Hesitation
A pause or delay in speech, often accompanied by fillers or prolongation of sounds, indicating the speaker is planning their next utterance.
Real World
Research by psycholinguist Herbert Clark found that Barack Obama's spontaneous press conference answers contained significantly more silent pauses than his scripted speeches, clustered before complex policy explanations.
Exam Focus
Note whether hesitations are silent or filled; mark schemes reward this distinction under AO1 accurate terminology.
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