pausing!?

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darimana
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:35 am

pausing!?

Post by darimana » Thu Dec 01, 2005 1:22 am

Hi,
I am trying to find some information for a student about how long is too long for a pause in spoken English? He is a student writing a paper on it, so I am looking for something that is sourced, but happy also to hear people's personal ideas on this issue. I read on an IELTS prep website recently that if you pause for more than 10 seconds in the Speaking Test you will definitely lose a bandscore. I personally think that is rubbish, but haven't been able to find any good papers on the acceptable length of pausing in English speech.
Please help!

moonchild7903
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:25 pm

Post by moonchild7903 » Sun Dec 11, 2005 4:14 am

Try looking through the articles in the following professional journals:

1. International Journal of Applied Linguistics
2. International Journal of Linguistics
3. Language and Society
4. Journal of Pragmatics

I'm sure you'll find a specific study that will address your questions. Good Luck.

emile
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon May 31, 2004 11:05 am
Location: SE Asia
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Post by emile » Wed Dec 14, 2005 11:26 am

A ten second pause definitely sounds uncomfortable to me!

Of course, some learners have the opposite problem; they rush through their sentences too quickly.

EH
Posts: 174
Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2003 2:36 am
Location: USA and/or Korea

Post by EH » Sat Dec 24, 2005 3:44 am

Try looking at the stuttering (fluency) research as well. Stuttering researchers care a lot about unfilled pauses.

Try searching on Pub Med for journal abstracts. It's easy, quick, and free.

-EH

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