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Prosody of Syntactically Complex Sentences in the Oral Reading of Young Children

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Justin Miller
Justin Miller
Justin Miller
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Paula J. Schwanenflugel at University of Georgia
Paula J. Schwanenflugel
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Prosodic, or expressive, reading is considered to be one of the essential features of the achievement of reading fluency. The purpose of this study was to determine (a) the degree to which the prosody of syntactically complex sentences varied as a function of reading speed and accuracy and (b) the role that reading prosody might play in mediating individual differences in comprehension. Spectrographic analysis of 80 third graders' and 29 adults' reading of a syntactically complex text was carried out. Oral reading skill was measured through standardized assessments. Pitch changes (changes in fundamental frequency) and pause duration were measured for sentence-final words of basic declarative sentences, basic declarative quotatives, wh questions, and yes-no questions; words preceding commas in complex adjectival phrases; and words preceding phrase-final commas. Children who had quick and accurate oral reading had shorter and more adultlike pause structures, larger pitch declinations at the end of basic declarative sentences, and larger pitch rises at the end of yes-no questions. Furthermore, children who showed larger basic declarative sentence declinations and larger pitch rises following yes-no questions tended to demonstrate greater reading comprehension skills.
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... Before recent advances in speech analysis, this was a labor-intensive process which had only been implemented on a small scale. Studies using this method show that children who demonstrate good reading comprehension are less likely to use inappropriate pauses while reading (Benjamin & Schwanenflugel, 2010;Clay & Imlach, 1971;Cowie et al., 2002;Dowhower, 1987Dowhower, , 1989Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006;Ravid & Mashraki, 2007;Schwanenflugel et al., 2004) and use more adult-like pitch variation at phrase boundaries within sentences and in sentence-final positions (Cowie et al., 2002;Dowhower, 1987;Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006Schwanenflugel et al., 2004). ...
... Before recent advances in speech analysis, this was a labor-intensive process which had only been implemented on a small scale. Studies using this method show that children who demonstrate good reading comprehension are less likely to use inappropriate pauses while reading (Benjamin & Schwanenflugel, 2010;Clay & Imlach, 1971;Cowie et al., 2002;Dowhower, 1987Dowhower, , 1989Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006;Ravid & Mashraki, 2007;Schwanenflugel et al., 2004) and use more adult-like pitch variation at phrase boundaries within sentences and in sentence-final positions (Cowie et al., 2002;Dowhower, 1987;Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006Schwanenflugel et al., 2004). ...
... These questions have been shown to elicit a sentence-final F0 rise in adults (O'Shaughnessy, 1979). Moreover, the size of the rise has been shown to be positively correlated with reading comprehension: elementary school readers with better comprehension scores produced larger final rises (Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006). Therefore, we predict that comprehension skill will correlate with the size of the question-final F0 rise for yes-no questions, such that better comprehenders will produce larger F0 rises at the end of yes-no questions. ...
Prosodic Features in Production Reflect Reading Comprehension Skill in High School Students
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2024
Young children’s prosodic fluency correlates with their reading ability, as children who are better early readers also produce more adult-like prosodic cues to syntactic and semantic structure. But less work has explored this question for high school readers, who are more proficient readers, but still exhibit wide variability in reading comprehension skill and prosodic fluency. In the current study, we investigated acoustic indices of prosodic production in high school students (N = 40; ages 13–19) exhibiting a range of reading comprehension skill. Participants read aloud a series of 12 short stories which included simple statements, wh-questions, yes–no questions, quotatives, and ambiguous and unambiguous multiclausal sentences. In addition, to assess the contribution of discourse coherence, sentences were read in either canonical or randomized order. Acoustic cues known to index prosodic phenomena—duration, fundamental frequency, and intensity—were extracted and compared across structures and participants. Results demonstrated that high school readers as a group consistently signal syntactic and semantic structure with prosody, and that reading comprehension skill, above and beyond lower-level skills, correlates with prosodic fluency, as better comprehenders produced stronger prosodic cues. However, discourse coherence did not produce consistent effects. These results strengthen the finding that prosodic fluency and reading comprehension are linked, even for older, proficient readers.
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... The conceptual basis for a relation between awareness of prosody and reading comprehension originates in part from widespread speculation that reading comprehension is demonstrated by reading out loud with appropriate expression (Kuhn et al., 2010;Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006). Reading with appropriate expression involves reading in a way that sounds speech-like, with suitable pauses, stress placement, and pitch changes (Schwanenflugel et al., 2004). ...
