Fluency Summary

Article Fluency written by Tricia Hedge

Summary written by Monica Aimé Ibarra Espinosa

FLUENCY

The term fluency has acquired two rather different meanings in ELT. The first is similar to a typical dictionary entry. For example “fluent” is defined by Chambers Concise Dictionary as “able to speak and write a particular language competently and with ease”.

In this meaning it is normally restricted to language production, and in ELT it is normally reserved for speech. It is the ability to link units of speech together with facility and without strain or inappropriate slowness or undue hesitation.

In this sense, there are a number of definitions which are perfectly valid from the perspective in which oral fluency is viewed.

Filmore (1979) identifies four categories of fluent speakers. The first one is the speaker who speaks fast, that is, who fills time with talk such as a disc jockey. The second speaker, whose speech is coherent, complex, and dense. The third type of fluent speaker is one who knows how to use language appropriately, and in a variety of contexts. The fourth type of fluent speaker controls aesthetic functions of language, being creative and imaginative.

Faerch, Haastrup, and Phillipson (1984) include fluency as a component of communicative competence, and define it as “the speaker’s ability to make use of whatever linguistic and pragmatic competence they have”. They distinguish three types of fluency:

- semantic fluency, i.e. linking together propositions and speech acts (also known as coherence).

- Lexical-syntactic fluency, i.e. linking together syntactic constituents and words,

- Articulatory fluency, i.e. linking together speech segments.

Furthermore, non-fluency in an English language learner is evident in frequent pauses, repetitions, and self corrections.

Another meaning of fluency has developed in relation to the goals of ELT and the nature of classroom activity. Brumfit (1984) argues from a definition of fluency as “natural language use” and defines the aim of fluency activity in the classroom as to “develop a pattern of language interaction within the classroom which is as close as possible to that used by competent performer in the mother tongue in normal life.” He lists a set of criteria necessary for achieving fluency activity..

- The language should be a means to an end, i.e. the focus should be in the meaning and not on the form.

- The content should be determined by the learner who is speaking or writing

- There must be

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