The Complex Nature of Reading Fluency: A Multidimensional View (original) (raw)
Related papers
Aligning Theory and Assessment of Reading Fluency: Automaticity, Prosody, and Definitions of Fluency
Reading Research Quarterly, 2010
Over the past decade, fluent reading has come to be seen as a central component of skilled reading and a driving force in the literacy curriculum. However, much of this focus has centered on a relatively narrow definition of reading fluency, one that emphasizes automatic word recognition. This article attempts to expand this understanding by synthesizing several key aspects of research on reading fluency, including theoretical perspectives surrounding automaticity and prosody. It examines four major definitions of reading fluency and their relationship to accuracy, automaticity, and prosody. A proposed definition is presented. Finally, the implications of these definitions for current assessment and instruction are considered along with suggestions for reenvisioning fluency's role within the literacy curriculum.
Becoming a Fluent Reader: Reading Skill and Prosodic Features in the Oral Reading of Young Readers
Journal of Educational Psychology, 2004
Prosodic reading, or reading with expression, is considered one of the hallmarks of fluent reading. The major purpose of the study was to learn how reading prosody is related to decoding and reading comprehension skills. Suprasegmental features of oral reading were measured in 2nd-and 3rd-grade children (N = 123) and 24 adults. Reading comprehension and word decoding skills were assessed. Children with faster decoding speed made shorter and less variable intersentential pauses, shorter intrasentential pauses, larger sentence-final fundamental frequency (F 0) declinations, and better matched the adult prosodic F 0 profile. Two structural equation models found evidence of a relationship between decoding speed and reading prosody as well as decoding speed and comprehension. There was only minimal evidence that prosodic reading was an important mediator of reading comprehension skill. Prosodic reading, or reading with expression, is widely considered to be one of the hallmarks of the achievement of reading fluency. When a child is reading prosodically, oral reading sounds much like speech with appropriate phrasing, pause structures, stress, rise and fall patterns, and general expressiveness. However, exactly where does the development of prosodic reading or "making it sound like language" (Stahl & Kuhn, 2002, p. 582) fit in our conceptions of developing reading skill? The purpose of the current study was to determine how individual differences in developing reading skill are related to prosodic reading in order to better place prosodic reading in the process of learning to read fluently. Gough and Tumner's (1986) "simple view of reading" proposed that reading comprehension could be described in terms of two factors-language comprehension and word decoding. In this model, both language comprehension and decoding are seen as limiting factors in reading comprehension. If the child's decoding is less than fully automatic, his or her comprehension will suffer. As decoding moves toward full automaticity, reading comprehension skill should equal comprehension of oral language (
Reading Fluency: The Road to Developing Efficient and Effective Readers
New England Reading Association Journal, 2005
The New England Reading Association Journal Call for Papers poses five essential questions on reading fluency: What does fluency mean? How is fluency assessed? What is the connection to phonics and reading instruction? What is the research on which it is based? What are the ways in which teachers are addressing fluency in the classroom? In this article, these questions guide our reflective examination of issues and concerns surrounding the notion of reading fluency in this article. We also present you with three research articles that we found helpful in addressing some of these same issues and concerns. These are: (1) The effect of instruction and practice through Readers Theatre on young readers' oral readingfluency by Susan Keehn (2003); (2) Fluency and comprehension gains as a result of repeated reading.-A meta-analysis by William J. Therrien (2004); and (3) Using paired reading to enhance the fluency skills of less-skilled readers by Sandra L. Nes (2003). These research studies extend our views on reading fluency and lead us to the identification of effective instructional approaches to developing reading fluency in classrooms.
Theories and Research on Oral Reading Fluency: What Is Needed?
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2020
Oral reading fluency skill is considered to be the bridge to reading comprehension. However, it has been neglected in many English reading programs despite the fact that different theories (including behaviorism, information processing model theory, automaticity theory, and Ehri and McCormick’s word learning theory) have shed light on this skill. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to review theories, studies and practices relevant to this skill. This study has two aims: (1) to identify the theories underpinning oral reading strategies and (2) to identify the gap in research so far conducted on oral reading fluency. Various reading-aloud techniques and assessment methods are presented in this study. Moreover, some factors that affect students’ oral reading fluency are illustrated. Significantly, the practices that this study investigates and presents concerning teaching and assessing oral reading fluency might give an inspiration for the policymakers and curriculum designers to ...
