Reading Fluency Techniques from the Bottom-up: A Grounded Theory

Seyyed Ali Ostovar-Namaghi, Seyyedeh Mobina Hosseini, Shabnam Norouzi

Abstract


In many EFL contexts, including language education milieu in Iran, reading fluency is usually taken for granted since language education in public high schools mainly focuses on reading comprehension. Taking the detrimental effect of fluency deficiency into account, some practitioners foreground reading fluency and try to develop it early on. To give voice to their theories of practice, this qualitative study interviewed teachers who were willing to share their experience with the researchers. In line with grounded theory, the iterative process of data collection and analysis continued until the conceptualization of fluency development techniques was saturated. The techniques emerged are conducive to fluency development and as such the findings have clear implications for practitioners and policy makers nation-wide.

 


Keywords


Reading theory, reading fluency, reading techniques

Full Text:

PDF

References


Benjafield, J. (1997). Cognition. (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Blevins, W. (2005). The importance of reading fluency and the English language learner. The Language Teacher, 29, 13–16.

Blum, I., Koskinen, P. A., Tennant, N., Parker, E. M., Straub, M., & Curry, C. (1995). Using audiotaped books to extend classroom literacy instruction into the homes of second-language learners. Journal of Reading Behavior, 27, 535-563.

Carver, R. P., & Hoffman, J. V. (1981). The effect of practice through repeated reading on gain in reading ability using a computer-based instructional system. Reading Research Quarterly, 16, 374-390.

Chall, J. (1996). Learning to read: The great debate. Cambridge, MA: MIT.

Day, R. R., & Bamford, J. (2002). Top ten principles for teaching extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 14,136–141.

Dlugosz, D. W. (2000). Rethinking the role of reading in teaching a foreign language to young learners. English Language Teaching Journal, 54, 284-290.

Dowhower, S. L. (1987). Effects of repeated reading on second-grade transitional readers' fluency and comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 22, 389-406.

Fukkink, R. G., Hulstijn, J., & Simis, A. (2005). Does training in second-language word recognition skills affect reading comprehension? An experimental study. Modern Language Journal, 89, 54-75.

Fleisher, L. S., Jenkins, J. R., & Pany, D. (1979). Effects on poor readers’ comprehension of training in rapid decoding. Reading Research Quarterly, 15, 30-48.

Grabe, W. (2004). Research on teaching reading. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, 44-69.

Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2002). Teaching and researching reading. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Koskinen, P. S., & Blum, I. H. (1984). Repeated oral reading and the acquisition of fluency. In J. Niles & L. Harris (Eds.), Changing perspectives on research in reading/language processing and instruction. Thirty-third Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 183-187). Rochester, NY: National Reading Conference.

Kuhn, M.R., & Stahl, S. A. (2000). Fluency: A review of developmental and remedial practices (CIERA Rep. No. 2-008). Ann Arbor, MI: Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement.

Krashen, S. D. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. New York: Longman.

Krashen, S. D. (2004). The power of reading: Insights from the research (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

LaBerge, D., & Samuels, S. J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading. Cognitive Psychology, 6, 293-323.

Lyon, J. R. ( 1995). Towards a definition of dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 45, 3-27.

Nuttall, C. (1996). Teaching reading skills in a foreign language. Oxford: Heinemann.

Ostovar-Namaghi, S. A. (2011). A comparative study of test tasks and target use tasks. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(5), 525-529.

Perfetti, C. A. (1988). Verbal efficiency in reading ability. In M. Daneman, G. E. Mackinnon, & T. G. Waller (Eds.), Reading research: Advances in theory and practice (Vol. 6; pp. 109-143). New York: Academic Press.

Patal, P. & Laud, L. (2007). Using Songs to Strengthen Reading Fluency. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus (4)2, 2-17.

Rasinski, T. V. (1995). Fast Start: A parental involvement reading program for primary grade students. In W. Linek & E. Sturtevant (Eds.), Generations of Literacy. Seventeenth Yearbook of the College Reading Association (pp. 301-312). Harrisonburg, VA: College Reading Association.

Rasinski, T. V. (2004). Creating fluent readers. Educational Leadership, 61, 46–51.

Rasinski, T. (2006). Reading fluency instruction: Moving beyond accuracy, automaticity, and prosody. The Reading Teacher, 59 (7). 704-6.

Renandya, W. A., & Jacobs, G. M. (2002). Extensive reading: Why aren’t we all doing it? In J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp. 295–302). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rasinski, T. V., & Hoffman, J. V. (2003). Theory and research into practice: Oral reading in the school literacy curriculum. Reading Research Quarterly, 38, 510-522.

Sample, K. J. (2005) Promoting fluency in adolescents with reading difficulties. Intervention in School and Clinic, 40 (4), 243-6.

Samuels, S. J. (1994). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading, revisited.

In R. B. Ruddell, M. R. Ruddell, and H. Singer (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (4th ed.) (pp. 816-837). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Samuels, S. J. (2006). Reading fluency: Its past, present, and future. In T. V. Rasinski, C. Blachowicz, & K. Lems (Eds.), Fluency instruction: Research-based best practices (pp. 7–20). New York: The Guilford Press.

Taguchi, E. (1997). The effects of repeated readings on the development of lower identification skills of FL readers. Reading in a Foreign Language, 11, 97-119.

Taguchi, E., & Gorsuch, G. J. (2002). Transfer effects of repeated EFL reading on reading new passages: A preliminary investigation. Reading in a Foreign Language, 14(1), 43-65. Retrieved April 23, 2006, from http://www.nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/April2002/taguchi/taguchi.pdf

Wood, F. B., Flowers, L., & Grigorinko, E. (2001). On the functional autonomy of neuroanatomy of fluency or why walking is just as important to reading as talking is. In M. Wolf (Ed.), Dyslexia, fluency and the brain Timonium, MD: York Press.

Yamashita, J. & Ichikawa, Sh. (2012). Examining reading fluency in a foreign language: Effects of text segmentation on L2 readers. Reading in a Foreign Language,22(2), 263-283.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.4n.5p.29

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2012-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD. 

International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature

To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the journal emails into your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.