Exploring EFL Fluency in Asia - by T Muller & J Adamson & P Brown & S Herder (Paperback)

About the Book

"While individual teachers interpret fluency differently, most working in EFL agree that it has a considerable influence on the success or failure of students' language learning. In EFL contexts, the absence of fluency-based practice opportunities can lead to low self-confidence, low language learning motivation, and limitations in learners' productive skills. This volume explores fluency in all fours skills (speaking, writing, reading and listening) and through a number of different perspectives to build upon existing research and to expand the fluency discussion to include consideration of classroom strategies for fluency development in EFL contexts. The definition of fluency as a trait of speaking is expanded to encompass all four language skills in an effort to illustrate its importance to all aspects of language learning. This volume includes a mixture of literature review chapters outlining the research paradigm for ongoing fluency research and empirical investigations into fluency development and measurement in the EFL classroom, making it relevant to both researchers and practitioners of EFL"--

Book Synopsis

In EFL contexts, an absence of chances to develop fluency in the language classroom can lead to marked limitations in English proficiency. This volume explores fluency development from a number of different perspectives, investigating measurements and classroom strategies for promoting its development.

Review Quotes

"The editors are to be commended for having engineered this interplay, and the evidence is plain to see that it was a worthwhile strategy. ... they do an excellent job of revealing the range of perspectives on fluency and put these perspectives into a coherent framework within the wider field of language learning in general. The volume is more than the sum of its parts and constitutes essential reading for anyone involved with teaching in Asia." (Michael Carroll, JALT Journal, Vol. 37 (2), November, 2015)

"This book compiles studies on four-skill fluency conducted in secondary, tertiary and experimental programmes in the Asian English as a foreign language EFL context. Its aim is to address students' concerns with fluency and communicative efficiency. ... This book presents a shift away from pre-defined fluency and opens up various ways to (re)think about fluency. ... In this wide-ranging book, researchers broaden what is a winning approach to fluency and fluency-research paradigms." (Melissa H. Yu, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, April, 2018)

About the Author

Muhammad M. M. Abdel Latif, Institute of Educational Studies, Cairo University, Egypt Andrew Atkins, Kinki University in Osaka, Japan Philip Shigeo Brown, Konan Women's University, Japan Junko Matsuzaki Carreira, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan Andrew Finch, Teachers' College of Kyungpook National University, Korea Sue Fraser, Seisen Jogakuin College and Shinshu University, Japan Carol Goldfus, Levinsky College of Education, Israel Mu He, Chongqing Normal University, P.R. China Steven Herder, Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto, Japan Tomohito Ishikawa, Soka Women's College, Japan Steven Kirk, University of Tokyo, Japan Theron Muller, University of Toyama, Japan Tim Murphey, Kanda University of International Studies, Japan Paul Nation, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand Sakae Onoda, Kanda University of International Studies, Japan Jason Peppard, Yamagata University, Japan Michael Rost, Teacher Trainer, USA Gregory Sholdt, Kobe University in Japan Ya-Chin Tsai, National Chiayi University, Taiwan Rob Waring, Notre Dame Seishin University in Okayama, Japan.