Reading fluency: Catching prosody
Reading is an important skill for any language learner. In reading, fluency is its vital component of developing competency. However, literature has mixed inclination whether to treat fluency or prosody as primary indicator of such competency. This paper attempts to provide a review of related literature in this regard. Amidst varying views concerning the causality of fluency and prosody, there seems to be a particular causality in play, and, thus, outlines the role of prosody as a component of reading fluency in general. More practically, it is reasonable to suggest that having a hierarchical view of prosody within fluency can effectively facilitate reading competency.
Word Reading Accuracy as a Mediator for Fluency
Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala, 2022
This paper aims to test the predictive role of nonword reading abilities (accuracy and fluency) and rapid naming (RAN) over word reading fluency. Letter knowledge (LK) and phonological awareness (PA) for literacy were accounted for as control factors due to their ceiling effects. We test the direct impact of the main predictors and their indirect outcomes by controlling for word reading accuracy. To this end, 206 children participated and completed measures for nonword reading abilities, rapid naming, word reading accuracy, fluency, and letter knowledge, and phonological awareness. The results show that RAN and nonword reading accuracy are direct predictors of word reading accuracy. Word reading fluency is significantly associated with rapid naming. The effect of RAN, nonword reading accuracy, nonword reading fluency on word reading fluency is partially mediated by word reading accuracy. We discuss the practical implications.
Annals of Dyslexia, 2010
This study investigated the role of speech perception accuracy and speed in fluent word decoding of reading disabled (RD) children. A same-different phoneme discrimination task with natural speech tested the perception of single consonants and consonant clusters by young but persistent RD children. RD children were slower than chronological age (CA) controls in recognizing identical sounds, suggesting less distinct phonemic categories. In addition, after controlling for phonetic similarity Tallal's (Brain Lang 9: [182][183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197][198] 1980) fast transitions account of RD children's speech perception problems was contrasted with Studdert-Kennedy's (Read Writ Interdiscip J 15:5-14, 2002) similarity explanation. Results showed no specific RD deficit in perceiving fast transitions. Both phonetic similarity and fast transitions influenced accurate speech perception for RD children as well as CA controls.
Reading research quarterly
The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)-how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text reading fluency; (3) unique emergent literacy predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, morphological awareness, letter name knowledge, vocabulary) of text reading fluency vs. word reading fluency; and (4) unique language and cognitive predictors (e.g., vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, theory of mind) of text reading fluency vs. reading comprehension. These questions were addressed using longitudinal data (two timepoints; Mean age = 5;24 & 6;08) from Korean-speaking children...
Illuminating the Complexity of Oral Reading Fluency: A Multiple Lens Approach
Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 2020
Oral reading fluency is recognized as an important variable associated with the assessment of reading proficiency. Frequently, fluency assessments distill a child’s overall reading fluency to a single numerical score. Even when multiple dimensions are considered, the processes informing the nuance of the reading fluency variations are ignored. In order to shed light on the issue, we use an instrumental case study approach to illuminate how a reader’s fluency varies within a passage. We describe the insight this variability provides to teachers and researchers interested in understanding how readers transact with print. Specifically, we apply a multiple lens approach to analyze one child’s oral reading fluency and address the question: What variables contribute to a reader’s fluency? We combine eye movement miscue analysis and Flurkey’s oral reading flow and compare these assessments to Rasinski’s well-established fluency instrument. This methodology led to the identification of six ...
Frontiers in Psychology
Research examining phonological awareness (PA) contributions to reading in established readers of different skill levels is limited. The current study examined the contribution of PA to phonological decoding, visual word recognition, reading rate, and reading comprehension in 124 fourth to sixth grade children (aged 9-12 years). On the basis of scores on the FastaReada measure of reading fluency participants were allocated to one of three reading ability categories: dysfluent (n = 47), moderate (n = 38) and fluent (n = 39). For the dysfluent group, PA contributed significantly to all reading measures except rate, but in the moderate group only to phonological decoding. PA did not influence performances on any of the reading measures examined for the fluent reader group. The results support the notion that fluency is characterized by a shift from conscious decoding to rapid and accurate visual recognition of words. Although PA may be influential in reading development, the results of the current study show that it is not sufficient for fluent reading.