One of the goals of every foreign language learner is to ‘become fluent’. Teachers are probably aware of how important this goal is, and they surely have attained a high degree of fluency themselves. However, this is often put to the test in certain situations (and is somehow evaluated by the audience) such as:
- When you need to comment on or summarise students’ views during a discussion or a debate, or when you give feedback, especially in high-level classes.
- When you need to provide an explanation of phenomena that have nothing to do with language learning.
- When you interact with colleagues who do not speak your first language, or with native speakers in unfamiliar contexts.
Are we fluent enough to respond to these situations with confidence and in English that is fluent and highly coherent? In my experience, it is better not to take anything for granted and continue to develop our fluency. Here is a little proposal you can adopt as a teacher to continue improving:
Expose yourself to challenging content: Go beyond your comfort zone. Try to become familiar with concepts, ideas and knowledge that interests you. This should help you acquire new vocabulary, collocations, phrases, etc. Focus on the idea of learning something through language, and not learning language per se. If possible, take a formal course!
Do something with the input you receive: Try organizing the information in ways that are memorable for you: diagrams, mind maps, lists, tables… Use all the techniques that you tell your own students to use! If you’re doing a course, this should also help you revise for tests or prepare for assignments.
Experiment with the input: Try recording yourself as you talk about these topics. Make sure you include as much information as possible, and link it to your opinions, experience, beliefs. After recording, watch your videos or listen to yourself and carry out an honest assessment: do you sound confident, fluent and natural? Or are there points where you hesitate too often or seem lost for words or incoherent?
Ask someone to help you: Whenever possible, have a close friend or colleague listen to your production and ask them for feedback. This works wonders, but we need to lose our fear of being evaluated.
Keep going: The process should continue with different topics, and in different situations. For example, you could try to arrange one-to-one or group discussions with colleagues so that all of you practise. This requires little preparation and can be easily set up via Zoom.
This is, of course, only one proposal for systematic improvement of your own fluency. If you have any other, you can also put it into practice! The most important point is to do something – in a world that speaks English, teachers have to set the example!
Now it’s YOUR turn?
What strategies do you use to reach fluency in a foreign language?
