Fwd: RE: [Reading-hall-of-fame] what is fluency?

[Arthur N Applebee]

Jim's comment on fluency in the writing literature is interesting.  In
six traits, which is a step child of Paul Diederich's (1961) work at
ETS, "sentence fluency" reflects what Diederich called "wording" and
"phrasing"-- the choice and arrangement of words. Diederich thought this
was at least in part a vocabulary factor in the original study.

In the more general writing literature, fluency seems closer to "ease"
or "speed" of writing when dealing with familiar material, more closely
related to process than product. I don't know of any work that has
thought closely about the distinction, or how the two version of fluency
are related.. Or how either is related to the version of fluency
implicit in saying that someone is "fluent in English."    


Arthur N. Applebee
Distinguished Professor & Chair, Department of Educational Theory &
Practice
Director, Center on English Learning & Achievement

-----Original Message-----
From: reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:reading-hall-of-fame-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf
Of Robert Calfee
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 12:55 PM
To: HOFLists
Subject: Fwd: Re: Fwd: RE: [Reading-hall-of-fame] what is fluency?

Let's see if this works -- I haven't participated that much, but two
topics, one on NRC and the other on HOF, attracted  my attention. Sorry
for the confusions. 

And let me second Jim's comment on fluency in reading and writing -- the
parallels seem worth applauding. If speed is an important factor in the
writing process, it's probably knowing when to speed up and when to slow
down -- and the time frame is not the start-finish writing of a passage,
but the allocation of time to various aspects of the process, from
planning to the completion of a text. The fluency (or fluidity) of the
final product, which Jim emphasizes, is a totally different matter. Both
merit attention, and I don't think there is much of a literature,
conceptual or empirical, on either. Arthur A might know?  Bob Calfee

Robert Calfee
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