Communicative Fluency and the Experience of Stuttering: A Viewpoint

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Cybernetics
• Psychosocial well-being

Background:

• The term 'fluency' is central to understanding developmental stuttering but its meaning is debated.
• The appropriateness of 'fluency' for stuttering and fluency disorders is questioned.
• Existing definitions of fluency primarily focus on speech production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a new conceptualization of fluency.
• To define fluency as the efficiency of goal-directed action via cybernetic function.
• To introduce 'communicative fluency' as a measure of goal fulfillment in speech.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of 'fluency' in the context of goal-directed action.
• Application of cybernetic principles to spoken utterances.
• Defining communicative fluency based on social goals and action fulfillment.

Main Results:

• Fluency is conceptualized as efficient goal-directed action.
• Speech disfluencies, like stuttering, are viewed as inefficiencies in this goal-directed action.
• Communicative fluency is proposed as a measure beyond speech production.

Conclusions:

• Communicative fluency is defined as the continual, reliable fulfillment of social goals through communicative actions.
• This expanded view of fluency can indicate psychosocial well-being for individuals who stutter.
• The new conceptualization moves beyond speech mechanics to encompass broader communicative success.