Empirical Study on Pause Lengths in Catalan Easy Language Audios

This study investigates the effect of pause lengthening in Easy Language audios - a feature typically recommended to improve comprehension - on participants' understanding, acceptability, and preferences. The participants of this study included 35 neurotypical Catalan native speakers (control g...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Pujadas Farreras, Marina|||0000-0002-8453-1583, Machuca Ayuso, María Jesús|||0000-0003-4377-288X
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:uabarcelona_::c558d44391f8d529c70010681afcd5a8
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/328243
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.18355/XL.2026.19.02.20
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Pauses
Easy Language
Listening comprehension
L2 learners
Intellectual disability
Descripción
Sumario:This study investigates the effect of pause lengthening in Easy Language audios - a feature typically recommended to improve comprehension - on participants' understanding, acceptability, and preferences. The participants of this study included 35 neurotypical Catalan native speakers (control group), 34 Catalan native speakers with intellectual disabilities (ID), and 31 second-language learners of Catalan (L2). Participants completed a comprehension test with audio featuring four inter-sentence pauses (590 ms, 740 ms, 890 ms, 1040 ms) and four intra-sentence pauses (250 ms, 400 ms, 550 ms, 700 ms). They also rated pause acceptability and indicated preferences. Results showed no significant improvement in comprehension with longer pauses in the ID or control groups, whereas L2 learners showed a non-significant trend toward improvement. Longer inter-sentence pauses were generally acceptable across groups, whereas longer intra-sentence pauses were less favored by the control group. Preferences for pause durations were unclear for the ID and L2 groups.