147
Chapter 6 Results for the Subjects' Learning Outcomes:Development in Oral English Fluency 149
6.1 Quantitative results:a macro view 149
6.1.1 Temporal indices 150
6.1.1.1 Speaking rate(SR) 151
6.1.1.2 Articulation rate(AR) 151
6.1.1.3 Phonation/time ratio(PTR) 152
6.1.1.4 Mean length of run(MLR) 152
6.1.1.5 Average length of pause(ALP) 153
6.1.2 Content index(Ratio of reported necessary events,RNE) 153
6.1.3 Linguistic indices 154
6.1.3.1 Ratio of error-free T-units(REFT) 154
6.1.3.2 Mean length of c-units after pruning(MLCP) 155
6.1.3.3 Subordinate clauses per T-unit(SCT) 155
6.1.4 Performing indices 155
6.1.4.1 Repairs per 100 syllables(R100) 156
6.1.4.2 Ratio of reformulation and replacements(RRR) 157
6.1.4.3 Ratio of pruned length to total length(RPL) 157
6.1.5 Summary of the quantitative results at the macro level 158
6.2 Quantitative results:a micro view 160
6.2.1 Speech run and pause 160
6.2.1.1 The concept of be-structure-run 161
6.2.1.2 Hypotheses concerning learners' production of be-structure-runs 163
6.2.2 Results 165
6.2.2.1 Comparison between articulation rates for be-structure-runs and for overall samples(ARB1 vs AR1;ARB2 vs AR2) 165
6.2.2.2 Comparison between average length of pause for be-structure-runs and overall average length of pause(ALPB1 vs ALP1;ALPB2 vs ALP2) 167
6.2.2.3 Comparison between mean length of be-structure-runs and overall mean length of runs(MLRB1 vs MLR1;MLRB2 vs MLR2) 168
6.2.2.4 Comparison between the temporal indices for be-structure-runs in the pretest and posttest respectively 169
6.2.3 Summary of the quantitative results at the micro level 172
6.3 Qualitative results 173
6.3.1 Purposes of pauses 173
6.3.2 On-line speech processing ability 177
6.3.3 Past tense marking 181
6.3.4 Lexical use 184
6.3.5 Summary of the qualitative analysis 185
Chapter 7 Interpretation of Results 186
7.1 Major findings of the subjects' development in oral English fluency 186
7.2 L2 oral fluency development over time in the FL classroom setting:a general picture 188
7.3 To what extent the classroom learning contexts contributed to the subjects' L2 oral fluency development 190
7.3.1 Development of L2 oral fluency in terms of speech-planning efficiency as revealed by phonation/time ratio(PTR)and average length of pause(ALP) 190
7.3.2 Development of L2 oral fluency in terms of on-line processing ability as revealed by the long error-free runs with 9 syllables and above 192
7.3.3 Development of L2 oral fluency in terms of the smoothness of speech delivery as revealed by speaking rate(SR)and mean length of run(MLR) 193
7.3.4 Development of L2 oral fluency in terms of the coherence of speech as revealed by ratio of reported necessary events(RNE) 195
7.3.5 Development of L2 oral fluency in terms of linguistic complexity as revealed by subordinate clauses per T-unit(SCT)and mean length of c-unit after pruning(MLCP) 196
7.3.6 Development of L2 oral fluency in terms of linguistic accuracy as revealed by ratio or error-free T-units(REFT) and sensitivity of past tense 197
7.3.7 Development of L2 oral fluency in terms of lexical appropriateness as revealed by ratio of reformulation and replacements to total repairs(RRR)and by range and variety of lexical use 199
7.3.8 Development of L2 oral fluency in terms of language performance as revealed by the number of repairs per 100 syllables(R100)and the ratio of pruned length to total length(RPL) 200
7.3.9 Development of 1.2 oral fluency in terms of rapidity in articulation as revealed by articulation rate(AR) 202
7.3.10 Learning contexts and the greater individual differences in the subjects' development of L2 oral fluency 203
7.4 Summary of the effect of learning contexts on the development of L2 oral fluency 204
Chapter 8 Conclusions,Implications and Recommendations 207
8.1 Some conclusions 207
8.2 Some implications 210
8.3 Limitations of the present study and recommendations for future research 211
References 213
Appendix 1 Background Information Questionnaire(in Chinese) 224
Appendix 2 Daily English Learning Questionnaire(in Chinese) 225
Appendix 3 The Picture Story Adopted for the Elicitation of the Subjects' Oral Production and the Organization of Necessary Events in the Picture Sequence 227
Appendix 4 Necessary Events Questionnaire(in Chinese,with picture sequence) 230
Appendix 5 Reported Frequency of Active and Passive Questioning and Answering During Data Collection 231
Appendix 6 Amount of Time the Subjects Spent on the Various Types of English Practice 232
Appendix 7 Paired Sample T-test Results for the 12 Fluency Indices on the Pre-and Post-tests 233
Appendix 8 The Subjects' Raw Score for the Temporal Indices at Time 1 and Time 2 237
Appendix 9 T-test Results for Paired Samples for the Low Articulation Rates of the Six Subjects in the Pretest 238
Appendix 10 Necessary Events Included in the Subjects' Pre-and Post-test Production 239
Appendix 11 Summary of the Subjects' Score for the Linguistic Indices at Time One and Time Two 240
Appendix 12 Summary of the Subjects' Score for the Performing Indices at Time One and Time Two 241
Appendix 13 Transcriptions of the Full Texts of the 12 Subjects' Story Retelling at Time One and Time Two 242