1.

Accuracy and Fluency: Giving each its place JoAnn Miller, Editorial Macmillan
[email_address] www.efltasks.net
2. Fluency The ability to produce written and / or spoken language with ease
Speak with a good but not necessarily perfect command of intonation, vocabulary
and grammar Communicate ideas effectively Produce continuous speech without
causing comprehension difficulties or a breakdown in communication Longman
Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
3. Accuracy Ability to produce grammatically correct sentences May not include
the ability to speak or write fluently. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching
and Applied Linguistics
4. Self-Assessment The amount of emphasis you put on accuracy or fluency
depends on your students Tourism? Translation?
5. Four skills Reading Intensive vs. Extensive Listening Intensive vs. Extensive
Writing Process vs. Free Speaking Planned vs. Spontaneous
6.
7. Reading: Extensive Reading for overall understanding Longer piece of text
Worry less about individual words and sentences Get caught up in flow of ideas
Jim Scrivener, Learning Teaching. Heinemann, 1994, p. 152-3.
8. Reading: Intensive Short sections or sentences When we need to understand
information in detail
9.
10. Listening Intensive vs. Extensive like in reading Intensive listening:
Instructions Extensive listening: A movie A conversation
11.
12. Process Writing Teacher doesnt just assign a writing topic and receive the
finished product for correction with no intervention in the writing process itself.
The process is as (or more) important than the product Students plan, write,
rewrite, edit individually and in groups with teacher supervision Stanley, G.
Approaches to process writing. Teaching English. British Council, BBC.
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/write/process_write.shtml
13. Freewriting Not just for brainstorming Practice for decreasing students
inhibitions about writing Allow them to increase written fluency Reassure
students continually that whatever they write is OK BUT must keep writing..write
as much as possible Gretchen Jude (1999). Freewriting for fun and fluency.
http://langue.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/99/jul/sh_jude.html
14. Now you try it. Theme: The best class I ever had Rules: Dont erase Dont
stop writing
15.

16. Speaking Fluency: concerns the learners capacity to produce language in

real time without undue pausing or hesitation. Accuracy: how well language is
produced in relation to the rule system of the target language. Peter Skehan,
Second language acquisition research and task-based instruction, Challenge
and Change in Language Teaching, J. Willis and D. Willis, ed. Heinemann, 1996. P.
22.
17. Task-based methods Recommend fluency activities first Then follow up with
accuracy activities
18. Accuracy in Tasks Whenever learners are involved in communication they are
concerned with accuracy In spontaneous communication -- little time to reflect
on the language they produce. If given time to prepare, there will be more
accuracy Dave Willis, Accuracy, fluency and conformity Challenge and Change
in Language Teaching, J. Willis and D. Willis, ed. Heinemann, 1996. P. 50.
19. Fluency in Tasks need opportunities to process language for communicative
purposes as receivers and producers. should be unfettered by the perceived need
to conform to teacher expectations in terms of the production of specific
language forms. Dave Willis, Accuracy, fluency and conformity Challenge and
Change in Language Teaching, J. Willis and D. Willis, ed. Heinemann, 1996. P. 50
20.
21. The Task Cycle: Task (Fluency) Pairs or groups. use any language they have to
express themselves and say what they want to say. T walks around and monitors
helps Ss formulate what they want to say, but doesnt correct errors in form
Emphasis on spontaneous, exploratory talk and confidence building in small
group. Success helps Ss motivation.
22. The Task Cycle: Planning / Reporting (Accuracy) Planning Ss draft and
rehearse what they want to say or write. T helps advising Ss. Emphasis on clarity,
organization and accuracy Reporting : T asks some pairs to report briefly to whole
class so everyone can compare findings--or begin a survey T chairs, comments
on content, rephrases but gives no public correction
23. Now you do it In pairs, tell your partner about your worst teaching
experience Now, write your experience Change partners and tell the story again
How did it change?
24. So, what to do in class Reading: Encourage students to do free reading of
longer passages (fluency) as well as in class exercises (usually accuracy)
Listening Encourage students to watch movies and listen to songs in English
(fluency) as well as class practices (accuracy)
25. Writing Include freewriting (fluency) daily or weekly for a few minutes
Speaking Follow a task cycle
26. Thank you very much. JoAnn Miller [email_address] Handout available at:
www.efltasks.net