A preliminary study on the function of silent pauses in L1 and L2 speakers of English and German

Vol.37,No.1(2011)

Abstract
The aim of the present paper is to provide comparative analysis regarding the functions of pauses through exploration of the similarities and differences in semantically identical utterances in micro-textual units in colloquial style produced by L1 and L2 speakers of English and German. The research study illustrates inappropriate segmentation of the discourse, inapt distribution and frequency of pause types in L2 subjects' utterances, which may be due to the fact that L2 speakers apply cognitive activities different from L1 speakers. L1 subjects' productions, on the other hand, indicate that they tend to plan and program their utterances in longer blocks.

Keywords:
suprasegmentals; silent pause; functions of pauses; classifications of pauses; emphasis; discourse analysis

Pages:
21–39
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