Is Fluency Being 'Neglected' in the Classroom? Teacher Understanding of Fluency and Related Classroom Practices

Autor/inn/en	Tavakoli, Parvaneh; Hunter, Ann-Marie
Titel	Is Fluency Being 'Neglected' in the Classroom? Teacher Understanding of Fluency and Related Classroom Practices
Quelle	In: Language Teaching Research, 22 (2018) 3, S.330-349 (20 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1362-1688
DOI	10.1177/1362168817708462
Schlagwörter	Language Fluency; Classroom Techniques; Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Oral Language; Teaching Methods; Teacher Attitudes; Foreign Countries; Qualitative Research; Statistical Analysis; Correlation; Language Teachers; Questionnaires; United Kingdom (England) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz; Klassenführung; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Oral interpretation; Mündlicher Sprachgebrauch; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Lehrerverhalten; Ausland; Qualitative Forschung; Statistische Analyse; Korrelation; Language teacher; Sprachunterricht; Fragebogen
Abstract	This article reports on a study examining second language (L2) teachers' understanding of speech fluency and their self-reported classroom practices for promoting it. Qualitative and quantitative data collected from 84 L2 teachers in England were analysed to answer the research questions. In addition to the descriptive statistics and lexical frequency analysis used to explore teacher understanding of fluency, Rossiter, Derwing, Manimtim and Thomson's (2010) framework was employed to analyse the teachers' reported classroom practices. The results suggest that teachers often define fluency in a broad sense, with many using fluency and speaking ability interchangeably. Similarly, a large majority of the activities reported by the teachers were useful for enhancing speaking practice rather than focusing on fluency specifically. The findings underline the interaction between teacher understanding and their methodology (Borg, 2003), and highlight a mismatch between what fluency research recommends and what teachers do in class. Though the study highlights the complex and multifaceted nature of L2 oral fluency, we argue that adopting a narrower understanding could help teachers take a more active and practical approach to promoting fluency in the classroom. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01