... Punctuation reflects major aspects of the prosody of written language such as pauses and pitch changes (Chafe, 1988). For example, child and adult readers alike pause and decrease pitch at the end of statements marked by periods, increase pitch at the end of yes-no questions marked by question marks, and decrease pitch at certain commas (Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006). Although punctuation does not correlate perfectly with prosody, punctuation can be a basic guide to rhythm and how text would sound as speech. ...
... The research question motivating the current study is whether the relation between awareness of prosody and reading comprehension is mediated by awareness of how punctuation reflects prosody in the mid-elementary school grades. Punctuation may act as a guide to prosody, and so we expect to find that awareness of how punctuation reflects prosody will mediate the relation between awareness of prosody and reading comprehension (Chafe, 1988;Fodor, 2002;Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006). We also expect that awareness of prosody will be directly related to reading comprehension (Clin et al., 2009;Wade-Woolley et al., 2021;Whalley & Hansen, 2006). ...
Punctuation: a missing link between awareness of prosody and reading comprehension
Article
Full-text available
There is growing theoretical and empirical consensus for a role of awareness of suprasegmental phonology, also known as prosody, or the rhythmic elements of speech, in reading comprehension. Here we explore a potential mechanism by which this relation functions: awareness of how punctuation reflects prosody, for instance appreciating that a period or comma often marks a pause. Children who are more aware of prosody might be better able to use punctuation as a guide to what text should sound like, which could enable understanding text meaning. We tested 151 English-speaking students in Grades 3–5 to explore whether the relation between awareness of prosody and reading comprehension is mediated by awareness of how punctuation reflects prosody. After controlling for age, punctuation knowledge, word reading, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and nonverbal ability, there were direct relations between awareness of prosody and reading comprehension, as well as indirect effects via awareness of how punctuation reflects prosody. These results suggest a role for punctuation in applying awareness of prosody to reading comprehension; we interpret this as a potential mechanism by which awareness of prosody supports reading comprehension, a finding that can both refine current models of reading comprehension and inspire the design of effective instruction.
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... Prosody is an established area of speech and language in which autistic individuals often express differences early on, making it one of the first and most salient hallmarks of the condition (Fusaroli et al., 2017;Grossman et al., 2010;. Prosody also plays an important role during oral and silent reading comprehension in typical development (Breen et al., 2016;Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006). Despite these known connections and a growing interest in the reading abilities of autistic individuals (McIntyre, Nation et al., 2006;Ricketts et al., 2013), very little attention has been paid to prosody as it relates to reading comprehension ability in the autistic population. ...
... Typically, reading with prosody is associated with oral reading fluency (Schwanenflugel et al., 2004). In the oral reading of typically developing school-aged children, prosodic elements of pitch, duration, and stress are known to contribute to reading comprehension (Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006Schwanenflugel et al., 2015) and account for variation in reading comprehension ability (Calet et al., 2015;Veenendaal et al., 2015). Furthermore, these prosodic elements are known to mediate the relationship between listening comprehension, decoding, and reading comprehension in typical development (Kim et al., 2021). ...
... Although challenges with prosody are unlikely to be the sole cause of reading comprehension challenges for any learner, it is clear that prosody is an important part of reading comprehension success (Calet et al., 2015;Cunningham, 1993;Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006Schwanenflugel et al., 2015;Veenendaal et al., 2015). Given that differences in prosody are among the first and most salient hallmarks of autism (Fusaroli et al., 2017;Grossman et al., 2010;, it is reasonable to expect that at least some of the difficulties autistic individuals experience when reading comprehension are the result of challenges projecting text-appropriate prosody during oral language and reading. ...
The Role of Prosody in Reading Comprehension for Individuals on the Autism Spectrum
Article
  • Jan 2024
Purpose The purposes of this clinical focus article are to describe differences in expressive prosody among autistic individuals, describe the role of prosody in reading comprehension, highlight the potential contribution of prosody to the reading comprehension difficulties experienced by many autistic individuals, discuss interventions that target prosody, and make clinical recommendations. Method We describe differences in expressive prosody that many autistic individuals experience; review the existing body of literature surrounding reading comprehension, prosody, and autism; and discuss interventions that target prosody as it applies to reading comprehension. Conclusion Based on the review of the literature and presentation of the challenges that currently exist, we make clinical recommendations regarding the integration of interventions addressing prosody in expressive communication and reading comprehension for autistic individuals who have strong word reading skills and poor reading comprehension.
