Elnaz Sajedi Esmaeelian & Ramin Rahimy
This study aimed to investigate the preference of accuracy/fluency among Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners. It hypothesized that the participants would not show any significant preference in accuracy or fluency while producing their speech. To test the hypothesis, 40 Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners were selected by administering a paired-dialoguing test with 1 standard deviation above the mean. They performed their topic-based conversation and assessed by the researchers who filled a researcher-made benchmarked-index-observation form for each participant. The data of the study were analyzed by running descriptive statistics and the inferential statistics (Independent-Samples T-test). The results indicated that Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners showed no significant preference of accuracy to fluency. This would be beneficial to language teachers to consider practice on both components in their pedagogical decisions on teaching English speaking.
Key words: Accuracy, Fluency, Language Assessment, Speaking, Oral Proficiency