Abstract
This study examined how approximately one month of task-repetition practice is associated with improvements in utterance fluency among Japanese low-proficiency learners of English. Two repetition schedules were compared: blocked practice (e.g., Day 1: AAA; Day 2: BBB; Day 3: CCC) and interleaved practice (e.g., Day 1–3: ABC). To further explore learners’ perceptions of fluency development and factors associated with improvement, semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected learners. Quantitative analyses showed that improvements in several fluency measures—mean length of run, articulation rate, phonation/time ratio, clause-final pause duration, mid-clause pause frequency, and mid-clause pause ratio—were observed over time, while no substantial differences emerged between the two repetition conditions. Qualitative findings indicated that learners perceived the practice as enjoyable, engaging, and helpful for building confidence. Learners also highlighted the roles of pair interaction and explicit instruction on useful expressions as contributing factors. These findings suggest that fluency development occurred during the instructional period. However, as the intervention included multiple components and no substantial differences were observed between blocked and interleaved conditions, improvements are best interpreted as reflecting repeated task engagement rather than the effects of task repetition or scheduling alone.
