Accuracy vs Fluency - It may be a recurring question here on Italki, but it's really divergent among learners and specialists, I guess. Although there are a lot of articles with several points of view on the internet, and formal definitions in dictionaries, I would like to form a sound base regarding to such issue. I read a discussion here about polyglotism, and different opinions made me think more about this.
What's to be fluent in a language? Is that the capacity to understand and to be understood? Or is it the quickness and easiness which with you may be able to communicate in a target language? Or even the possibility to learn new things in a respective language without needing to resort to your mother-tongue?
I would not define fluency as speaking without having to think, without hesitation. You can speak without thinking and make many mistakes. I would define fluency as near native ability, hence without hesitation but also without noticable errors. But it is a subjective thing. I would rather use the defined European standards, A1 to C2, and then the fact whether or not that level has been proven in a test. Anyone can say he is fluent in a language. And anyone can put C1 in his profile here with the subjetive argument, 'my friends say I am really good'.
Dorothy, we can agree that the English vocabulary of pre-adolescent children is too small for them to be able to score at least 79 points on the TOEFL exam or an overall brand score of at least 6.5 on the IELTS exam. Therefore, according to our agreed upon definition of somebody who is fluent in English, we can agree that pre-adolescent children who have such limited English vocabularies can't yet be fluent in English.
Hello, Matheus. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is widely used instead of the TOEFL to measure somebody's English proficiency. An IELTS overall brand score of at least 6.5 is required for admission into most U.S public colleges and universities. Therefore, we can expand upon our agreed definition of somebody who is fluent in English:
Somebody who is fluent in English would be able to score either at least 79 points on the Test of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-based Test (TOEFL i-BT) or a brand score of 6.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Either 79 points on the TOEFL exam or an overall 6.5 brand score on the IELTS exam is the minimum English proficiency test score which meets the minimum requirement for admission into the academic programs of most U.S. public colleges and universities.
A fluent English speaker is somebody who would be able to score at least 79 points on the Test of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-based Test (TOEFL i-BT). This is the minimum English proficiency test score which meets the minimum requirement for admission into the academic programs of most U.S. public colleges and universities.
I think we are all better off simply not using the word. It can mean anything, which renders it pretty much useless.
