This study explored the influence of speech rate (normal vs. fast), sentence length (short vs. long), and second language (L2) oral proficiency on listening comprehension in L2 Spanish. Thirty-one native English-speaking learners enrolled in upper-level Spanish courses were aurally exposed to 8 sentences of each type of speed?length matrix, for a total of 32 sentences in Spanish. Listeners? comprehension was measured through native language recall following each sentence. Generalized estimating equations revealed that sentence length and oral proficiency were both significant predictors of listening comprehension in L2 Spanish, as were speed ? oral proficiency and length ? oral proficiency interactions. While lengthier utterances decreased comprehension, the extent of their influence was impacted by L2 oral proficiency, as measured by a standardized test. High oral proficiency helped to combat the negative effect of lengthier utterances. Moreover, accelerated speech degraded listening comprehension for higher proficiency participants only?not for their lower proficiency counterparts due to the latter's low comprehension scores at both normal and fast rates of sentence delivery. The results are discussed in light of previous empirical studies on listening ability. The current study contributes to the recent exploration of the variables involved in the complex process of L2 listening comprehension, discusses implications for pedagogy and the creation of listening materials, and suggests avenues for future research.

中文翻译：

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L2 西班牙语听力理解：语速、话语长度和 L2 口语能力的作用

本研究探讨了语速（正常与快速）、句子长度（短与长）和第二语言 (L2) 口语能力对 L2 西班牙语听力理解的影响。参加高级西班牙语课程的 31 名母语为英语的学习者在听觉上接触了每种速度 - 长度矩阵的 8 个句子，总共 32 个西班牙语句子。听众？理解是通过每个句子后的母语回忆来衡量的。广义估计方程表明，句子长度和口语能力都是 L2 西班牙语听力理解的重要预测因素，速度也是如此？口语能力和长度？口语能力互动。虽然较长的话语会降低理解力，但其影响程度受 L2 口语能力的影响，通过标准化测试来衡量。较高的口语能力有助于对抗较长话语的负面影响。此外，加速语音只会降低熟练程度较高的参与者的听力理解能力，而不会降低熟练程度较低的参与者的听力理解能力，因为后者在正常和快速的句子传递速度下的理解分数都很低。根据先前关于听力能力的实证研究对结果进行了讨论。目前的研究有助于最近对 L2 听力理解复杂过程中涉及的变量的探索，讨论对教学法和听力材料创作的影响，并为未来的研究提出建议。语音加速只会降低熟练程度较高的参与者的听力理解能力，而不会降低熟练程度较低的参与者的听力理解能力，因为后者在正常和快速的句子传递速度下的理解分数都很低。根据先前关于听力能力的实证研究对结果进行了讨论。目前的研究有助于最近对 L2 听力理解复杂过程中涉及的变量的探索，讨论对教学法和听力材料创作的影响，并为未来的研究提出建议。语音加速只会降低熟练程度较高的参与者的听力理解能力，而不会降低熟练程度较低的参与者的听力理解能力，因为后者在正常和快速的句子传递速度下的理解分数都很低。根据先前关于听力能力的实证研究对结果进行了讨论。目前的研究有助于最近对 L2 听力理解复杂过程中涉及的变量的探索，讨论对教学法和听力材料创作的影响，并为未来的研究提出建议。