Overview : Varying perspectives on fluency / Matti Koponen and Heidi Riggenbach -- The lexical element in spoken second language fluency / Paul Lennon -- On fluency / Charles J. Fillmore -- Accuracy and fluency : the basic polarity / Christopher Brumfit -- Speech fluency and aphasia / Robert C. Marshall -- Nonverbal aspects of fluency / Janet Beavin Bavelas -- The role of intonation in second language fluency / Ann Wennerstrom -- Fluency as a function of time and rapport / Susan Fiksdal -- Cultural fluency, marginality, and the sense of self / Dawn Doutrich -- The one-clause-at-a-time hypothesis / Andrew Pawley and Frances Hodgetts Syder -- Automaticity and attentional skill in fluent performance / Norman Segalowitz -- The importance of recurrent sequences for nonnative speaker fluency and cognition / Nancy Oppenheim -- Is fluency, like beauty, in the eyes (and ears) of the beholder? / Barbara F. Freed -- Fluency levels and the organization of conversation in nonnative Spanish speakers' speech / Esperanza Morales-López -- The juggling act of oral fluency : a psycho-sociolinguistic metaphor / Roseli Ejzenberg.
This interdisciplinary book brings together a selection of theoretical and empirical approaches to second language (L2) fluency. The volume includes chapters approaching fluency from an SLA perspective and integrates perspectives from related fields, such as psycholinguistics, sign language studies and L2 assessment.
All teachers know helping students become fluent in reading and writing involves more than measuring reading rates. Max and Gayle Brand have worked together with students and colleagues over many years to discover the most effective whole-class, small-group, and individual strategies and activities for building both reading and writing fluency. They link all this work to the most current research on fluency, taking readers into the daily routines of their classrooms. Readers will be reassured by the many suggestions for integrating fluency into existing reading and writing workshop routines.
An indispensable resource for classroom teachers and teacher educators alike, the reader-friendly text offers a range of expert perspectives on the key aspects of fluency.
Overview : Varying perspectives on fluency / Matti Koponen and Heidi Riggenbach -- The lexical element in spoken second language fluency / Paul Lennon -- On fluency / Charles J. Fillmore -- Accuracy and fluency : the basic polarity / Christopher Brumfit -- Speech fluency and aphasia / Robert C. Marshall -- Nonverbal aspects of fluency / Janet Beavin Bavelas -- The role of intonation in second language fluency / Ann Wennerstrom -- Fluency as a function of time and rapport / Susan Fiksdal -- Cultural fluency, marginality, and the sense of self / Dawn Doutrich -- The one-clause-at-a-time hypothesis / Andrew Pawley and Frances Hodgetts Syder -- Automaticity and attentional skill in fluent performance / Norman Segalowitz -- The importance of recurrent sequences for nonnative speaker fluency and cognition / Nancy Oppenheim -- Is fluency, like beauty, in the eyes (and ears) of the beholder? / Barbara F. Freed -- Fluency levels and the organization of conversation in nonnative Spanish speakers' speech / Esperanza Morales-López -- The juggling act of oral fluency : a psycho-sociolinguistic metaphor / Roseli Ejzenberg.
Second language (L2) fluency is an exciting and fast-moving field of research, with clear practical applications in language teaching. This book provides a lively overview of the current advances in the field of L2 fluency, and connects the theory to practice, presenting a hands-on approach to using fluency research across a range of different language-related professions. The authors introduce an innovative multidisciplinary perspective, which brings together research into cognitive and social factors, to understand fluency as a dynamic variable in language performance, connecting learner-internal factors such as speech processing and automaticity, to external factors such as task demands, language testing, and pragmatic interactional demands in communication. Bringing a much-needed multidisciplinary and novel approach to understanding the complex nature of L2 speech fluency, this book provides researchers, students and language professionals with both the theoretical insights and practical tools required to understand and research how fluency in a second language develops.
This is the first book to examine in-depth the crucial role of the speed of information processing in the brain in determining reading fluency in both normal and dyslexic readers. Part I explains fluency in reading from both traditional and modern perspectives. Fluency has historically been viewed as the outcome of other reading-related factors and has often been seen as a convenient measure of reading skills. This book, however, argues that fluency has a strong impact on other aspects of reading and plays a central role in the entire reading process. Part II deals with the determinants of reading fluency. Chief among these is the speed of information processing in the brain. Using both behavioral and electrophysiological evidence, the book systematically examines the features of processing speed in the various brain systems involved in reading: visual-orthographic, auditory-phonological, and semantic and shows how speed of processing affects fluency in reading. Part III deals with the complex issues of cross-modal integration and specifically with the need for effective synchronization of the brain processes involved in reading. It puts forward the Synchronization Hypothesis and discusses the role of the Asynchrony Phenomenon as a major factor in dyslexia. Finally, it summarizes research on manipulating reading rate by means of the Acceleration method, providing evidence for a possible intervention aimed at reducing Asynchrony. Key features of this outstanding new book include: *Expanded View of Fluency. Reading fluency is seen as both a dependent and an independent Variable. Currently available books focus on reading rate solely as the outcome of other factors whereas this volume stresses that it is both an outcome and a cause. *Information Processing Focus. Fluency itself is determined to a large extent by a more general factor, namely, speed of processing in the brain. The book presents wide-ranging evidence for individual differences in speed of processing across many subpopulations. *Brain Synchronization Focus. The book posits a new theory arguing that effective reading requires synchronization of the different brain systems: visual orthographic, auditory-phonological, and semantic. *Research-Based Interventions. Interventions to enhance fluency and, thereby, reading skills in general are presented in detail. *Author Expertise. Zvia Breznitz is Head of the Department of Learning Disabilities and Director of the Laboratory for Neurocognitive Research at Haifa University in Israel, where she has been researching this topic for over a decade. This book is appropriate for researchers and advanced students in reading, dyslexia, learning disabilities, cognitive psychology, and neuropsychology.
Reading fluency has been identified as a key component of proficient reading. Research has consistently demonstrated significant and substantial correlations between reading fluency and overall reading achievement. Despite the great potential for fluency to have a significant outcome on students’ reading achievement, it continues to be not well understood by teachers, school administrators and policy makers. The chapters in this volume examine reading fluency from a variety of perspectives. The initial chapter sketches the history of fluency as a literacy instruction component. Following chapters examine recent studies and approaches to reading fluency, followed by chapters that explore actual fluency instruction models and the impact of fluency instruction. Assessment of reading fluency is critical for monitoring progress and identifying students in need of intervention. Two articles on assessment, one focused on word recognition and the other on prosody, expand our understanding of fluency measurement. Finally, a study from Turkey explores the relationship of various reading competencies, including fluency, in an integrated model of reading. Our hope for this volume is that it may spark a renewed interest in research into reading fluency and fluency instruction and move toward making fluency instruction an even more integral part of all literacy instruction.
