Fluency and Coherence Techniques

Fluency and Coherence is one of the four equally weighted speaking criteria. Many candidates confuse fluency with speed — but the examiner is not listening for fast speech. They are listening for smooth, logical, well-organised speech with natural pacing. This lesson covers specific techniques to improve both your fluency and coherence.

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What the Examiner Listens For

Fluency

Fluency Indicators
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Band 5   Noticeable pausing; may lose coherence;
         repetition and self-correction are frequent

Band 6   Willing to speak at length but loses
         coherence due to repetition or self-correction

Band 7   Speaks at length WITHOUT NOTICEABLE EFFORT;
         may demonstrate language-related hesitation
         at times but this does not notably affect
         coherence; uses a range of connectives and
         discourse markers with some flexibility

Band 8   Speaks fluently with only rare repetition
         or self-correction; any hesitation is
         content-related (thinking about ideas)
         rather than language-related

The key distinction: language-related hesitation (searching for words) is more damaging than content-related hesitation (thinking about ideas).

Coherence

Coherence in speaking means: