Fluency refers to how well a learner communicates meaning rather than how many mistakes they make in grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary.

Fluency is often compared with accuracy, which is concerned with the type, amount and seriousness of mistakes made.

Example:
A learner might be fluent (make their meaning clear) but not accurate (make a lot of mistakes).

In the classroom:
Activities that help to develop fluency focus on communication, for example discussions, speaking games, presentations, task work such as projects and e-mailing.

Further links:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/teaching-speaking-unit-9-fluency

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/fluency-activities-lower-levels

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/fluency-activities-higher-levels

Comments

Submitted by Ligia León on Thu, 07/18/2024 - 21:40

It is more important to focus in the communication itself more than the errors students make while comunicating.

Submitted by Kiddo22 on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 21:19

From what I understood, teachers must let students speak freely in order to develop fluency given the fact that the message being transmitted is more important than the accuracy of the message itself, but my question is What happens when students make mistakes and teachers don´t correct them and so students think they are speaking accurately? Is there a moment of mistakes´ corrections?

Submitted by Sherif on Sat, 06/17/2023 - 16:01

Fluency is an important aspect of language proficiency as it reflects a higher level of command over a language. Achieving fluency requires practice, exposure to the language, and ongoing development of language skills through immersion, conversation, reading, and writing.

Submitted by ZAFAR SIDDIQUE on Sun, 04/30/2023 - 16:06

It is true that language teachers usually mistake fluency for accuracy and perhaps that is the reason why they do not allow their students to move on without correcting each mistake they make. The idea to let the students speak and to refrain from correcting mistakes too often is really great.

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