Andrea M. Ducas, MPH, is a program officer with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation working with programs related to payment and delivery system reform, purchaser and consumer engagement, health care price transparency, community-driven health improvements, and strengthening health departments.
fluent adjective. âº (of a âperson) âable to âspeak a âlanguage âeasily and well, or (of a âlanguage) âspoken âeasily and without many âpauses: She was fluent in âFrench by the âtime she was five. He âspeaks fluent Chinese. fluency noun [U] us /ËfluÂ·ÉnÂ·si/ âº This âjob ârequires fluency in two or more âAfrican âlanguages.
Fluency is the flow of speech. Fluent speech is smooth, forward-moving, unhesitant and effortless speech. A dysfluency is any break in fluent speech. Everyone has dysfluencies from time to time. Stuttering is speech that has more dysfluencies than is considered average. Everyone has dysfluencies in their speech. The average person will have between 7-10% of their speech dysfluent. These dysfluencies are usually word or phrase repetitions, fillers (urn, ah) or interjections. When a speaker experiences dysfluencies at a rate greater than 10% they may be stuttering.