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"Fluency"
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The Relationship Between Utterance and Perceived Fluency: A Meta-Analysis of Correlational Studies
Listener-based judgements of fluency play an important role in second language (L2) communication contexts and in L2 assessment. Accordingly, our meta-analysis examined the relationship between different aspects of utterance fluency and listener-based judgements of perceived fluency by analyzing primary studies reporting correlation coefficients between objective measures of temporal features and subjective ratings of fluency. We analyzed 263 effect sizes from 22 studies (N= 335-746) to calculate the mean effect sizes of the links between utterance and perceived fluency. We also investigated the moderator effects of 11 methodological factors—such as speech stimuli, listeners' background, rating procedure, and computation of utterance fluency measures—on the relationship between utterance and perceived fluency. Perceived fluency was strongly associated with speed and pause frequency, r = |.59-.62|; moderately with pause duration, r = |.46|; and weakly with repair fluency, r = |.20|; while composite measures showed the strongest effect sizes, r = |.72-.76|. Moderator analyses revealed that the utterance-perceived fluency link is influenced by methodological variables related to how speech samples are prepared for listeners' judgements and how listeners' attention is directed in evaluations of fluency. These findings suggest future directions for L2 fluency research and implications for language assessment.
Journal Article
Reading Fluency and College Readiness
The Common Core State Standards suggest that an appropriate goal for secondary education is college and career readiness. Previous research has identified reading fluency as a critical component for proficient reading. One component of fluency is word recognition accuracy and automaticity. The present study attempted to determine the word recognition accuracy and automaticity indicators for incoming college students and to examine the relationship between oral reading rate and ACT scores. Knowledge of such performance may provide secondary literacy educators with another tool for assessing reading proficiency and college readiness. Eighty‐one students were asked to read a college‐level narrative passage. Mean student accuracy and automacity scores were determined, as well as correlations between accuracy, automacity, and students’ ACT scores. Results suggest a moderate and significant relationship between measures of automaticity and both the ACT reading subtest and ACT composite scores.
Journal Article
Developing fluent readers : teaching fluency as a foundational skill
\"Viewing fluency as a bridge between foundational skills and open-ended learning, this book guides teachers through effective instruction and assessment of fluent reading skills in the primary grades. Fluency's relationship to phonological awareness, phonics, and print concepts is explained, and practical methods are shared for integrating fluency instruction in a literacy curriculum grounded in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Classroom examples, weekly lesson plans, and extensive lists of recommended texts add to the book's utility for teachers\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Prosody, Pacing, and Situational Fluency (or Why Fluency Matters for Older Readers)
This commentary challenges the traditional, narrow definition of reading fluency. As part of this reconceptualization, the authors consider the role of stamina, content, and vocabulary in fluent reading. They look at prosody, silent reading, oral reading, and challenging texts (both fiction and informational). Finally, the authors discuss the role that fluency can play in upper grades and how educators can aid its development for older readers.
Journal Article
Aspects of Fluency Across Assessed Levels of Speaking Proficiency
Recent research in second language acquisition suggests that a number of speed, breakdown, repair, and composite measures reliably assess fluency and predict proficiency. However, there is little research evidence to indicate which measures best characterize fluency at each assessed level of proficiency and which can consistently distinguish one level from the next. This study investigated fluency in 32 speakers' performing 4 tasks of the British Council's Aptis Speaking Test, which were awarded 4 different levels of proficiency (Common European Framework of Reference for Language levels A2-C1). Using PRAAT, the performances were analyzed for various aspects of utterance fluency across different levels of proficiency. The results suggest that speed and composite measures consistently distinguish fluency from the lowest to upper-intermediate levels (A2-B2), and many breakdown measures differentiate between the lowest level (A2) and the rest of the proficiency groups, with a few differentiating between lower (A2, B1) and higher levels (B2, C1). The varied use of repair measures at different levels suggests that a more complex process is at play. The findings imply that a detailed micro-analysis of fluency offers a more reliable understanding of the construct and its relationship with assessment of proficiency. (Verlag).
Journal Article
Exploring EFL fluency in Asia
\"While individual teachers interpret fluency differently, most working in EFL agree that it has a considerable influence on the success or failure of students' language learning. In EFL contexts, the absence of fluency-based practice opportunities can lead to low self-confidence, low language learning motivation, and limitations in learners' productive skills. This volume explores fluency in all fours skills (speaking, writing, reading and listening) and through a number of different perspectives to build upon existing research and to expand the fluency discussion to include consideration of classroom strategies for fluency development in EFL contexts. The definition of fluency as a trait of speaking is expanded to encompass all four language skills in an effort to illustrate its importance to all aspects of language learning. This volume includes a mixture of literature review chapters outlining the research paradigm for ongoing fluency research and empirical investigations into fluency development and measurement in the EFL classroom, making it relevant to both researchers and practitioners of EFL\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Math and verbal fluency across adulthood provide insights into aging and individual differences
Life expectancy is increasing, leading to a growing population of older adults. Although cognitive functions decline with age, mathematical functioning in later adulthood has received relatively limited research attention. The present study examined age-related changes in mathematical fluency across all four basic arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) to determine whether aging affects these operations uniformly or whether specific operations show greater vulnerability. We also examined how individual differences contribute to math fluency in older adults, and whether mathematical and verbal fluency show similar patterns of age-related decline. Fifty-two participants (young and older adults) completed math fluency tasks using both an oral test and the Ben-Gurion University Math Fluency test (BGU-MF), a computerized paradigm measuring accuracy and reaction times. Verbal fluency was assessed using semantic and phonological verbal fluency tasks. Results showed that older adults demonstrated lower math fluency in both formats, but operations were not equally affected: division and subtraction showed the largest age differences, while addition was relatively preserved. Among older adults, education emerged as the strongest predictor of performance, while time since retirement negatively predicted accuracy and number of exercises solved. Verbal fluency also declined with age, though to a lesser extent than math fluency, pointing to a broader age-related reduction in fluency abilities alongside a heightened vulnerability of arithmetic processing. Together, these findings suggest that while fluency relies on partially shared domain-general mechanisms, mathematical fluency—particularly in more demanding operations—shows disproportionate age-related sensitivity, with consistent effects observed across computerized and oral math formats.
Journal Article