What and Why?
Many language learning tasks focus on accuracy. These are often 'closed' exercises in which there is only one correct answer. Fluency tasks, on the other hand, are more open. They encourage the learners to take risks and be more creative with the language because there is no 'right' or 'wrong' answer (see open ended tasks). At lower language levels, language teaching has traditionally emphasised accuracy, believing that fluency comes once the grammar has been mastered. In CES, however, both accuracy and fluency are emphasised right from the beginning. Developing fluency is important in building up the student's confidence and maintaining a sense of achievement in being able to say something meaningful. Many students also learn more naturally through tasks which focus on using the language, rather than learning about the language. The Topic units, Activity units and Culture Matters units in the student's book all aim at developing fluency. The Language Focus units, Revision and Evaluation units and exercises in the workbook aim at developing accuracy. In all four skills, confidence and fluency are linked and make the students more receptive to learning. Confidence and fluency in reading and listening help students to deal with language without feeling the need to understand every word, encourages them to guess new words, and enables them to understand main message, including the speaker/writers attitude. Confidence and fluency in writing and speaking allow students to get their ideas across without being restricted by an over-concern with form.
Practical ideas
- There are numerous fluency activities throughout CES. Compare, for example, the exercises in an Activity unit with the accuracy exercises in a Language Focus unit.
- In fluency exercises, the focus in on developing and expressing ideas. There is nothing wrong with correcting language errors as they arise, but don't let this stop the main focus. Make a note of significant language errors and return to them later.
- There is only one way to becoming fluent and accurate at the same time: through using the language to express/understand ideas. This takes time, so you will need to expect and tolerate language errors as students develop this ability.
- In fluency focussed exercises, try to react to what the students say, not how they say it. For example, if you are marking their written work, you can add something about what you think about what they have said, your opinion on the topic, and so on.
Researching the Classrooom
- Where possible, keep a record of what the students have produced in a fluency exercise (e.g. written work or a recording of a role play or discussion). Compare it with what they produce some weeks or months later to get an idea of their development.
- Language errors or a lack of fluency may be caused by the situation in which the students are working. Record some class discussions and some small group work and compare what happened. Are students more fluent and/or accurate when they are talking about particular topics? Is the size of the group important? Is small group work more effective for developing fluency?
- Make a note of the errors that you correct and notice when and how those errors come up again. Many teachers say that students make the same mistakes time and time again because the students don't think before they speak/write. In truth, they are thinking about something else. What is it? Is the message more important to the students?
- Experiment with providing different levels of control and support over what the students speak/write. Do students produce more or less when a topic is left very open and language is not controlled? Try out different open-ended and closed exercises and compare the results.
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