Abstract

The objective and automatic grading of oral language tests has been the subject of significant research in recent years. Several obstacles lie in the way of achieving this goal. Recent work has suggested a testing technique called elicited imitation (EI) can be used to accurately approximate global oral proficiency. This testing methodology, however, does not incorporate some fundamental aspects of language such as fluency. Other work has suggested another testing technique, simulated speech (SS), as a supplement to EI that can provide automated fluency metrics. In this work, I investigate a combination of fluency features extracted for SS testing and EI test scores to more accurately predict oral language proficiency. I also investigate the role of EI as an oral language test, and the optimal method of extracting fluency features from SS sound files. Results demonstrate the ability of EI and SS to more effectively predict hand-scored SS test item scores. I finally discuss implications of this work for future automated oral testing scenarios.

Degree

College and Department

Humanities; Linguistics and English Language

Rights

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