Fluency training: Is this just another way of saying speaking practice?
Introduction
For learners of English as a second language having to navigate the professional settings where English is the lingua franca, ultimately the goal is to become “fluent”.
But what constitutes “fluency? Is this just another way of saying you can speak confidently in English?
Fluency in a language is often thought of in terms of “mastery” or “proficiency”: i.e., using correct grammar, having a broad vocabulary, speaking confidently and communicating your message accurately. In the broadest sense, these are all markers of fluency in English.
However, considerable research has been carried out to identify specific markers of fluency in English that go beyond just speaking confidently. In research terms, fluency is seen as flow, continuity, automaticity, or smoothness of speech. Therefore, fluency also looks at a range of factors such as:
how easily a speaker produces the different sounds in English (particularly those not found in that person’s first language);
pauses, hesitations, filled pauses (“ers”,”um” and other voiced filler sounds), self-correction, repetitions, false starts, etc. Of course, these markers can be found in first-language speech. In second language speech, particularly at the beginner levels, these are more dominant.
whether typical chunks of speech are correctly used and understood, e.g., polite turn-taking phrases (that’s an interesting point… I can see that …) or phrases that buy time to process what you would like to say (I see what you mean…);
Notably, fluency research has also looked at evidence-based proposals as to how to translate this research to second-language teaching practice, and how technology can assist the learning process.
Evidenced-based language instruction
Second-language fluency research has reported consistent positive improvement in fluency using the following teaching techniques:
Explicit instruction in the use of “formulaic sequences.”
The term “formulaic sequences” is a broad concept from second language acquisition (“SLA) research, which covers a diverse range of single words, set phrases, idioms, and other word sequences, where the meaning might not necessarily be gained from knowing each word. By way of example, in my early years of learning German, a friend from Northern Germany walked up to me with a huge smile on her face and said “Naaaaah”. I had no idea what to say next. She recognised my confusion, laughed and explained that this was just a friendly way to preface saying hello in German.
Formulaic sequences can be idioms (“at the drop of a hat”), self-evident phrases (“my point here is …”), short word chunks (“oh no!”) or functional phrases (“I’m just looking” in a shop to indicate to a shop assistant to leave you alone to browse).
Formulaic sequences are pervasive in spoken and written English. A study of academic discourse in English found over 50% of spoken and written text of native speakers constituted formulaic sequences.
So, knowledge of formulaic sequences is not only beneficial for efficient speech but also essential to understanding native and highly proficient English speakers and expressing yourself appropriately in your specialist area at work.
Pre-task planning time
A large number of studies have reported that fluency is positively affected when learners are allowed to plan before they perform a task. The benefits of pre-task planning can be enhanced by manipulating the length of time and by training learners on how to use the planning time.
Task repetition
The effects of repeating a communicative task have been found to increase fluency. Although task design and methodology, as well as the task itself, have varied considerably between studies, fluency has consistently been found to improve when the same task is repeated.
Some online language programs on the market have even implemented the concept of spaced repetition. Spaced repetition is a memory technique that involves reviewing information at certain time intervals until comprehension checks demonstrate that the information can be recalled.
The 4/3/2 technique
The 4/3/2 technique refers to a classroom activity that involves task repetition with increasing time pressure, i.e., learners are required to speak on a chosen topic for four, then three, and finally two minutes.
Awareness-raising activities
Although less research has been carried out examining the effects of awareness-raising on a learner’s fluency, the existing evidence suggests that raising learner awareness about the characteristics of fluent speech (e.g., by listening to and commenting on native speakers’ performance of a task) can help promote fluency. Awareness-raising activities can be complemented by strategy training, i.e., training learners to use filled pauses and word chunking.
Technology used to supplement explicit instruction
Traditional sources of on-demand English are, of course, movies, streaming services such as Netflix, social media, podcasts, etc. Most services now offer captioning to enable the viewer to read as well as listen to spoken text.
Another popular on-demand resource is YouGlish (https://youglish.com/). This app searches a curated collection of YouTube sources (often TedTalks) to bring up videos that use the searched term in context. Helpfully, the app also uses captioning, so that the user can read along with the spoken words.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is certainly disrupting the language learning world. AI apps are proliferating, making it easier to build confidence in English.
Here are some of the ways AI-powered tools are supporting language learning:
Transcription
Almost instant text captioning of video or audio is a feature that is now widely available. Think of subtitles in a movie. Typically, users can also save and file audio files, and annotate these with notes.
There are many transcription apps on the market. Glean (here) is an example that is marketed to foreign students who have to understand university lectures in English. Glean also works across devices and in a variety of formats, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc. enabling users to read the text as it is spoken.
Translation
Instant translation between multiple languages is also a common feature now. Google Translate and Deepl are widely used AI-powered translation apps. In Google Translate, users can even input images or voice recordings for translation.
Language correction and writing assistance
Grammar, spelling, punctuation and style checks are functions in specialist tools such as Grammarly or Deepl and even in the default settings of Microsoft. Alternatives also include Ginger (here) and White Smoke (here).
AI-powered tools are extending these functions to provide the rewriting of texts in a selected tone (friendly, professional, academic, etc.), summarising or paraphrasing a given text, or even generation of text from a specific written prompt.
Take for example Chat GP (https://chat.openai.com/), which generates text using a defined tone based on the information used in the prompt. Below is an example I generated:
Quillbot (here) is an example of a tool that summarises or paraphrases a text.
Voice recognition and voice assistants
Many users are turning to interactive chatbots (which mimic native speech) to practice English.
If you want to test your pronunciation, you could see if either Siri or Alexa does what you say.
Google Bard is a new AI conversation tool. It has a voice setting (the loudspeaker button), enabling it to listen to spoken speech and to voice an AI-generated response. The voice can even be adjusted to a number of authentic regional accents, including Australian. Here is an example I generated:
In conclusion, linguistic research shows that fluency can improve from explicit instruction involving a high level of explicit feedback and explanations. Even highly proficient non-native speakers of English can benefit from explicit native-speaker instruction on pronunciation, intonation patterns, and word choice when speaking English. Outside of this, technology, in particular, the new AI-powered tools can also support language learning.