Data Collection and Annotation of Relatively Spontaneous Utterances by Japanese Learners of English

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We collected relatively spontaneous utterances during group activities among first-year students in a Japanese university over 30 weeks / class sessions throughout the academic years. Each student took Versant English Test, an automated test of spoken English delivered over the phone, four times within the academic year, namely in April, July, October and January, so we can verify any longitudinal changes of the students' proficiency in speaking and listening. The data collected showed a number of interesting interactional phenomena that had not previously been fully recognized. As the data collection was conducted in a relatively uniform fashion over a total period of eight years, including the three years in a preceding project, we can fathom the annual changes of English fluency among the first-year students in this particular university.