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... First, the number of pause intrusions was calculated in the first three sentences (Chung & Bidelman, 2022;Benjamin & Schwanenflugel, 2010). Pause intrusions were selected for those temporal durations between adjacent Chinese characters exceeding 100 ms in the spectrographs (Chung & Bidelman, 2022;Benjamin & Schwanenflugel, 2010;Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006, 2008. ...
Text difficulty and oral reading prosody in Taiwanese children
Article
Full-text available
Cross-linguistic studies found that reading comprehension correlates with oral reading prosody. The study examined whether text difficulty would be involved in oral reading prosody in orthographically deep languages like Mandarin. One hundred and three fourth-grade children were recruited in Taipei, Taiwan. Their oral reading prosody was elicited by four passages varying in text difficulty and then measured through acoustic analyses and scale ratings. Results revealed that (i) three dimensions of oral reading prosody (i.e., pitch, pause duration, and pause intrusion) were extracted from acoustic variables, regardless of text difficulty, and (ii) easy passages’ oral reading prosody predicted reading comprehension more than a difficult passage’s. The findings suggest that reading comprehension is predicted by oral reading prosody, which could be measured across acoustic analyses (i.e., pause and pitch) and scale ratings (i.e., natural pausing and appropriate intonation). Word reading in a challenging passage constrains children’s semantic and syntactic processing in oral reading prosody for reading comprehension in orthographically deep languages.
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Oral Reading Prosody and Comprehension in Persons With Aphasia: A Preliminary Investigation
Article
  • Nov 2024
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Reading Prosody: A Listening Guide for Teachers
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  • Nov 2024
Prosody is an important indicator of reading development, but many teachers are unclear about how it can help students improve their reading fluency. Beyond demonstrating expressive or flowing reading, specific components of reading prosody can distinctly reveal how well word recognition and comprehension processes coalesce, providing teachers with useful information for their instruction. In this article, we review the research on reading prosody to clarify how differences in intonation, amplitude , and timing components distinguish struggling and strong readers. In addition, we discuss reading prosody considerations for classroom assessment and intervention by sharing insights drawn from educators trained to evaluate it systematically. We aim to clarify how teachers can use these reading prosody components to enhance classroom reading fluency practices.
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Okuma Davranışının Akıcı Okuma Becerisi Üzerindeki Yordayıcılığının İncelenmesi
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  • Sep 2024
The main purpose of this research is to determine the predictive level of reading behavior on fluent reading skill. In addition, the reading behavior levels of the participants were discussed by comparing them according to the grade level variable. The research was conducted with the relational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods. The easily accessible sampling method was used to determine the study group. In this regard, a total of 381 students, 94 second graders, 199 third graders, and 88 fourth graders studying in two different primary schools in Istanbul, were included in the research. Within the scope of the research, two different data collection tools were used: "Reading Behavior Scale" and "Program-Based Measurement" method. Descriptive statistics, normality test, Welch test, correlation and simple linear regression analysis were used in the analysis of the data. The findings revealed that reading behavior differs according to grade level. In addition, it was concluded that there was a negative, moderately significant relationship between students' reading behavior levels and fluent reading skills, and that reading behavior was an important predictor of fluent reading skills. Keywords: Classroom education, primary school, reading, reading fluency, reading behavior.
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What do they say? Assessment of oral reading fluency in early primary school children: A scoping review
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  • Jan 2024
  • Int J Educ Res
Recent studies have shown concern regarding an increased risk of functional illiteracy. A way to reverse this trend concerns focusing on improving reading fluency assessment. However, reading fluency assessment, which concerns quick, accurate and expressive reading, knows many shortcomings. To learn how to overcome these shortcomings, we conducted a scoping review. This review included primary and grey literature regarding the assessment and definitions of reading fluency and its underlying components within early primary education. Searches resulted in 107 relevant records. The results indicate that definitions of reading fluency are frequently not provided, and show discrepancies with assessment procedures.
