Elaborated Speech and Hesitation Phenomena

Abstract

The study examined speech characteristics of two groups who were discrepant in verbal ability and who were from families differing in press for language development. The sample consisted of 25 pairs of grade 5 boys who were matched for general intelligence. Transcripts of subjects' oral responses to stimulus pictures were analysed yielding thirteen speech variables. High-verbal boys as compared with low-verbal boys use more and longer communication units, have a higher index of subordination, and use more tentative statements (p < 0.01). Boys having higher verbal ability and using more elaborated speech nevertheless have a shorter mean pause duration and pause less frequently than low-verbal boys (p < 0.05). These findings raise questions concerning the relevance of hesitation phenomena for verbal planning activity accompanying speech.