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Effects of Repeated Reading on Second-Grade Transitional Readers' Fluency and Comprehension
Abstract
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.
... 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). ...
... Previous research demonstrates that these structures are produced with falling F0 across the sentence (Cruttenden, 1981;Eady & Cooper, 1986;Hirst & Di Cristo, 1998;Lieberman, 1967). Moreover, the size of the F0 fall is correlated with reading comprehension skill such that better comprehenders produce larger falls at the end of declarative sentences (S. Dowhower, 1987;Schwanenflugel et al., 2004). Therefore, we predict that the size of the F0 fall will correlate with reading comprehension skill, such that better comprehenders will produce larger F0 falls at the end of declarative statements. ...
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.
... 284). Others stress the importance to fluency of the appropriate use of prosody, or spoken language features that make oral reading expressive (Allington, 1983;Dowhower, 1987;Schreiber, 1987). ...
... Because they cannot consistently identify words rapidly, they may read word-by-word, sometimes repeating or skipping words. They often group words in ways that they would not do in natural speech, making their reading sound choppy (Dowhower, 1987). The result is that non-fluent readers have little attention to devote to comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). ...
... P rosody is a compilation of spoken language features that includes stress or emphasis, pitch variations, intonation, reading rate, and pausing (Dowhower, 1987;Schreiber, 1987). Prosodic reading reflects an understanding of meaningful phrasing and syntax (that is, the ways words are organized in sentences and passages) (Rasinski, 2000). ...
Researchers and practitioners have begun to focus
increased attention on fluency and its contribution to reading success. The purpose of this report is to take a look at what research tells us about the importance of fluency and the factors that affect its development, as well as what is now known about effective fluency instruction.
... To ensure that students receive sufficient practice to become fluent, each passage should be reread until the student attains a performance criterion goal. Literature suggests that supplemental reading instruction with Repeated Readings as a core component can result in improvement in both generalized reading fluency and comprehension (Dowhower 1987;Therrien et al. 2006). ...
... When implementing the Reader's Theatre technique, the student repeatedly reads short, meaningful passages until reaching a high level of fluency. The student receives explicit guidance and feedback from a fluent reader, and after reasonable success, moves to a new selection (Dowhower, 1987;Rasinski, 2004;Tyler & Chard, 2000). There is no memorization of text because the children are asked to creatively interpret the meaning of the passage each time they read. ...
... Research has shown that Repeated Readings of texts at an appropriate instructional level can increase reading fluency for students that struggle with reading (Chard et al. 2002;Dowhower, 1987;LaBerge & Samuels, 1974). As stated above, the Repeated Readings strategy is a fluency-based practice that consists of multiple readings of the same passage until a fluent level is reached, and there are multiple ways to carry out Repeated Readings. ...
... RR's effectiveness in developing reading fluency has been studied in English L1 contexts among school-age children. Specifically, RR has been shown to increase reading rate (Carver & Hoffman, 1981;Dowhower, 1987;Herman, 1985;Kuhn, 2005;Rasinski, 1990;Rashotte & Torgesen, 1985). Gains in reading rate can be transferred to unpracticed texts (Dowhower, 1987;Herman, 1985;Rashotte & Torgesen, 1985). ...
... Specifically, RR has been shown to increase reading rate (Carver & Hoffman, 1981;Dowhower, 1987;Herman, 1985;Kuhn, 2005;Rasinski, 1990;Rashotte & Torgesen, 1985). Gains in reading rate can be transferred to unpracticed texts (Dowhower, 1987;Herman, 1985;Rashotte & Torgesen, 1985). For example, Dowhower (1987) reported that second graders increased their oral reading rate by over 75% in both assisted and unassisted treatments. ...
... Gains in reading rate can be transferred to unpracticed texts (Dowhower, 1987;Herman, 1985;Rashotte & Torgesen, 1985). For example, Dowhower (1987) reported that second graders increased their oral reading rate by over 75% in both assisted and unassisted treatments. Similarly, Rasinski (1990) found that third graders improved their oral reading rate by 20% in a short, assisted RR intervention and by 25% in a short, unassisted RR intervention. ...