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O reconhecimento de marcadores prosódicos da escrita do português brasileiro e a fluência de leituraThe recognition of prosodic markers of the writting of Brazilian Portuguese and reading fluencyEl reconocimiento de marcadores prosódicos en la escritura del portugués brasileñoy y la fluidez lectora
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O presente artigo teve como intuito correlacionar proficiência leitora e aspectos prosódicos, mais especificamente com o reconhecimento dos marcadores prosódicos lexicais (MPLs) “berrou”, “sussurrou”, “gritou”, “disse baixinho”, “disse rápido” e “disse devagar”, que são palavras do português brasileiro cuja carga semântica remete a variações prosódicas específicas. Para tanto, produzimos frases-alvo para ocorrerem sob o escopo dos MPLs supracitados as quais foram inseridas em textos cujos contextos fossem adequados aos MPLs investigados. Os textos foram lidos por 15 participantes do sexto ano do ensino fundamental, por 15 participantes estudantes do terceiro ano no ensino médio e por 15 estudantes do sétimo semestre da primeira graduação. A leitura em voz alta foi gravada em cabine tratada acusticamente para análise posterior através da qual foram mensuradas a frequência fundamental, a intensidade e a duração. Os escores brutos foram submetidos a análises estatísticas. O teste estatístico evidenciou diferenças significativas entre os diferentes MPLs. Verificamos que as medidas acústicas de F0 e de intensidade são aumentadas para os MPLs “berrou”, “gritou” e “disse rápido”, ao passo que são diminuídas para os MPLs “sussurrou”, “disse baixinho” e “disse devagar”, sobretudo para os grupos mais escolarizados.
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Rodriquez, C., Gutiérrez, N., Seoane, R. C., González, D., & de León, S. C. (2024). Reading Spanish Prosody: The Role of Word Reading and Syntactic Knowledge. Journal of Literacy Research, 56(2), 102-122. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X241244705
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This study examined the interrelationships among and combined effects of word reading skills and syntactic knowledge on reading prosody in fifth-grade monolingual Spanish-speaking students. We used Spanish standardized tests to assess the participants (n = 169, 79 girls) on word and pseudoword reading skills, syntactic knowledge, and reading prosody. The results revealed significant relationships among these factors and reading prosody. Word reading emerged as a pivotal predictor, whereas syntactic knowledge, although playing a smaller role compared to word reading, was linked to improvements in expression, phrasing, and the reduction of ungrammatical pauses. We also found a non-significant interaction between the independent effects of word reading and syntactic knowledge on reading prosody. The study suggests the potential benefits of integrating explicit syntactic instruction into reading curricula and intervention programs to support the development of reading prosody in Spanish.
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Fluency: A review of developmental and remedial practices
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  • Mar 2003
The authors review theory and research relating to fluency instruction and development. They surveyed the range of definitions for fluency, primary features of fluent reading, and studies that have attempted to improve the fluency of struggling readers. They found that (a) fluency instruction is generally effective, although it is unclear whether this is because of specific instructional features or because it involves children in reading increased amounts of text; (b) assisted approaches seem to be more effective than unassisted approaches; (c) repetitive approaches do not seem to hold a clear advantage over nonrepetitive approaches; and (d) effective fluency instruction moves beyond automatic word recognition to include rhythm and expression, or what linguists refer to as the prosodic features of language.
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The Relationship Between Teachers' Beliefs and Practices in Reading Comprehension Instruction
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  • Sep 1991
This article presents the findings of a study designed to determine the relationship between teachers' beliefs about the teaching of reading comprehension and their classroom practices. The study, dealing with teachers from grades 4, 5, and 6, uses a beliefs interview technique borrowed from anthropology. Predictions about teaching practices were made from the belief interviews of 39 teachers and were related to practices observed in their classrooms. The study demonstrates that the beliefs of teachers in this sample relate to their classroom practices in the teaching of reading comprehension. A case study explores a situation in which the teacher's beliefs did not relate to her practices. This case suggests that the teacher was in the process of changing beliefs and practices, but that the changes in beliefs were preceding changes in practices.
