--- Forwarded Message from [log in to unmask] (Gordon Hartig) ---

>Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 09:42:24 -0500
>Subject: WPM Across Languages
>To: [log in to unmask]
>From: [log in to unmask] (Gordon Hartig)

I don't know of wpm studies on newcasts, but if you look to the
advertising industry you will find studies indicating that speeding up the
recorded message ever so slightly sells more products because
viewers/listeners perceive those peddling the product to be more energetic
and, consequently,  more credible.  I also remember a study from my days
in grad school that compared the speed of spoken American English in
various parts of the country, with people in the northern and eastern
areas speaking more quickly than those in the south and west. Could you
maybe get some ideas from these sources that would apply to Russian
newscasts?  If not, maybe the studies will prove useful for the Hickbonics
debate.  (BTW, my native language is Southern Hoosier.)

Gordon Hartig
Language Lab Coordinator
Middlesex Community College
33 Kearney Square
Lowell MA  01852
(978) 656-3358

>--- Forwarded Message from Ursula Williams <[log in to unmask]> ---
>
>>Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 14:29:53 -0500
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>From: Ursula Williams <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: words per minute measure?
>
>Hi fellow LLTIers. In my continuing quest to get the Weird Question Award
>for 1999, and fully aware that time is running out, I present:
>
>Is there a way to get word-per minute ratings across languages? Obviously
>one could use a tape, a transcript, and a stopwatch. But let me explain. I
>have a colleague who wants to include in a forthcoming book the idea that
>Russian newscasts now proceed at a faster wpm rate than before, and
>possibly faster than American ones. There is evidence that Russian
>broadcasters actually set this as a goal. When we discussed it, it
>occurred
>to me that wpm may not be an accurate measure, as "a" would count as much
>as "Perestroika".  Really it might be a question of syntactical units, I
>figured. I know this is kinda "fringy" for the usual concerns in this
>forum, but is anyone aware of studies that venture into this area?
>
>One thing interesting about this is the psychological effect of a newscast
>hurtling along at breakneck speed. I bet it induces a lot of anxiety.
>
>Ursula
>
>PS: Please be assured, that, even though Robert Lavelle informed me this
>morning that I would be eating my neighbors in less than a month, I have
>no
>such plans.
>
>