Abstract: Challenges in measuring and assessing second language oral fluency

Parvaneh Tavakoli, University of Reading

This talk is an attempt to analyse the challenges involved in the measurement and assessment of second language (L2) fluency from two different but inter-related perspectives: L2 research and L2 assessment. In the first strand of the talk, a number of theoretical, methodological and operational challenges in measuring L2 fluency will be evaluated and discussed. Focusing on measurement of fluency in dialogic and interactive tasks, I will discuss the way natural features of communication, e.g. turn-taking, backchanelling, and overlap complicate the measurement of fluency, and affect the measurement outcomes. The discussion will also highlight Issues such as L1 cultural norms of oral communication and individual differences as some of the key challenges researchers face when measuring fluency in dialogic data. Dealing with these challenges requires researchers to make important decisions about what is considered fluent in a monologue versus a dialogue. A systematic response to such questions can enhance reliability of our measurement.

In the language assessment strand of the talk, I will highlight the challenges language testing discipline is facing when assessing L2 fluency. Although for a long time fluency has been recognised as a key component of communicative language ability, and has been customarily assessed by most language testing organisations, there has been limited research systematically examining the assessment of fluency in language testing and in the development of the relevant rating scales. The challenges in measuring fluency reported above, in the first strand of the talk, will be coupled with the challenges the variations in raters and rating scales bring to the process of assessing L2 fluency.

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