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Goals for the week
• Learn a bit about you (the class)• Reflect on and question current beliefs about
the speaking skill• Give you speaking opportunities, in part for
me to become better familiarized with your current speaking ability
Today’s agenda
• Introduction / Course overview• Introduction to course website• Discussion of issues around “fluency”• Your homework
About me
• My interest in the speaking skill?
About this course (details on “ementa”)
• What is the ultimate objective of the course?• What will I learn?• How will I learn? (What is the approach?)• How will I know I know I’ve learned?• How will I be assessed?• How will I be able to apply what I learn (in
“the real world”)?
Our class website
• Website: www.drronmartinez.com• Class calendar – daily schedule, overview of
the semester• Slides and other resources
About you
• Who are you?• An ice breaker...
Are you fluent?
1. Take poll on website.
DISCUSS IN THREES:2. How did you decide on your answer?3. Did you feel your answer was more complex
than provided for by the voting format? In what way?
HOMEWORK FOR WED. AUG. 5
Homework (also on website calendar)
• TODAY: Complete personal survey on www.drronmartinez.com (“Oral IV: About YOU”) – takes about 10 minutes.
• Watch “Friends” clip on website, answer questions. Bring notes to class on Wednesday.
• Record yourself speaking for 2 minutes. Topic idea: Your “bio” and your interests. Send file to [email protected]. (Please do this by Monday next week.)
SIT NEXT TO SOMEONE NEW
TODAY!
Today’s agenda
• Go over questionnaire results, discuss possible implications for the syllabus of this class;
• Critical discussion of what “fluency” means;• Explore what may cause fluency problems,
and what the implications are for teaching and learning.
• Talk about next week.
“I want to sound like a native speaker.”
Ranked Activities PreferencesRank Activity Weighted
average1 Reading about linguistics and other language-related
themes3.85
2 Vocabulary development 3.77
3 (tie) Correction of pronunciation/grammar 3.54
4 Casual conversation 3.08
5 Group discussion 3.00
6 Pair work 2.92
7 Grammar exercises 2.85
8 Formal debate 2.77
9 Speaking tasks that imitate those in high-stakes tests (e.g. TOEFL, IELTS, etc.)
2.54
10 (tie) Presentations – individual/group 2.31
So... question:
• Shall we make this an ongoing theme of the course?
(Optional) What other activities would you like to do in this class?
(Optional) What other suggestion would you like to make for the class?
Rank the likelihood of the following happening sometime in the future
Rank Activity Weighted average
1 Get a master's degree. 4.23
2 (tie) Teach English to adults. / Get a doctorate. 4.08
3 Do research in the area of language and/or language education.
4.00
4 Teach oral skills in English. 3.85
5 Attend professional conferences. 3.54
6 Speak at a professional conference. 3.23
7 Teach English to children. 2.77
What do they mean? Are you fluent in Portuguese?
“Friends” clip
• Would you say that Chandler is "fluent" in the scene? Why (not)?
• What insights into spoken fluency does this clip provide?
3 types of fluency (Segalowitz, 2010)
Cognitive Fluency
Perceived Fluency
Utterance Fluency
• “Cognitive fluency refers to the efficiency of the speaker’s underlying processes responsible for fluency-relevant features of utterances…” (Segalowitz, 2010, p. 50)
• “Utterance fluency refers to the oral features of utterances that reflect the operation of underlying cognitive processes…” (ibid.)
• “Perceived fluency is the fluency that is ascribed by a listener to a speaker, based on impressions drawn from hearing speech samples produced by the speaker” (Segalowitz, 2010, p. 49)
COGNITIVE FLUENCY
UTTERANCEFLUENCY
PERCEIVED FLUENCY
Levelt’s model of speech production
• Conceptualization• Formulation• Articulation• Self-monitoring
• - Levelt, W.J.M. (1989) Speaking: From Intention to Articulation
Part of cognitive fluency
Tarzan (by Gary Larson)
Where did the fluency breakdown occur?
• Conceptualization• Formulation• Articulation• Self-monitoring
• - Levelt, W.J.M. (1989) Speaking: From Intention to Articulation
FORMULATION ARTICULATION
Cognitive Fluency
Utterance Fluency Perceived
Fluency
What causes fluency breakdowns?
• Reflect on both the ‘Friends’ clip and the ‘Tarzan’ comic strip: What inferences about causes of ‘dysfluencies’ in speech can be drawn?
• (Hint: Think about the opposite – situations/occasions in which you are usually quite fluent.)
Do you agree?
Chambers, F. (1997). What do we mean by fluency? System, 25(4), pp. 535-544.
• Main Entry: flu·ent Pronunciation: 'flü-entFunction: adjectiveEtymology: Latin fluent-, fluens, present participle of fluere1 a : capable of flowing : FLUID b : capable of moving with ease and grace <the fluent body of a dancer>2 a : ready or facile in speech <fluent in Spanish> b : effortlessly smooth and rapid : POLISHED <a fluent performance>- flu·ent·ly adverb
• Main Entry: flu·ent Pronunciation: 'flü-&ntFunction: adjectiveEtymology: Latin fluent-, fluens, present participle of fluere1 a : capable of flowing : FLUID b : capable of moving with ease and grace <the fluent body of a dancer>
2 a : ready or facile in speech <fluent in Spanish> b : effortlessly smooth and rapid : POLISHED <a fluent performance>- flu·ent·ly adverb
• Main Entry: ready Pronunciation: 're-dEFunction: adjectiveInflected Form(s): read·i·er; -est1 a : prepared mentally or physically for some experience or action b : prepared for immediate use <dinner is ready>2 : immediately available <had ready cash>
• Main Entry: ready Pronunciation: 're-dEFunction: adjectiveInflected Form(s): read·i·er; -est1 a : prepared mentally or physically for some experience or action b : prepared for immediate use <dinner is ready>2 : immediately available <had ready cash>
Fluency = ‘Readiness’
• Main Entry: ready Pronunciation: 're-dEFunction: adjectiveInflected Form(s): read·i·er; -est1 a : prepared mentally or physically for some experience or action b : prepared for immediate use <dinner is ready>2 : immediately available <had ready cash>
• Main Entry: ready Pronunciation: 're-dEFunction: adjectiveInflected Form(s): read·i·er; -est1 a : prepared mentally or physically for some experience or action b : prepared for immediate use <dinner is ready>2 : immediately available <had ready cash>
Any deficiency in any of these elements may cause dysfluencies.
Your turn!
• Remember that this can also be a vocabulary-building exercise. Don’t be afraid to ‘stretch’!
Summary for Week 1
• It is important to define what ‘fluency’ in spoken language means.
• Fluency is not related to ‘native’-ness.• Fluency is (minimally) broken down into cognitive
fluency, utterance fluency, and perceived fluency. Each of these, in turn, may be influenced by a great number of variables.
• Fluency can be thought of as ‘readiness’, on different levels: mentally/emotionally prepared, knowing what to say and how to say it (‘prepared’ utterances), and having what to say ‘at the ready’ (i.e. automaticity).
HOMEWORK FOR MONDAY (AUG. 10)
Weekend Homework
1. Read Radajurai (2007) article on ‘intelligibility’ (online), answer questions about the article (online), and bring your answers to class on Monday.
2. Watch Jackie Chan clip (online), answer questions (online), and bring notes to class.
