Skip to main content

Addressing Spoken Fluency in the Classroom

  • Chapter
Exploring EFL Fluency in Asia
  • 753 Accesses

Abstract

Fluency is a central concept in applied linguistics and language learning, but is surprisingly not well understood and ‘is used with a confidence which hardly seems justified in view of the scarcity of accounts governed by anything other than intuition’ (Guillot, 1999, p. vii). It is very often used without definition, sometimes with a definition that lacks a theoretical grounding, and is used to refer to many different interrelated concepts within language. Fluency is a complex phenomenon, and using it as a simple concept on a single continuum from low to high fluency is oversimplified and results in confusion and equivocation when discussing how to address fluency in the classroom. In this chapter, I would like to clarify the concept of fluency, and then discuss what kind of activities can help to address these areas in the classroom.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bavelas, J., Coates, L., & Johnson, T. (2000). Listeners as co-narrators. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(6), 941–952.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bod, R. (1998). Beyond Grammar: An Experience-Based Theory of Language. Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brumfit, C. (1984). Communicative Methodology in Language Teaching: The Roles of Fluency and Accuracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bybee, J. (2006). From usage to grammar: The mind’s response to repetition. Language, 82(4), 711–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bybee, J. (2008). Usage-based grammar and second language acquisition. In P. Robinson & N. C. Ellis (Eds), Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (pp. 216–235). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daelemans, W. & Bosch, A. van den. (2009). Memory-based Language Processing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Bot, K. (1992). A bilingual production model: Levelt’s ‘speaking’ model adapted. Applied Linguistics, 13(1), 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Jong, N. & Perfetti, C. A. (2011). Fluency training in the ESL classroom: An experimental study of fluency development and proceduralization. Language Learning, 61(2), 533–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding, Y. (2007). Text memorization and imitation: The practices of successful Chinese learners of English. System, 35(2), 271–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The Psychology of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ejzenberg, R. (2000). The juggling act of oral fluency: A psycho-sociolinguistic metaphor. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.), Perspectives on Fluency (pp. 287–313). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, N. C. (2002). Frequency effects in language processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 24(02), 143–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eskildsen, S. W. (2009). Constructing another language — usage-based linguistics in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 30(3), 335–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esser, U. (1996). Oral Language Testing: The Concept of Fluency Revisited. Un published master’s dissertation, Lancaster University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiksdal, S. (1990). The Right Time and Pace: A Microanalysis of Cross-Cultural Gatekeeping Interviews. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiksdal, S. (2000). Fluency as a function of time and rapport. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.), Perspectives on Fluency (pp. 128–140). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fillmore, C. (1979). On fluency. In C. Fillmore, D. Kempler, & W. S. Y. Wang (Eds), Individual Differences in Language Ability and Language Behavior (pp. 85–101). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fillmore, C. (2000). On fluency. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.), Perspectives on Fluency (pp. 43–60). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrod, S. & Pickering, M. (2004). Why is conversation so easy? Trends in Cognitive Science, 8(1), 8–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gatbonton, E. & Segalowitz, N. (1988). Creative automatization: Principles for promoting fluency within a communicative framework. TESOL Quarterly, 22(3), 473–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gatbonton, E. & Segalowitz, N. (2005). Rethinking communicative language teaching: A focus on access to fluency. Canadian Modern Language Review, 61(3), 325–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilmore, A. (2007). Authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning. Language Teaching, 40(02), 97–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, A. (2003). Constructions: A new theoretical approach to language. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7(5), 219–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, A., Casenhiser, D., & Sethuraman, N. (2004). Learning argument structure generalizations. Cognitive Linguistics, 15(3), 316, 289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gries, S. T. & Stefanowitsch, A. (2004). Extending collostructional analysis: A corpus-based perspective on ‘alternations’. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 9(1), 97–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gries, S. T. & Wulff, S. (2005). Do foreign language learners also have constructions? Evidence from priming, sorting, and corpora. Annual Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 3, 182–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guillot, M. N. (1999). Fluency and its Teaching. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasselgreen, A. (2005). Testing the Spoken English of Young Norwegians: A Study of Test Validity and the Role of ‘smallwords’ in Contributing to Pupils’ Fluency. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoey, M. (2005). Lexical Priming : A New Theory of Words and Language. London & New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hulstijn, J. (2007). Psycholinguistic perspectives on language and its acquisition. In J. Cummins & C. Davison (Eds), International Handbook of English Language Teaching (pp. 783–795). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, S. (in preparation). Do lower level learners have constructions?

