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 a 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 .