[PPT] - Accuracy and Fluency Practical ideas and a draft framework for PowerPoint Presentation

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Accuracy and Fluency

Practical ideas and a draft framework for helping learners to achieve both simultaneously.

IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Jason Anderson jasonanderson1@gmail.com

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Accuracy and Fluency

Aims: s:  to look at the

rigins
f

the accuracy fluency distinction  to ask you whether you find the distinction a) valid b) useful  to give my

pinion
n

this question  to present a draft framework for classifying language practice activities  to show you several activities that I think are useful for helping learners achieve accuracy and fluency (dotted around the workshop) and how they fit into the draft framework  I’ll give web address for downloading summary notes and activity booklet for the talk

Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Key terminology:

‘accuracy’

r

‘focussing

n

accuracy’

when

the learners and teacher are concerned with avoiding errors (spoken

r

written)

‘fluency’

r

‘focussing

n

fluency’

when

the learners and teacher are concerned with producing meaningful language as close to native speaker speed as possible (mainly spoken)

Context:

Adult/teenage learners, intermediate to advanced levels

Learning focus:

Language practice activities, written

r

spoken

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Stag age 2) One pers rson

n

should ld collect ct in all the cards, s, shuf uffle le them and lay them

ut
n

the desk so that the questio stions ns are face up (a (answ swer ers are hidden den face dow

wn).

n).

Icebreaker: Question Poker

Stag age 1) On the table in front

f

you are question tion cards ds with th 2 2 diffe fferent ent questions tions

n

them. . Please ase take

ne
f

each ch and work rking ing indivi ividuall dually and silentl ently wri rite your

wn

pers rsonal

nal

answer swer for each question tion

n

the back

f

the card.

d. Keep

your answers swers secret. Play ay in groups ps

f

4-6

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Stag age 3) Take it in turn rns to pick ck up a questio tion, n, loo

ok

at the ans nswer wer and guess ss who you think wrote

it. Ask

the question stion to that pers rson

n

who must give the answe swer they wrote

n

the card. . Stage 4) If it’s the same answer, the asker ‘wins’ the card. If not, the asker er puts the card back exactly ctly where it was, s, question stion facin cing upwar wards. ds. IMPOR PORTANT: NT: If If, by chanc nce, e, you pick up your

wn

card, don’t reveal it’s yours (poker face). Ask someone, get the ans nswer wer and replace ace it cooly. Stage 5) Continue until all the cards have been ‘won’. The pers rson

n

with the most cards ds is the winn nner er. . Some

f

you will ll have to answer a question several

times. Don’t

change yo your answer swer.

Icebreaker: Question Poker

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Why I like it:

It

allows

ws

learn rner ers to wri rite answers swers firs rst (t (thinkin nking carefully efully about accur uracy). acy).

Learners

rners then have to recall ll what they wrote, speak aking ing ‘fluently’.

Becau

cause they have already ady wri ritten en it (t (teacher her can monit nitor wri riting ing stage to check for err rrors rs), there is a greater chance

f

accuracy than if they’re just answ nswer ering ing the questio tions ns without

ut

prepar aratio tion. n.

I

like ‘recall’

activities. I

think they help learning by getting ing the learne rners rs to hold langu guag age (o (often en in chunks) nks) in their short rt- term rm memorie ries. s.

Question Poker

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Examples of typical language practice activities

Which are for ‘accuracy work’ and which are for ‘fluency practice’?

Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

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Did it star art with the au audi diolingu ingual al ap approac aches? hes? “Like sin, error is to be avoided and its influence

vercome,

but its presence is to be expected.” Nelson Brooks,1960

Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Origins of the accuracy vs. fluency distinction

It didn’t start here! The he audi diolingu nguists ists corr rrected ted everyth rything! ing!

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Bru rumfit it, describing a ‘methodological distinction’, called accuracy & fluency ‘polarities’. He believed the di distin tinction ction should help teac ache hers rs to de decide de

n

‘…the he distribution

f

time between various types

f

activity.’ He recognised that ‘the distinction is not absolutely tidy’. (1984 84: 52) The he term rms becam ame fam amilia liar in 1980s 0s as as commun unica icative tive lan anguag age teac aching hing bega gan chan anging ging clas assroom prac actice. ce.