... This method is called Repeated Reading (RR). In Western countries, it has been practiced to help slow and halting readers to increase fluency for more than a century (Dowhower, 1987), and in Japan, it is regarded as a traditional form of "learning" and called sodoku (素読) or ondoku (音読). On the Japanese market, one can find a large number of books about success stories of people who managed to improve their English skills through the excessive amount of RR. ...
... Most of the studies on RR have been conducted in the field of reading research, and the results have shown that RR is an 9 effective method in enhancing learners' reading fluency and comprehension both in L1 and second language (L2) learning (Samuels, 1997;Dowhower, 1987;Rasinsky, 1990;Herman, 1985;Wang & Kuo, 2011;Wang, Wu, & Dai, 2016;Chang & Millett, 2013;Taguchi, 1997;Taguchi, Takayasu-Maass, & Gorsuch, 2004). ...
... In this study, the method of RR was administered. Since Samuels (1979) presented RR as an instructional method, a large amount of empirical research has shown its effectiveness in enhancing reading fluency and comprehension skills in L1 learning (Samuels, 1997;Dowhower, 1987;Rasinsky, 1990;Herman, 1985). From around 2000, more and more RR research was conducted in L2 learning, and the results showed that RR is an effective method for L2 learners not only in developing reading fluency (Wang & Kuo, 2011;Wang, Wu, & Dai, 2016;Chang & Millett, 2013;Taguchi, 1997;Taguchi, Takayasu-Maass, & Gorsuch, 2004) but also in fostering vocabulary acquisition (Webb & Chang, 2012;Serrano & Huang, 2018;Liu & Todd, 2016;Han & Chen, 2010). ...
... It is reflected by appropriate phrasing, pauses, stress and intonation. This involves raising or lowering the tone at the end of a sentence according to the type of sentence, putting stress on certain words or syllables, making breaks in appropriate places, grouping words in syntactically and semantically coherent chunks and assigning the correct expression based on the meaning of the text and the intention of the author (Dowhower, 1987). Studies suggest that reading prosody and reading comprehension are linked, but the directionality of this relation is debated. ...
... In the RATP, the tutor helps the student produce appropriate prosody by modeling prosody and by providing performance feedback on the components of prosody. Although studies have shown that RR can lead to improvement in students' reading prosody in addition to word-level automaticity (Dowhower, 1987;Kuhn, 2004;Zimmerman et al., 2019), other studies suggest that prosodic skills must be explicitly taught because training in automaticity does not necessarily improve these skills (Ardoin et al., 2013;Calet et al., 2017). The RATP also includes assisted wide reading, another practice used to improve reading fluency (Ardoin et al., 2016;Wexler et al., 2008). ...
The purpose of this study was to investigate if a group of sixth-grade low achievement language minority (LM) students’ reading skills could be improved by an intervention designed to train reading fluency, a critical component of reading development, defined as integrating speed and accuracy (reading rate) as well as prosody. The study included 54 sixth-grade LM students attending a low socio-economic school. Two groups matched on different reading and control measures were randomly assigned to an intervention condition, which consisted of a tutored reading aloud intervention combining repeated reading, assisted wide reading and modeling prosody or a control condition where students achieved their usual classroom activities. Reading rate (number of words correctly read per minute), prosody and comprehension were assessed. Students who received the intervention scored better on measures of reading prosody but not on reading rate and comprehension measures than students from the control group. The discussion questions the lack of apparent results in reading rate in relation to the progress made in reading prosody.
... Early research on reading prosody found that interventions which included a repeated reading component supported students' ability to read slowly and in meaningful phrases (Dowhower, 1987). These findings provided initial evidence that the ability to read with prosody is an important component of oral reading fluency which also supports comprehension outcomes (e.g., Kuhn, 2005;National Reading Panel, 2000). ...
... Alternatively, research suggests that rate and accuracy are a prerequisite for reading prosody. Once students have achieved quick and accurate reading, they can begin achieving reading prosody outcomes that support reading comprehension enhancement (Allington, 1983;Dowhower, 1987;1991;Young et al., 1996). More specifically, when controlling for rate and accuracy, reading prosody measured through difficult text accounted for a moderate percentage of variance in comprehension scores (Benjamin & Schwanenflugel, 2010). ...
