Hans Rutger Bosker The processing and evaluation of fluency in native and non - native speech Disfluency is a common characteristic of spontaneously produced speech . Disfluencies ( e.g . , silent pauses , filled pauses [ uhâs and uhmâs ] , corrections , repetitions , etc . ) occur in both native and non - native speech . There appears to be an apparent contradiction between claims from the evaluative and cognitive approach to fluency . On the one hand , the evaluative approach shows that non - native disfluencies have a negative effect on listeners â subjective fluency impressions . On the other hand , the cognitive approach reports beneficial effects of native disfluencies on cognitive processes involved in speech comprehension , such as prediction and attention . This dissertation aims to resolve this apparent contradiction by combining the evaluative and cognitive approach . The reported studies target both the evaluation ( Chapters 2 and 3 ) and the processing of fluency ( Chapters 4 and 5 ) in native and non - native speech . Thus , it provides an integrative account of native and non - native fluency perception , informative to both language testing practice and cognitive psycholinguists . The proposed account of fluency perception testifies to the notion that speech performance matters : communication through spoken language does not only depend on what is said , but also on how it is said and by whom .
