Exploring Measures and Variables of Disfluency in the Speech of CLIL Students

Abstract

Fluency is a complex linguistic concept and is not easy to measure in an objective way . Consequently , there are a wide range of definitions provided by different scholars. This descriptive study proposes a way in which fluency can be measured objectively through five different disfluency variables in Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) students. To examine this, t he participants involved, who were from a Spanish - Catalan background and between 14 and 16 years, were asked to produce a speech elicitation task. To ensure objectivity in the obtained results, a ratio has been calculated in relation to the length of the u tterances. In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest that the disfluency measurements applied are useful in the classroom but they are not sufficient to measure fluency on their own .