Analyzing Speech Pauses and Facial Movement Patterns in Multimodal Public-Speaking Data of EFL Learners

• Fuyuno Miharu

• Yamashita Yuko

• Kawase Yoshikiyo

• Nakajima Yoshitaka

Abstract

This paper analyzes multimodal data from an EFL learners' English public-speaking corpus being constructed at Kyushu University. Although multimodal corpora analysis has been rapidly increasing since the last decade (cf. Knight, 2011; Adolphs & Carter, 2013), few studies have examined learner multimodal data. Therefore, the present study collected and analyzed data of authentic English public' speaking performances by Asian EFL learners. The data were obtained during an official recitation contest held by a Japanese university. The contestants' performances were audio' and video-recorded to compile a multimodal database, together with performance evaluations by contest judges. From the originals, the data of three Japanese contestants who recited the same assignment were extracted for comparative analysis. The present study focused on analyzing speech-pause distributions and facial movement patterns in the performances. These factors were examined with acoustic and movement analysis. The findings included the followings: 1) two highly evaluated learners had similar pause distributions, but the other learner showed a different tendency. 2) All speakers showed rhythmical patterns of facial movements; however the patterns' characteristics d:i:ffered in average range of movement and interval frequencies. These results are expected to be useful for improving the teaching of English public-speaking skills in EFL classrooms.

Journal

• Learner Corpus Studies in Asia and the World

  Learner Corpus Studies in Asia and the World 2 237-250, 2014-05-31

  神戸大学国際コミュニケーションセンター

Details

• CRID: 1390009224930391424
• NII Article ID: 120005447040
• DOI: 10.24546/81006704
• HANDLE: 20.500.14094/81006704
• ISSN: 21876746
• Text Lang: en
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • IRDB
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN
• Abstract License Flag: Allowed