“if you have really good ease then you’re extremely fluent.” : An Exploration of Swedish Upper Secondary EFL Teachers’ Views on Teaching Fluency in Speech and Writing

Abstract: The aim of this project was to analyse Swedish EFL teachers’ methods and opinions regarding teaching fluency in their classrooms. Furthermore, the project aimed at exploring the attitudes towards the importance of including fluency in their language teaching. Previous research suggests that the usage of so-called task based exercises is something that helps in promoting students’ level of fluency. The previous research further suggests that the teaching of effective vocabulary, as well as linking-words, is beneficial for the developments of individual fluency. The method used in the gathering of data was based on qualitative interviews. The interviews were conducted with six EFL teachers at Swedish upper secondary schools. The questions asked during said interviews were of a semi-structured and open-ended nature. This particular structure was chosen in order to encourage the respondents to talk freely, and to combat the sense of there being right or wrong answers to the questions posed. The theoretical framework of the study is based on Burner’s (Nino & Burner, 1978) theory on scaffolding, and Gibbons’ (2015) approach on how to apply this to the EFL classroom.  The specific genres of fluency that held the focus of this paper were speech and writing. However, as a result of the data generated by the interviews, the two genres were not, to any significant extent, discussed or handled separately throughout the project. The results of the study shows that the interviewed teachers tend to employ small-group discussions in order to promote fluency in their students. Furthermore, the results show that most teachers are inclined to teach their students different kinds of vocabulary in order to further their students’ abilities. Other findings indicate that students seem to benefit from a safe environment in their classrooms when practicing fluency, this as to not feel exposed in a negative way when they are to perform in front of their peers.