Modeling Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency of Japanese Learners of English: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Abstract

With this study, we aimed to obtain a better understanding of the factor structure of the complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) of English speaking proficiency. For this purpose, 224 Japanese junior and senior high school students with an English level of elementary to lower intermediate took an English speaking test. We transcribed what they said, computed measures to assess CAF, and used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine whether the model in which the CAF factors are related fit the data. We found that syntactic complexity (SC), accuracy, speed fluency, and repair fluency represent distinct factors and that there are weak, moderate, or strong correlations among these factors. This generally suggests that those who speak flu-ently by using more words per minute tend to repair their speech more, but they also produce more accurate utterances with more clauses. We suggest pedagogical implications of considering CAF separately in teaching and assessment and benefits of using SEM for analyzing CAF.