Origins of the accuracy vs. fluency distinction

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Preparation Task

Make ke notes es

n

the he fl flipch char art paper er

n

your de desk to prepar epare for the he di discus ussion.

sion. You

can note do down wn: a) a) usefu ful vocabul abular ary you wa want to use b) b) ideas, examples and people you’d like to mention ion Please ase make sure your notes es are legibl ble (3 (3 mins)

1. 1. Do yo you think the ac accurac acy/ y/fluen fluency cy di distin inctio ction is val alid? d? 2. 2. Is it useful to yo you a as a teac acher? her? 3. 3. Would yo your lear arner ers find the di distin inctio ction val alid?

Discussion Questions

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1. 1. Do yo you think the ac accurac acy/ y/fluen fluency cy di distin inctio ction is val alid? d? 2. 2. Is it useful to yo you a as a teac acher? her? 3. 3. Would yo your lear arner ers find the di distin inctio ction val alid?

Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Discussion Questions

Whose line is it anyway?

Stage 1) R Rotate te the fli lipchart art sheet through 90o a few times so that you all get a chance to read each

thers’
notes. DON’T

START THE DISCUSSIONS YET! Stage 2) B Begin the discuss ussion ion with your pen in your hand.

d. Ea

Each time you mention/

n/incl

include ude

ne
f

the things

n

the sheet (anybody’s), tick it with your pen.

If you want to make it competitive, the person who has made the most ticks by the end is the winner.

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Whose line is it anyway?

Why I l like it:

it

provide des preparation tion time for demanding ding discuss ssion ion activities ivities (incr crease eases accuracy acy/comp /comple lexity ity)

it

encourages le learners rs to le learn

ff

each

ther

and notice that they’re doing this

key

themes are repeated ed /r /reworked ed during ing the discussion, cussion, le leading to interna rnalis lisation tion

f

la languag age

it

involves lves both competition tion and theft

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Some problems ems with the ac accurac acy/ y/flue luency cy di distinctio inction

Many

students don’t see it as

valid. They

are aiming for both, so why separate them?

It

has caused a distortion in the mindset

f

some teachers and trainee teachers: ‘Why didn’t you do any correcting?’ ‘I didn’t think I was allowed

to. They

were doing fluency practice.’

It

may have caused materials to become too polarised.

It

has caused a similar polarisation in models / paradigms for lesson planning and description

Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Accuracy and Fluency

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013 Jim Scrive vene ner “The focus

n

restricted

utput

tends to be

n

getting language right, whereas the emphasis

n

authentic

utput

is more

ften

the quality

f

communication

f

messages.” “…‘authentic’ and ‘restricted’ are really end points

n

a continuum, rather than two all- excluding categories!” Learni rning ng Teaching hing (2005)

The implications of the accuracy fluency distinction

P

Present esentatio tion

P

Practic actice

P

Produ

ductio

tion

E

Enga gage

S

Study udy

A

Activ ivate te

C

Clarifi arification ion

R

Restric ricte ted

utput

tput

A

Authe thent ntic ic

utput

tput

PPP PP ESA SA ARC

the ‘gap’ between controlled and free practice

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P

Present esentatio tion

P

Practic actice

P

Produ

ductio

tion

E

Enga gage

S

Study udy

A

Activ ivate te

C

Clarifi arification ion

R

Restric ricte ted

utput

tput

A

Authe thent ntic ic

utput

tput

PPP PP ESA SA ARC

the ‘gap’ between controlled and free practice

discussions, personalisation, speaking games, debates, etc.

Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

The implications of the accuracy fluency distinction

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

A Framework for Categorising Language Practice Activities

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Verb Conjugation Cards

Play

ay in pairs rs.

One

pers rson

n

takes es the green and pink nk cards and the

ther

takes es the ye yellow

w

and blue

n
nes
Put

ut them into two piles es face down wn in front

f

you, making ing sure both

f

you can see all 4 piles. es.

