TOWARDS A THEORY OF FLUENCY
Journal Title: Acta Neuropsychologica - Year 2007, Vol 5, Issue 4
Abstract
In applied linguistics, the term “fluency” occurs most often in the context of second language acquisition (SLA), where it serves as a generally accepted outcome measure. It pertains to speech, and more specifically, to the rate of speech production in the target language (L2), but it is not reducible to time. To speak a second language “fluently” is to speak as quickly as a native speaker, or nearly so, while maintaining an acceptable level of comprehensibility. In neurolinguistics and neuropsychology, on the other hand, fluency (measured in mostly quantitative terms) is a clinical parameter that distinguishes certain types of aphasia (fluent and non-fluent), and is increasingly recognized as a differentiating parameter in various types of dementia. The aim of the present paper is to suggest that despite the obvious differences in the meaning of the word “fluency” in applied linguistics and neurolinguistics, there is an important underlying, unifying concept. The central issue is time, or more specifically, how the brain organizes time and how this organization is reflected in behavior – in this case, verbal behavior. The properties of fluency are, as the etymology suggests, analogous to those of a fluid, especially movement and the relative absence of perceptible points and boundaries.
Authors and Affiliations
Bruce MacQueen
Keywords
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