Pauses play a crucial role in spoken communication by regulating delivery, supporting comprehension, and conveying communicative intent. For learners of English as a foreign language (EFL), however, the effective use of pauses remains challenging and may vary according to linguistic background, proficiency, and task demands. Although previous studies have examined pausing in L2 speech, most have focused on a limited range of pause features, a single speech type, or either production or perception alone. As a result, it remains unclear how pausing operates across different speech contexts and speaker groups, how it is perceived by listeners, and which pausing features are associated with more highly rated speech performances. To address these gaps, this study adopts an integrated theoretical framework combining temporal models of L2 fluency, psycholinguistic models of speech production, and perceptual models of speech evaluation. Within this framework, pausing is conceptualised not only as a measurable temporal feature of fluency, but also as an indicator of underlying cognitive processing and as a communicative cue that shapes listener perception. The study investigates pausing in three English speech types—readout, prepared, and impromptu—produced by adult Mandarin-speaking Chinese EFL learners and English native speakers (ENSs). Specifically, it examines: (1) how pause frequency and duration vary across speech types and speaker groups according to pause type (silent vs filled; juncture vs non-juncture) and pause distribution; (2) how raters perceive overall speech quality and pausing behaviour in speeches produced by Chinese EFL learners; and (3) which pausing features distinguish higher-rated from lower-rated speeches. Thirty participants took part in the study. Twenty speakers (10 ENSs and 10 Mandarin-speaking Chinese EFL learners) each produced nine speeches, three in each speech type, generating a corpus of 180 speeches. To 3 investigate perception, 90 speeches produced by the Chinese EFL learners were evaluated by 10 raters, including five native English speakers and five Chinese non-native speakers. Based on the ratings, the speeches were categorised into high-, medium-, and low-rated groups. Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine how pause frequency and duration varied across speech types, speaker groups, pause types, and distributional positions. The findings showed that Chinese EFL speakers paused more frequently and for longer durations than native speakers, particularly in impromptu speech, where pause frequency was substantially higher. They also produced more non-juncture pauses, especially within phrases and after conjunctions, suggesting greater difficulty in online planning and formulation. By contrast, readout and prepared speech showed fewer between-group differences. In terms of duration, significant group differences emerged mainly in impromptu speech, where Chinese EFL speakers produced longer pauses across pause distributional categories. Rater judgments revealed a strong relationship between perceptions of pausing and overall speech quality, indicating that pause use is closely associated with listeners’ evaluations of speech performance. Prepared speeches received the most favourable ratings, followed by readout speeches, while impromptu speeches were rated lowest. Comparisons between high- and low-rated speeches showed that lower-rated performances were characterised by longer pauses, particularly at non-juncture positions. Pauses at major syntactic boundaries did not clearly distinguish rating levels, whereas pauses in mid-unit positions, especially between and within phrases, were more strongly associated with lower perceived speech quality. Overall, the findings demonstrate that pausing is shaped by both speech type and speaker background, highlighting its dynamic and context-dependent nature in L2 speech. The study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of pausing as a multidimensional phenomenon and offers pedagogical implications for helping EFL learners develop more effective pausing patterns to enhance speech naturalness, fluency, and comprehensibility.
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