Research on prosody suggests it is an important consideration for both reading fluency and reading comprehension however research on how to teach prosody is limited. This systematic review expands the understanding of prosody by examining intervention studies of prosody focused on instruction to improve syntax and phrasing outcomes. A total of 18 studies between 1985 and 2020 (N = 770, Grades K-12) met inclusion criteria. Six studies were experimental and 13 were quasi experimental. Intervention instruction focused on modeling, instruction on a specific prosody component (e.g., syntax and phrasing), repeated reading, partner reading, independent reading, silent reading, choral reading, readers theater, and computer programs. Overall findings indicate interventions which include repeated reading and one or more of the following, modeled reading or immediate feedback have larger effects on prosody compared to interventions that include repeated reading and only instruction on a specific prosody component (e.g., syntax and phrasing).
... Based on evidence from disabled adults (n = 20) who participated in a pretest-posttest designed experiment, she reported that the practice was an effective vocabulary building strategy. In contrast, opposite results were found in a study with children (Dowhower, 1987). For seven weeks, elementary students (n = 17) read five story texts in one of two conditions of repeated-reading: reading-only and listening-while reading, using a pretest-posttest design. ...
... Listening can assist reading comprehension in the same way that reading can assist listening comprehension. However, a common practice amongst researchers is to adopt one stance towards bimodal input (i.e., which mode assists the other) depending on the primary modality in the study (e.g., assisted reading, Dowhower, 1987;Webb & Chang, 2012). For instance, in L2 captioned video studies, vocabulary researchers generally argue that captions assist listening and neglect that listening also plays a role in supporting the processing of captions. ...
The aim of this thesis is to study the role of imagery in L2 captioned video by examining modality (Study 1), contiguity (Study 2), and spacing (Study 3) effects in incidental vocabulary learning from extensive TV viewing. An experimental design was employed in which one hundred seventy-three Algerian EFL learners in their third year of the Linguistics Bachelor programme were randomly assigned to either a Control, View, or Non-View group. Treatment participants watched two full-length seasons of documentary series extending to eight viewing hours, over a six-week period of two-week intervals. The View group watched the episodes in the form of L2 captioned video while the Non-View group had the imagery hidden and were therefore exposed to L2 audio and L2 captions only. Four levels of word knowledge were measured: meaning recall and recognition (posttest only) and spoken and written form recognition (pretest-posttest). Study 1 assessed the effect of obscuring imagery on incidental learning of twenty words using a between-participants design. The results showed successful word learning regardless of the presence of imagery. Study 2 investigated the effect of verbal-visual contiguity (the co-occurrence of a word and its visual referent) on incidental learning of twenty-eight words using a within-participants design (View group only). It introduced contigfrequency, contigduration, and contigratio as three measures of contiguity on two timespans (∓7 seconds and ∓25 seconds) that were longer than those used in previous studies. The results showed that the amount of time visual referents appeared on the screen (contigduration), measured in a ∓25 second timeframe relative to the verbal occurrence, was predictive of learning. These results were more pronounced in the meaning recognition test. Study 3 explored whether words would be learned better when their occurrences were spread across viewing sessions (spaced condition), as compared to appearing within a single session (massed condition) by measuring the incidental learning of eight matched word pairs using a between-items design. It also examined whether learning in these two spacing conditions was influenced by the presence of imagery. The results revealed a positive effect of spaced occurrences in the Non-View group but not the View group, suggesting that a spacing advantage is more likely when fewer cues are available. These results were limited to knowledge of meaning only.
... Additionally, children use fluctuations of intonation patterns to process spoken sentences even at age 4 and 5 years (Yang & Chen, 2018;Wells et al., 2004). Indeed, children read sentences aloud prosodically, according to the built-in intonation patterns they have acquired through ordinary conversation (Allington, 1983;Dowhower, 1987;Schreiber, 1980Schreiber, , 1987Schreiber, , 1991. Intonation fluctuations may help chunk spoken sentences into phrases (Kraljic & Brennan, 2005;Schafer et al., 2000;Snedeker & Trueswell, 2003) for syntactic processing. ...
