Fluency and Accurancy in the Foreign Language Class

A major goal of Communicative Language Teaching is to improve fluency in speaking and writing in the target language.  Fluency can be defined as the natural use of language that occurs when a speaker takes part in meaningful interaction that maintains ongoing communication even when there are some limitations in accuracy.  Classroom activities that develop fluency require students to negotiate meaning, address misunderstandings and  avoid breakdowns in communication. Accuracy,  on the other hand, focuses on creating correct examples of language use. Here are some key differences  between activities that focus on fluency and those that focus on accuracy :
Fluency-Focused Activities:

• Reflect natural use of language
• Focus on achieving communication
• Focus on meaningful use of language
• Employ  communication strategies
• Do not use predictable language is not
• Link language use to context

Accuracy-Focused Activities:

• Focus on classroom use of language
• Focus on  correct examples of language
• Use language out of context
• Focus on producing small amounts of language
• Don’t focus on meaningful communication
• Dictate language structures and vocabulary