The Relationship Between Utterance and Perceived Fluency: A Meta?Analysis of Correlational Studies

Listener-based judgements of fluency play an important role in second language (L2) communication contexts and L2 assessment. Accordingly, our meta-analysis examined the relationship between different aspects utterance listener-based perceived by analyzing primary studies reporting correlation coefficients objective measures temporal features subjective ratings fluency. We analyzed 263 effect sizes from 22 (N = 335–746) to calculate mean links also investigated moderator effects 11 methodological factors—such as speech stimuli, listeners’ background, rating procedure, computation measures—on Perceived was strongly associated with speed pause frequency, r |.59–.62|; moderately duration, |.46|; weakly repair fluency, |.20|; while composite showed strongest sizes, |.72–.76|. Moderator analyses revealed that utterance–perceived link is influenced variables related how samples are prepared for attention directed evaluations These findings suggest future directions research implications