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, S. & Carter, R. (2010). Fluency and spoken English. In M. Moreno Jaén, F. Serrano Valverde, & M. Calzada Pérez (Eds), Exploring New Paths in Language Pedagogy: Lexis and Corpus-based Language Teaching (pp. 25–38). London: Equinox.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koponen, M. & Riggenbach, H. (2000). Overview: Varying perspectives on fluency. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.), Perspectives on Fluency (pp. 5–24). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kormos, J. (2006). Speech Production and Second Language Acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen-Freeman, D. (2009). Adjusting expectations: The study of complexity, accuracy, and fluency in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 579–589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lennon, P. (2000). The lexical element in spoken second language fluency. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.), Perspectives on Fluency (pp. 25–42). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levelt, W. (1989). Speaking: From Intention to Articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levelt, W. (1999). Producing spoken language: A blueprint of the speaker. In C. M. Brown, & P. Hagoort (Eds), The Neurocognition of Language (pp. 83–122). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, M. (2005). Fluency and confluence: What fluent speakers do. The Language Teacher, 29(6), 26–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, M., McCarten, J., & Sandiford, H. (2005). Touchstone. Student’s Book 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millar, N. (2011). The processing of malformed formulaic language. Applied Linguistics, 32(2), 129–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, C. D., Bransford, J. D., & Franks, J. J. (1977). Levels of processing versus transfer appropriate processing. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 16(5), 519–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nation, I. S. P. (1989). Improving speaking fluency. System, 17(3), 377–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nattinger, J. & DeCarrico, J. (1992). Lexical Phrases and Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris, J. M. & Ortega, L. (2009). Towards an organic approach to investigating CAF in instructed SLA: The case of complexity. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 555–578. doi: 10.1093/applin/amp044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Keefe, A., McCarthy, M., & Carter, R. (2007). From Corpus to Classroom: Language Use and Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pawley, A. & Syder, F. (1983). Two puzzles for linguistic theory: Nativelike selection and nativelike fluency. In J. Richards & R. Schmidt (Eds), Language and Communication (pp. 191–226). New York: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pawley, A. & Syder, F. (2000). The one-clause-at-a-time hypothesis. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.), Perspectives on Fluency (pp. 163–199). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossiter, M. J., Derwing, T. M., Manimtim, L. G., & Thomson, R. (2010). Oral fluency: The neglected component in the communicative language classroom. The Canadian Modern Language Review / La revue canadienne des langues vivantes, 66(4), 583–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, N. & Carter, R. (2004). Formulaic sequences in action: An introduction. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), Formulaic Sequences (pp. 1–22). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Segalowitz, N. (2010). Cognitive Bases of Second Language Fluency. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skehan, P. (2003). Task-based instruction. Language Teaching, 36(01), 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skehan, P. (2009). Modelling second language performance: Integrating complexity, accuracy, fluency, and lexis. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 510–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stivers, T., Enfield, N. J., Brown, P., Englert, C., Hayashi, M., Heinemann, T., Hoymann, G., Rossan, F., De Ruiter, J. P., Yoon, K. E., & Levinson, S. C. (2009). Universals and cultural variation in turn-taking in conversation. PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), 106(26), 10587–10592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Street, R. L. (1984). Speech convergence and speech evaluation in fact-finding interviews. Human Communication Research, 11(2), 139–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tao, H. (2003). Turn initiators in spoken English: A corpus-based approach to interaction and grammar. Language and Computers, 46, 187–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • The ‘Five Graces Group’, Beckner, C., Blythe, R., Bybee, J., Christiansen, M. H., Croft, W., Ellis, N. C., Holland, J., Ke, J., Larsen-Freeman, D., & Schoenemann, T. (2009). Language is a complex adaptive system: Position paper. Language Learning, 59 (Issue Supplement s1), 1–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Towell, R., Hawkins, R., & Bazergui, N. (1996). The development of fluency in advanced learners of French. Applied Linguistics, 7(1), 84–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood, G., Schmitt, N., & Galpin, A. (2004). The eyes have it: An eye-movement study into the processing of formulaic sequences. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), Formulaic Sequences (pp. 153–172). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Walker, I. & Utsumi, T. (2006). Memorizing dialogues: The case for ‘performance exercises’. In W. M. Chan, K. N. Chin, & T. Suthiwan (Eds), Foreign Language Teaching in Asia and Beyond: Current Perspectives and Future Directions (pp. 243–269). Singapore: Centre for Language Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wennerstrom, A. (2000). The role of intonation in second language fluency. In H. Riggenbach (Ed.), Perspectives on Fluency (pp. 102–127). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wray, A. (2002). Formulaic Language and the Lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wray, A. (2004). ‘Here’s one I prepared earlier’: Formulaic language learning on television. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), Formulaic Sequences (pp. 249–268). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2014 Steven Kirk

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kirk, S. (2014). Addressing Spoken Fluency in the Classroom. In: Muller, T., Adamson, J., Brown, P.S., Herder, S. (eds) Exploring EFL Fluency in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137449405_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics