Testing the Perception of the Paralinguistic Features of Spoken English

Abstract

Many Eng as a foreign lang/Eng as a second lang (EFL/ESL) courses have neglected the paralinguistic features of spoken discourse. This has resulted in the production of grammatically correct utterances which are misinterpreted due to errors in the perception of paralinguistic features. G. Brown (Listening to Spoken English, London: Longman, 1977) has proposed as many as 11 features which can be observed simply by listening to speech, without necessarily seeing the speaker. Based on the assumption that perception of such features is a necessary micro-skill in lang comprehension, a test based on Brown's framework was administered to 307 second-year Eng students in Singapore. Results indicated that this type of test should be included in the battery of tests used for assessing ESL/EFL proficiency in listening comprehension. Modified HA.