This class investigates the concept of fluency
in (mainly) spoken language. While scholars have acknowledged that there
is no “single unitary concept of fluency” (Koponen and Riggenbach 2000:
5), there are, roughly speaking, two notions that can be distinguished:
first, fluency can be understood to mean something akin to proficiency
in general, and secondly, it can be seen as one component of proficiency
among others. We will draw on various strands of research that deals
with the latter notion, developing an awareness of how both learner
language and native speaker language can be usefully assessed. Our
reading will encompass both formally oriented texts and pragmatically
informed research.