Effects of Change in Speech Rates on Japanese EFL Listeners’ Word Recognition

抄録

　　The main focus of the present study is to investigate whether high-speed listening in English class is effective in enhancing word recognition of elementary-level Japanese EFL listeners. Both experimental and anecdotal evidences suggest that, with continuous exposure to a faster speech rate, listeners can normalize a faster speech rate as their new baseline and find the original speech rate slower. In order to confirm if steady exposure to a faster speech rate has a positive effect on the listener’s word recognition as well as comprehension, an experiment was conducted. In the experiment, participants in the three experimental groups were exposed to compressed speech rates at 1.2, 1.5, and 2.0 times the original rate for half a year in class, while those in the control group listened at the original rate. The results of the posttests showed that the participants who listened at 1.5 times the original rate fared significantly better than the other three groups in terms of word recognition. However, no difference between the groups was found in terms of comprehension.