Accuracy versus Fluency

What is more important, getting students to say something, anything or making sure the are saying things correctly? The correct answer: it depends.
 For students new to English, there is no fluency. If they are true beginners they no virtually no English so anything they say has come from what they learned in class. I would say that for lower level learners, accuracy comes first. Teachers need to make sure students are making learning accurate English and not making incorrect assumptions. If you are helping a child learn, “What is your name?” and they answer, “John”, “It is John” or “My name is John” then kudos to you. All are satisfactory answers and correction and insisting on a particular form may inhibit childrens’ desire to respond. However, if you are playing a game to practice some grammatical form and children are answering incorrectly, correction can make sure they are not making incorrect associations with how the grammar target works. Here are some sample dialogues:
T: What is he doing?S: He run.T: Good. He is running. One more time.S: He is running.T: Great! He is running.
 This type of recasting can be very effective. The student clearly understand a great deal about the initial question so the answer was not wrong. The “he” and the “run” demonstrate a great deal of understanding so less direct correction is warranted.
Now consider this example.
T: What is he doing?S: It is run.T: He is running. (In a clear articulated voice to show correction.) One more time.S: running.T: He is running. One more time.S: He is running.T: Good. He is running.
In this example, the student is likely confusing grammar with some “It is ____. ” practiced recently. It is important to indicate what the correct response is. There doesn’t have to be any criticism or negative words like “no” or “sorry”. The correct answer can still be recasted but the two examples are substantially different. The first student demonstrates understanding so just correction should be minimized to encourage speaking.
The second student has difficultly with the targets so it is likely beneficial to softly, but clearly correct their English so that students can begin to gain a better understanding of how the target grammar works.
Ultimately, correction and fluency are not at odds at all. Low level speakers need correction to ensure a repertoire of correct phrases and simple dialogue to begin speaking in English. Once some proficiency is accomplished, correction should be avoided to encourage students just to communicate their ideas in any way they can, broken English or not. Fluency is definitely more important than correctness at a certain stage of learning. Over time, when students are used to speaking openly and confidently, teachers can then occassionally step in to provide correction or to help students notice some of the larger errors.
Ensuring low level students are accurately producing the language can actually aid in later fluency. Letting students use incorrect English can create ambiguity and make it more difficult for them to understand correct usage. However, if your students are speaking English. Do not interrupt to correct minute points. Let them speak. Learning a language is about communication. If they can continue a dialogue in English, that should be celebrated, not corrected.
Fluency or accuracy?
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Which is more important - fluency or accuracy? I was asked this question recently regarding learning English. It could be argued that a fluent speaker must be accurate to be fluent, but in the real world you meet many people who can converse quite easily in English but who often make mistakes.
The real issue
The question more accurately is this: Is it more important to adhere to grammar, or to be able to speak your mind (albeit with the occasional poor word choice or grammatical mistake)? Your answer to this affects how and what you teach.
I would say that fluency is the more desirable quality. Someone who speaks fluently and easily will be a better communicator than someone who stodgily takes time to correctly formulate every sentence before saying anything. The fluent speaker also practices language more - a vital key in attaining and retaining new language.
Teaching tips
If you agree that fluency is all-important, then it’s wise to teach thusly:
1. Practice: get your students to speak up in the classroom!
2. Teach real English: Textbook English often conflicts with actual practice. Of course, you don’t want to teach incorrect English, but the practical vernacular style will be far more useful than clunky obsolete phrases.
3. Correct their mistakes: Show your students where they are going wrong and help them to improve - a fluent and accurate speaker is ideal, afterall!