Course intro

1. Course Introduction
(Week 1)
ORAL I V
(HE281)
Prof. Dr. Ron Martinez
drronmartinez@gmail.com

2. Today’s agenda
• Discussion of issues around “fluency”
• Your homework

3. Are you fluent?
1. Take poll on website.
DISCUSS IN THREES:
1. How did you decide on your answer?
2. Did you feel your answer was more complex
than provided for by the voting format? In
what way?

4. What do they mean? Are you fluent in
Portuguese?

5. “Friends” clip
• Would you say that Chandler is "fluent" in the
scene? Why (not)?
• What insights into spoken fluency does this
clip provide?

6. 3 types of fluency (Segalowitz, 2010)
Cognitive
Fluency
Perceived
Fluency
Utterance
Fluency

7. • “Cognitive fluency refers to the efficiency of the
speaker’s underlying processes responsible for
fluency-relevant features of utterances…”
(Segalowitz, 2010, p. 50)
• “Utterance fluency refers to the oral features of
utterances that reflect the operation of
underlying cognitive processes…” (ibid.)
• “Perceived fluency is the fluency that is ascribed
by a listener to a speaker, based on impressions
drawn from hearing speech samples produced by
the speaker” (Segalowitz, 2010, p. 49)

8. COGNITIVE
FLUENCY
UTTERANCE
FLUENCY
PERCEIVED
FLUENCY

9. Levelt’s model of speech production
• Conceptualization
• Formulation
• Articulation
• Self-monitoring
• - Levelt, W.J.M. (1989) Speaking: From
Intention to Articulation
Part of cognitive fluency

10. Tarzan (by Gary Larson)

16. Where did the fluency breakdown
occur?
• Conceptualization
• Formulation
• Articulation
• Self-monitoring
• - Levelt, W.J.M. (1989) Speaking: From
Intention to Articulation

17. FORMULATION ARTICULATION
Cognitive
Fluency
Utterance
Fluency
Perceived
Fluency

18. What causes fluency breakdowns?
• Reflect on both the ‘Friends’ clip and the
‘Tarzan’ comic strip: What inferences about
causes of ‘dysfluencies’ in speech can be
drawn?
• (Hint: Think about the opposite –
situations/occasions in which you are usually
quite fluent.)

19. Do you agree?
Chambers, F. (1997). What do we mean by fluency? System, 25(4), pp. 535-544.

20. • Main Entry: flu·ent
Pronunciation: 'flü-ent
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin fluent-, fluens, present participle of fluere
1 a : capable of flowing : FLUID b : capable of moving with
ease and grace <the fluent body of a dancer>
2 a : ready or facile in speech <fluent in Spanish> b :
effortlessly smooth and rapid : POLISHED <a fluent
performance>
- flu·ent·ly adverb

21. • Main Entry: flu·ent
Pronunciation: 'flü-&nt
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin fluent-, fluens, present participle of fluere
1 a : capable of flowing : FLUID b : capable of moving with
ease and grace <the fluent body of a dancer>
2 a : ready or facile in speech <fluent in Spanish> b :
effortlessly smooth and rapid : POLISHED <a fluent
performance>
- flu·ent·ly adverb

22. • Main Entry: ready
Pronunciation: 're-dE
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): read·i·er; -est
1 a : prepared mentally or physically for some
experience or action b : prepared for
immediate use <dinner is ready>
2 : immediately available <had ready cash>

23. Fluency = ‘Readiness’
• Main Entry: ready
Pronunciation: 're-dE
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): read·i·er; -est
1 a : prepared mentally or physically for some
experience or action b : prepared for
immediate use <dinner is ready>
2 : immediately available <had ready cash>
Any deficiency in any of these elements
may cause dysfluencies.

24. Your turn!
• Remember that this can also be a vocabulary-
building exercise. Don’t be afraid to ‘stretch’!

25. Summary for Week 1
• It is important to define what ‘fluency’ in spoken
language means.
• Fluency is not related to ‘native’-ness.
• Fluency is (minimally) broken down into cognitive
fluency, utterance fluency, and perceived fluency.
Each of these, in turn, may be influenced by a great
number of variables.
• Fluency can be thought of as ‘readiness’, on different
levels: mentally/emotionally prepared, knowing what
to say and how to say it (‘prepared’ utterances), and
having what to say ‘at the ready’ (i.e. automaticity).

26. HOMEWORK FOR
MONDAY (AUG. 15)

27. Homework
1. TODAY: Complete personal survey on
www.drronmartinez.com (“Oral IV: About
YOU”) – takes about 10 minutes.
2. Read Radajurai (2007) article on
‘intelligibility’ (online), answer questions
about the article (online), and bring your
answers to class on Monday.
3. Watch Jackie Chan clip (online), answer
questions (online), and bring notes to class.