Fluency is widely studied as a key dimension of second language (L2) oral proficiency. The majority of studies examine L2 speech fluency as a "narrow" construct (Lennon, 1990), often assessed from an individual speaker's perspective, based on monologic speech samples testing underlying processing (cognitive fluency), and referring to L1 standard norms (Magne et al., 2019). Recent interest has shifted to exploring fluency in dialogic contexts (e.g., Tavakoli, 2016; Peltonen, 2020; Wright, 2021) and evaluating L2 speech within a more inclusive perspective using plurilingual norms (e.g., Tavakoli and Wright, 2020). However, so far, there have been few theoretical accounts of defining fluency in an interactional context (but see McCarthy, 2010; Feng, 2022), and discussions on the methodology of examining L2 interactional fluency are scarce.
In this presentation, we discuss L2 interactional fluency from a theoretical and methodological perspective. First, we provide an overview of current approaches to L2 interactional fluency, examining L2 fluency research conducted in interactional settings. Our focus is on the definitions and methods (fluency measures) applied to L2 interactional fluency in these studies. Mixed-methods approaches can be particularly useful in the analysis of multifunctional fluency-related features and can facilitate approaches to fluency that view fluency and disfluency as a continuum (interfluency, Tavakoli & Wright, 2020). We also discuss L2 interactional fluency and its definitions in relation to closely related constructs, such as interactional competence and alignment. We conclude our presentation with an overview of future directions and implications for L2 interactional fluency research, assessment, and teaching, advocating for multimodal measures (Peltonen, 2020b), within a more diverse variationist or "pluriglossic" approach (Wright, 2022).
References
Feng, R. (2022). Cognitive factors influencing utterance fluency in L2 dialogues: Monadic and non-monadic perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.926367
Magne, V., Suzuki, S., Suzukida, Y., Ilkan, M., Tran, M., & Saito, K. (2019). Exploring the dynamic nature of second language listeners' perceived fluency: A mixed‐methods approach. TESOL Quarterly, 53(4), 1139–1150.
McCarthy, M. (2010). Spoken fluency revisited. English Profile Journal, 1(1), 1–15.
Peltonen, P. (2020a). Individual and interactional speech fluency in L2 English from a problem-solving perspective: A mixed-methods approach. University of Turku. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-29-8137-3
Peltonen, P. (2020b). Gestures as fluency-enhancing resources in L2 interaction: A case study on multimodal fluency. In P. Lintunen, M. Mutta, & P. Peltonen (Eds.), Fluency in L2 learning and use (pp. 111–128). Multilingual Matters.
Tavakoli, P. (2016). Fluency in monologic and dialogic task performance: Challenges in defining and measuring L2 fluency. IRAL, 54, 133–150.
Tavakoli, P., & Wright, C. (2020). Second language speech fluency: From research to practice. Cambridge University Press.
Wright, C. (2021). Effects of task type on L2 Mandarin fluency development. Journal of Second Language Studies, 3(2), 157–179.
Wright, C., & Tavakoli, P. (2016). New directions and developments in defining, analyzing and measuring L2 speech fluency. IRAL, 54, 73–77.
Wright, C. (2022). Diversity in learning, diversity in teaching: The Pluriglossic approach to evaluating interfluency development. Journal of European Second Language Association (in prep).