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Creating Fluent Readers
Article
  • Mar 2004
  • EDUC LEADERSHIP
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Effects of Repeated Reading on Second-Grade Transitional Readers' Fluency and Comprehension
Article
  • Oct 1987
The study was designed to investigate the effect of two repeated reading procedures on second-grade transitional readers' (Chall, 1983) oral reading performance with practiced and unpracticed passages. Seventeen transitional readers were selected on the basis of average or better decoding ability but below-average reading rate and were assigned to one of two types of repeated reading training, using either a read-along procedure or independent practice. Results showed that transitional readers' rate, accuracy, comprehension, and prosodic reading (reading in meaningful phrases) were significantly improved by repeated reading practice regardless of the training procedure employed. Gains in repeated reading of practiced passages transferred to unpracticed, similar passages; however, practice on a single passage was not as effective as practice on a series of passages. Prosodic reading was most facilitated by the read-along procedure. /// [French] Cette recherche veut étudier l'effet produit par deux procédés de lecture répétée sur les performances d'élèves de deuxième année ayant atteint un niveau de lecture dit transitionnel (lequel se réfère à la capacité de découpage des syllabes) lorsqu'ils doivent lire à haute voix certains passages déjà lus et certains inconnus. On a sélectionné 17 de ces lecteurs démontrant une habileté au décodage moyenne ou supérieure, mais une vitesse de lecture sous la moyenne. Ils ont été soumis à l'un des deux types d'apprentissage de la lecture répétée, soit un procédé de lire avec le voix d'un lecteur met en bande, soit la pratique individuelle. La vitesse de lecture, l'exactitude, la compréhension et l'intonation (à la lecture de phrases significatives) ont été grandement améliorées grâce à l'exercice de lecture répétée, peu importe le procédé utilisé. On a observé le transfert du progrès réalisé par la lecture répétée lors de passages connus sur des passages semblables mais inconnus. Toutefois, l'exercice avec un seul passage ne s'est pas révélé aussi efficace que l'exercice avec une série de passages. Le procédé de lecture en groupe permettait de lire avec une meilleure intonation. /// [Spanish] El estudio fue diseñado para investigar el efecto que dos procedimientos de lectura repetida tienen en la abilidad de lectura con pasajes practicados y no practicados en lectores transicionales de segundo año. Se seleccionaron 17 estudiantes transicionales en base de su habilidad superior o promedio para decodificar material combinada esta con una velocidad de lectura por debajo del promedio, y fueron asignados a uno de dos tipos de entrenamiento de lectura repetida, utilizando un procedimiento de lectura simultánea con la voz de un lector registrada en cinta, o práctica independiente. La velocidad de lectura, la exactitud, comprensión, y lectura prosódica (lectura en frases con significado) de los lectores transicionales mejoraron significativamente debido a la práctica de la lectura repetida independientemente del procedimiento de entrenamiento empleado. Las mejoras en la lectura repetida de pasajes practicados fue transferida a pasajes similares no practicados; con todo, la práctica de un solo pasaje no fue tan efectiva como la práctica de un serie de pasajes. La lectura simultánea con otro lector fue el procedimiento que más facilitó la lectura prosódica. /// [German] Diese studie wurde entworfen, um den Einfluß von zwei Wiederholungslesen-Vorgängen bei mündlichem Vorlesen von geübten und ungeübten Abschnitten bei Uebergangslesern im zweiten Schuljahr zu erforschen. Siebzehn Uebergangsleser wurden ausgewählt aufgrund von Durchschnitts- oder besserer Entzifferungsfähigkeit, jedoch aufgrund weniger als durchschnittlicher Lesefähigkeit, und diese wurden einer von den beiden Typen von Wiederholungslesen-Klassen zugeteilt, wobei entweder eine Zusammen-Lesen-Prozedur oder aber unabhängiges Lesen durchgeführt wurden. Die Leseschnelle, die Genauigkeit, das Verständnis und Silbenlesen (Lesen in logischen Sätzen) von Uebergangslesern wurde wesentlich verbessert durch wiederholtes Lesen, gleich welche Uebungsmethode benutzt wurde. Fortschritte in wiederholtem Lesen von geübten Abschnitten wurden auf ungeübte Abschnitte übertragen; allerdings war das Ueben eines einzelnen Abschnittes nicht so wirkungsvoll wie das Ueben einer Serie von Abschnitten. Silbenlesen wurde am meisten gefördert durch das Miteinander-Lesen.
