Speech Rate in Adult Syrian Arabic Speakers: Preliminary Data.

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Title: Speech Rate in Adult Syrian Arabic Speakers: Preliminary Data.
Authors: Marie, Basem1, AlSwaiti, Fadi2, Ghanem, Ahmad3, Suliman, Jafar4, Natour, Yaser S.5
Source: Journal of Language Teaching & Research. Jan2026, Vol. 17 Issue 1, p12-21. 10p.
Subject Terms: *Conversation, Gender differences (Sociology), Syrians, Speech, Descriptive statistics, Arabic language
Abstract: Research studying the speech rate in the Arabic population is scarce. This study aimed to establish a preliminary normative speech rate of Syrian Arabic speakers and identify speech rate differences between females and males within the Syrian population. Sixty-five Syrian Arabic-speaking adults (33 females and 32 males) were recruited from Syrian universities. Data collection was performed in the speech clinics within the universities. Approximately 10-minute conversational speech and reading samples were taken from each participant. Speaking rate during conversational speech and reading tasks and articulation rate were measured in terms of words per minute (WPM) and syllables per minute (SPM). Additionally, the duration of silent intervals and pauses was measured. The normative speech rate results for Syrian Arabic speakers for speaking and reading indicate that female speakers exhibited significantly higher rates in reading tasks but reveal no significant difference between females and males in conversational speech tasks. On the contrary, silent intervals and pauses were significantly higher in males than females in reading tasks but not in spontaneous tasks. Speech rate therefore varies depending on the task and gender in the normal population. As speech rates may be vastly different between languages and even dialects of a specific language, further studies may be needed to identify the normal speech rate in other Arabic dialects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Language Teaching & Research is the property of Academy Publication Co., LTD and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Speech Rate in Adult Syrian Arabic Speakers: Preliminary Data.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Language+Teaching+%26+Research%22">Journal of Language Teaching & Research</searchLink>. Jan2026, Vol. 17 Issue 1, p12-21. 10p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Conversation%22">Conversation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+differences+%28Sociology%29%22">Gender differences (Sociology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Syrians%22">Syrians</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Speech%22">Speech</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Arabic+language%22">Arabic language</searchLink>
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  Data: Research studying the speech rate in the Arabic population is scarce. This study aimed to establish a preliminary normative speech rate of Syrian Arabic speakers and identify speech rate differences between females and males within the Syrian population. Sixty-five Syrian Arabic-speaking adults (33 females and 32 males) were recruited from Syrian universities. Data collection was performed in the speech clinics within the universities. Approximately 10-minute conversational speech and reading samples were taken from each participant. Speaking rate during conversational speech and reading tasks and articulation rate were measured in terms of words per minute (WPM) and syllables per minute (SPM). Additionally, the duration of silent intervals and pauses was measured. The normative speech rate results for Syrian Arabic speakers for speaking and reading indicate that female speakers exhibited significantly higher rates in reading tasks but reveal no significant difference between females and males in conversational speech tasks. On the contrary, silent intervals and pauses were significantly higher in males than females in reading tasks but not in spontaneous tasks. Speech rate therefore varies depending on the task and gender in the normal population. As speech rates may be vastly different between languages and even dialects of a specific language, further studies may be needed to identify the normal speech rate in other Arabic dialects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Language Teaching & Research is the property of Academy Publication Co., LTD and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.17507/jltr.1701.02
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 10
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      – SubjectFull: Conversation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Gender differences (Sociology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Syrians
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Speech
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Arabic language
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Speech Rate in Adult Syrian Arabic Speakers: Preliminary Data.
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            NameFull: Marie, Basem
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            NameFull: Ghanem, Ahmad
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              Text: Jan2026
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              Y: 2026
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