Does it exist? The post got me thinking about what we mean when we talk about fluency in a language, and the slight differences in definition between what the layperson and EFL teachers mean when they say someone is fluent. This includes the ability to understand films, television programmes, newspapers, stand-up comedians, which undeniably also requires a certain level of cultural competence.
This of course comes with the assumption that one is learning the language so as to communicate mainly with native speakers of the language, and assimilate into the native speaker culture. For more about this, see this blogpost about teaching English versus teaching English culture. The English Language Teaching a. ELT world. One could speak fluently smoothly without pauses but be extremely inaccurate, making lots of grammatical or lexical mistakes throughout. In a typical English proficiency test like IELTS, the speaking part sees candidates being marked on their fluency separate from their accuracy.
According to the British Council Learn English webpage , being fluent means you speak easily, quickly and with no pauses. It is perhaps a little odd to suggest that a person who speaks a language well does so without pausing. After all, natural pauses occur in our daily conversations for several reasons: the speaker is thinking about what they are saying; the speaker is thinking about how they are saying it in order to best achieve their communicative aims; the speaker is using an intended pause to create effect a dramatic beat, an emotional moment, a moment of suspense, etc.
But seeing that we are evaluating foreign language learners, we seem to be only penalising pauses that are taken to formulate an accurate sentence. We have all met language learners who are so concerned about formulating the most accurate sentences in their heads that we end up waiting all day for just one sentence to be uttered.
Was that a dramatic beat or did the speaker pause to formulate the present perfect in that sentence? Where does accent stop and fluency begin?
What does fluency mean? What does dialect mean? Word of the day. Redefine your inbox with Dictionary. B2 When a language is fluent, it is spoken easily and without many pauses :. He speaks fluent Chinese. She's fluent in French and English and has a working knowledge of Spanish.
She was born in Italy but her English is fluent and idiomatic. I can make myself understood in French , but I'm not fluent. My partner is a fluent Russian speaker. He knows quite a lot of French , but he's not fluent yet. Talkative and eloquent. You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics: Ways of speaking. The dancers are fluent and poetic in their movement. Arsenal were no match for Barcelona's fluent passing. Ali had such fluent movement and was so light-footed for such a big man.
He swept the books into his bag in a single fluent gesture. The team scored after a fluent move down the left wing.
Although there were a few wrong notes , her playing was beautifully fluent. Moving quickly. You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics: Attractive.
Related words fluency. She was fluent in French by the time she was five. This job requires fluency in two or more African languages. Need even more definitions? Just between us: it's complicated. Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". Literally How to use a word that literally drives some pe Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice? The awkward case of 'his or her'. Take the quiz.
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