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How children learn to read and why they fail
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  • Jan 1996
  • ANN DYSLEXIA
The present article considers the contrast between conceptions of reading as a natural and as an unnatural act, relying on the simple view of reading as a theoretical framework (Gough and Tunmer 1986). According to the simple view, reading comprehension is a product of both listening comprehension and decoding. Here it is argued that the comprehension aspect of reading depends on those same-natural-forces that govern acquisition of spoken language, whereas decoding depends on explicit tutelage, with little evidence that children will induce the cipher from simple exposure to written words and their pronunciations (sight-word instruction). Rejecting both sight-word and phonics instruction as inadequate in and of themselves, evidence is reviewed suggesting that successful readers require explicit awareness of the phonological structure of spoken words, which can and should be taught in kindergarten, prior to formal reading instruction. Beyond this point, reading success depends on a modicum of phonics instruction together with extensive practice with reading itself.
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Fluency in Focus : Comprehension Strategies for All Young Readers
Article
  • Jan 2004
Reading fluency is far more than reading letters and symbols smoothly out loud, it is the bedrock of comprehension. Fluent readers combine all their literacy know-how about orthography, phrasing, intonation, and context to make meaning as they move through a text. But how can teachers help emerging readers become fluent ones? In Fluency in Focus, you will find all the tools you need to create a strong, fluency-based foundation that supports comprehension in all children, including English language learners. Backed by a thorough summation of the latest research and theory, Prescott-Griffin and Witherell offer you a multitude of classroom-tested, well-organized minilessons that cement good fluency habits in your students.
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The Effect of Repeated Readings on Reading Rate, Speech Pauses, and Word Recognition Accuracy
Article
  • Oct 1985
Over a three-month period, eight less able, nonfluent intermediate-grade students in a large midwestern city chose five separate stories to practice repeatedly, following procedures outlined by Dahl (1974) and Samuels (1979). Changes in rate of reading, number of speech pauses, and word recognition accuracy were analyzed for the initial and final reading of the first practiced passage and for the initial and final reading of the last practiced passage. Comprehension was estimated indirectly by combining quality miscues with the total number of words read correctly. Results indicate that rate and scores that reflected comprehension increased significantly and the total number of miscues decreased significantly not only within practiced passages but also between passages. The number of speech pauses remained fairly constant from passage to passage. Automaticity, fluency, and classroom applications are discussed in light of these results. /// [French] Au cours d'une période de trois mois dans une grande ville du centre-ouest des Etats-Unis, huit élèves de cours intermédiaires dont la parole n'était pas courante et à capacites moindres ont choisi cinq histoires différentes à pratiquer de façon répétitive, en suivant les procédés soulignés par Dahl (1974) et Samuels (1979). On analysé les changements en taux de lecture, le nombre de pauses du discours et la précision de reconnaissance des mots pour la lecture initiale et finale du premier passage pratiqué et pour la lecture initiale et finale du dernier passage pratiqué. On a étudié la compréhension indirectement en combinant les erreurs d'interprétation de qualité avec le nombre total des mots lus correctement. Les résultats indiquent que le taux et les notes qui reflètaient la compréhension ont augmenté considérablement et que le nombre total d'erreurs d'interprétation a diminué considérablement non seulement dans les passages pratiqués mais aussi entre passages. Le nombre de pauses du discours est resté assez constant d'un passage à l'autre. L'automatisme, la facilité de paroles et les applications en salle de classe sont en cours de discussion à la suite de ces résultats. /// [Spanish] Durante un periodo de tres meses, ocho estudiantes de habilidad baja, sin fluidez, de escuela intermedia en una ciudad grande del medio-oeste escogieron cinco historias diferentes para practicar repetidamente, siguiendo los procedimientos esbozados por Dahl (1974) y Samuels (1979). Se examinaron los cambios en ritmo de lectura, número de pausas orales, y precisión en reconomiento de palabras en las lecturas inicial y final del primer pasaje practicado y en las lecturas inicial y final del último pasaje practicado. La comprensión se estimó indirectamente combinando la calidad de los errores con el número total de palabras leidas correctamente. Los resultados indicaron que el ritmo y los puntajes que reflejaron comprensión aumentaron significativamente y que el número total de errores disminuyó significativamente no solo dentro de los pasajes practicados sino también entre pasajes. El número de pausas orales se mantuvo más o menos constante de un pasaje al otro. A la luz de estos resultados se discuten automaticidad, fluidez, y aplicaciones para el salón de clases.
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