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Abstract
The present study examines second language oral fluency development of U.S. learners of Spanish during a study abroad program. The main goal is to identify the specific features of nonnative speech that affect utterance and perceived fluency. The empiric analysis of the fluency gains by several groups of participants can assist students, instructors and program directors in establishing realistic and objective goals for study abroad programs. The first step of this dissertation was to review the previous literature to find an objective definition of second language oral fluency. Next, we collected speech samples from 30 U.S. students who were participating in a study abroad program in Spain. The recordings were collected immediately before and after the experience abroad. Subsequently, samples were analyzed for subtle but objectively measurable changes in fluency, in terms of speech rate, pauses, disfluencies, and informational density. A subsequent selection of these recordings were used to gather subjective impressions on perceived fluency among 48 native speakers of Spanish through an online survey. It was found that all fluency features that were measured in each pre- and post-experience recording improved significantly with respect to the first recording. Other analyses were carried out to determine the relationship between oral fluency and factors such as initial proficiency level, host families, and length of stay. The results indicate that living with a host family has a strong impact on utterance fluency. The highest-rated subjective impressions on fluency were linked with the participants who had improved their speech rate, and informational density the most. These same participants were the ones staying with a host family. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that study abroad programs from seven to 15 weeks can be very beneficial not only for the development of intercultural competence, but also for second language oral fluency.