Definitions of Fluency from Fulcher (2003) and Richards, et al (1992)
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If a student speaks accurately, he or she is capable of constructing sentences and longer stretches of language that follow acceptable rules of usage. It is relatively easy to point to examples of good and poor usage. The concept of fluency is much more fluid than this, and we must try to establish some speech phenomena that we could say are markers of fluency or disfluency (see Fulcher, 1996b). We could point to the following as phenomena that we may wish to consider as helping to define what we mean by ‘fluency’ (or lack of fluency):
Hesitations consisting of pauses, which can be unfilled (silence) or filled (with noises like ‘erm’).
Repeating syllables or words.
Changing words.
Correcting the use of cohesive devices, particularly pronouns.
Beginning in such a way that the grammar predicts what comes next, but the speaker changes the structure of the utterance part way through (2003, p. 30).
[in Fulcher, G. (2003). Testing Second Language Speaking, Harlow: Pearson.]
fluency – the features which give speech the qualities of being natural and normal, including native-like use of PAUSING, rhythm, INTONATION, STRESS, rate of speaking, and use of interjections and interruptions. If speech disorders cause a breakdown in normal speech (e.g. As with ASPHASIA or stuttering), the resulting speech may be referred to as dysfluent, or as an example of dysfluency.
In second and foreign language teaching, fluency describes a level of proficiency in communication, which includes:
a. the ability to produce written and/or spoken language with ease
b. the ability to speak with a good but not necessarily perfect command of intonation, vocabulary, and grammar
c. the ability to communicate ideas effectively
d. the ability to produce continuous speech without causing comprehension difficulties or a breakdown of communication (Richards, et al., 1992, pp. 141-142).
[Richards, J.C., Platt, J., and Platt, H. (1992). Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. Harlow: Longman.]
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