Allocation of time in reading aloud: Being fluent is not the same as being rhetorical

Abstract

A total of 24 subjects in four groups (German and American women and men) read aloud two passages from political speeches in their native language. Compared with the politicians' (Helmut Kohl, Willy Brandt, and Ronald Reagan) readings and readings by a German and an American actor, subjects used less reading time. Their articulation rates were faster, and their pauses were shorter and less numerous. Punctuation was predictive of both pause allocation and pause duration. Commas were predictive of pause allocation differentially in German and English. The inability of otherwise fluent adults to use reading time for simulated persuasion is discussed.