Church lectors, beginning drama students, and advanced drama students read a passage from St. Paul's "First Letter to the Corinthians." Drama students used both faster articulation and speech rates and fewer silent pauses than church lectors. The advanced drama students also used a greater number of longer silent pauses than the other two groups. Both expert and nonprofessional evaluations showed preference for readings by the advanced drama students and then the beginning drama students over the church lectors.
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