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Developing Oral Fluency in English: EFL Teachers’ Understanding, Self-Reported Practices, and Textbook Support
Desarrollo de la fluidez oral en inglés: comprensión, prácticas y uso de libros de texto de un grupo de docentes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15446/profile.v27n2.115146Keywords:
oral fluency, second language instruction, speaking skills, teaching practices, teacher understanding (en)compresión de los profesores, enseñanza de una segunda lengua, fluidez oral, habilidades de habla, prácticas de enseñanza (es)
This qualitative study examined the understanding of oral fluency among nine Colombian EFL teachers, their practices for promoting it, and the extent to which their classroom EFL textbooks support the development of oral fluency. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and a content analysis of textbooks. The findings evidenced that the teachers define fluency as both parallel to overall English proficiency and as an aspect of speech production narrowly related to the cognitive, utterance, and perception aspects of fluency. Furthermore, teachers reported a wide range of fluency activities proven beneficial by research, although their course textbooks seem not to sufficiently foster oral fluency. These results suggest that teachers’ fluency definitions are not dichotomous, highlighting the need to relate teachers’ cognitions of fluency with theoretical accounts.
Este estudio cualitativo examinó la comprensión de nueve profesores colombianos de inglés sobre la fluidez oral, sus prácticas para promoverla y la medida en que sus libros de texto contribuyen al desarrollo de la fluidez oral. Los datos se recopilaron mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas y un análisis de contenido de los libros utilizados. Los resultados revelan que los participantes definen la fluidez como parte del dominio general del inglés y como un aspecto de la producción oral vinculado a factores cognitivos, de enunciación y de percepción. Aunque utilizan prácticas respaldadas por la investigación, los libros de texto de sus cursos parecen no fomentar suficientemente la fluidez. Esto subraya la necesidad de alinear las concepciones de los docentes con los enfoques teóricos.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Lina María Robayo Acuña
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