Skip to search boxSkip to navigationSkip to main content

Aspects of fluency across assessed levels of speaking proficiency

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Open access

Abstract

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 four tasks of the British Council’s Aptis Speaking test, which were awarded four different levels of proficiency (CEFR A2-C1). Using PRAAT, the performances were analysed 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 suggest 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.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Modern Language Journal (Volume 104, Issue 1)

Publication milestones

  • Accepted/In press - 05/07/2019
  • Published - 25/01/2020

Publication status

Published - 25/01/2020

ISSN

0026-7902

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/623352
  • Scopus: 85078664407

Access to documents

Publication metrics

Metrics

Download statistics
Download count
5