On

the count

f

“1, 2, 3”, both

f

you turn

ver

the top card

f

both your piles to reveal a subject (e.g. ‘he’), a tense se (e (e.g. . past st continuous), inuous), a form rm (e (e.g. ?) and a verb rb phrase ase (e (e.g. . watch ch TV).

The

firs rst pers rson

n

to form rmul ulate the sentenc ence using ng all these elements ments corr rrectly ly wins ns (e (e.g. . Was he watchin hing TV?)

Play

ay again in. . Keep scor

re

if yo you like.

He He

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Why I l like them:

they

help lp le learners rs focus

n

manipul ulatin ting all ll the variables required to ‘conjugate’ verbs: tense se /a /aspect person +/ +/-/? /?

they

get le learners rs to do this under time pressure

you

can add tenses/ s/forms

rms

as they are le learnt, t, to build up a class’s repertoire

f

forms they can conjuga jugate te

le

learne ners rs see the vali lidity ity

f

using them regula larly ly

Verb Conjugation Cards

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Gapfill Extension

Learne

ners do a a s standard textb tbook gapfill ll activit ity. Answer wers are checked/ cked/co confirm firmed. ed.

In

pairs, learners transform rm the gapfill ll activit ity into quest stio ions ns, so t that the quest stio ion elicit its the comple leted ted senten tence.

ce. Both

membe bers rs

f

t the pair note down t the ques estio tions. ns.

Then

all the learners stand, mingle le and as ask each

ther

their ir quest stio ions.

s. Weaker

learners rs can peep at t the answers rs if t they need to, and s stronger er

nes

should try to answer withou

ut

looking ng at the

riginal

al exercise cise. .

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Gapfill Extension

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

Gapfill Extension

Why I l like it:

Another

‘recall’ activity! Learners are trying to ‘hold’ the la languag age in their short-term term memory – help lping le learnin ning. g.

Turns

a writte ten gapfill ll into a spoken activity vity, increasing easing processing sing speed.

No

extra preparation. tion.

It

(alm lmost st) makes gapfill lls fun!

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fas ast slow

proces essing sing speed ed

pri rimar ary focus

mean aning ing form

1 2 3 debates discussions personalisation 4 5 6 drilling 7 8 9 gapfills

rdering activities

matching activities

Where would you put the 3 activities from today? verb conjugation cards ; whose line…?; question poker

Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

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fas ast slow

proces essing sing speed ed

pri rimar ary focus

mean aning ing form

debates discussions personalisation drills gapfills

rdering activities

matching activities

running dictation find someone who transformation drills progressive deletion process writing

gapfill extension

Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

question poker whose line is it anyway? verb conjugation cards

A Framework for Categorising Language Practice Activities

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Accur uracy acy and Fluency cy | Jason Anderson | IATEFL Liverpool 2013

References and Further Reading

Brumfit, C. 1984. Communicative Methodology in Language Teaching: The roles of fluency and accuracy. Cambridge University Press. Ellis, R. 1994. The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press. Ellis, R. 2009. The Differential Effects of Three Types of Task Planning on the Fluency, Complexity, and Accuracy in L2 Oral Production. Applied Linguistics 30: 474-509. Guariento, W. and J. Morley. Text and task authenticity in the EFL classroom. ELT Journal 55: 347-353 Hunter, J. 2012. ‘Small Talk’: developing fluency, accuracy and complexity in

speaking. ELT Journal 66: 30-41.

Robinson, P. 2001. Task Complexity, Task Difficulty, and Task Production: Exploring Interactions in a Componential Framework. Applied Linguistics 22:27-57. Robinson, P., T. Cadierno and Y. Shirai. 2009. Time and Motion: Measuring the Effects of the Conceptual Demands of Tasks on Second Language Speech Production. Applied Linguistics 30: 533-554. Skehan, P. 1996. Second language acquisition research and task-based instruction in

J. Willis and D. Willis (eds.): Challenge and Change in Language Teaching.

Heinemann. Skehan, P. 2009. Modelling Second Language Performance: Integrating Complexity, Accuracy, Fluency, and Lexis. Applied Linguistics 30: 510-532.

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