... These findings suggest that children better comprehend texts when mastering oral reading prosody as evidenced by fewer pause intrusions and similar pitch fluctuations as adults during verbal reading. This might be due to the fact that children who read sentences prosodically (Allington, 1983;Dowhower, 1987;Schreiber, 1980Schreiber, , 1987Schreiber, , 1991 would develop implicit prosody in silent reading (an expressive inner voice), which guides syntactic processing for reading comprehension (Breen, 2014;Fodor, 1998;Webman-Shafran, 2018). ...
Purpose
The study aimed to examine whether oral reading prosody—the use of acoustic features (e.g., pitch and duration variations) when reading passages aloud—predicts reading fluency and comprehension abilities.
Method
We measured vocabulary, syntax, word reading, reading fluency (including rate and accuracy), reading comprehension (in Grades 3 and 4), and oral reading prosody in Taiwanese third-grade children ( N = 109). In the oral reading prosody task, children were asked to read aloud a passage designed for third graders and then to answer forced-choice questions. Their oral reading prosody was measured through acoustic analyses including the number of pause intrusions, intersentential pause duration, phrase-final comma pause duration, child–adult pitch match, and sentence-final pitch change.
Results
Analyses of variance revealed that children's number of pause intrusions differed as a function of word reading. After controlling for age, vocabulary and syntactic knowledge, and word reading, we found that different dimensions of oral reading prosody contributed to reading rate. In contrast, the number of pause intrusions, phrase-final comma pause duration, and child–adult pitch match predicted reading accuracy and comprehension.
Conclusions
Oral reading prosody plays an important role in children's reading fluency and reading comprehension in tone languages like Mandarin. Specifically, children need to read texts prosodically as evidenced by fewer pause intrusions, shorter phrase-final comma pause duration, and closer child–adult pitch match, which are early predictive makers of reading fluency and comprehension.
... Pauses contribute to characterize rhythm and intonation patterns. Several studies have informed that the frequency of those pauses could be related to automaticity and comprehension (Benjamin & Schwanenflugel, 2010;Dowhower, 1987). It means, the less able readers tend to do more pauses in an inappropriate way than good readers, which may affect their reading comprehension (Dowhower, 1991). ...
... A phrase is appropriate when the group of words that makes it as such is syntactic and phonologically acceptable (Dowhower, 1991). Different studies (Benjamin & Schwanenflugel, 2010;Dowhower, 1987;Miller & Schwanenflugel, 2006) observed that appropriate phrasing could affect positively reading comprehension. ...
Readers' theatre is a teaching strategy that consists of the interpretative reading of theatrical texts in which readers use their voices to give life to the characters. This strategy promotes the development of various skills related to fluency, among which there is prosody. This research aimed to check the efficacy of a reader's theatre program on the prosody of oral reading. Eleven dyslexic students from the third and fourth grade of the primary school participated in this study, and who were distributed in two groups. To check the program effectiveness, a program evaluation method was used following the CIIP model and a pre-experimental pre-test post-test design. As a dependent variable, prosody and the prosodic characteristics were used and measured through the Prosody Assessment Scale. Findings showed a significant prosody improvement as well as the prosodic features. In addition, the results obtained by the program were similar in both groups of students. These findings suggest the readers' theatre is an effective strategy for improving the prosody of reading in schoolchildren of those ages and confirm that this strategy can be used as a part of an integral program for fluency development.
... Reading decoding skill refers to the effort and work required by students to decode written language orally (Allington, 1983;Samuels, 1979). The less developed this skill is, the more hesitations and inappropriate pauses interfere with students' oral reading (Dowhower, 1987). As students learn to read, inadequate pauses' frequency shifts progressively following a typical path: pause between syllables (syllabic reading), between words (word-by-word reading), and then between groups of words (short unit reading). ...
By drawing data from first-to sixth-grade students of 12 Chilean schools, we examined the evolution of COVID-19 pandemic-driven losses in two components of oral reading proficiency: reading decoding skills and reading speed. Our dataset spans from 2018 to 2022, enabling us to compare students' results after the fully remote 2020, the incomplete resumption of in-person learning in 2021 and the massive return in 2022. We used multivariate regression models corrected for sample selection bias. Reading proficiency losses were more significant and persistent in reading speed, and they were higher among socially disadvantaged students entering first grade in 2020-2022. These findings uphold that school disruption affected the reading proficiency of cohorts beginning school during the pandemic more significantly and long-lastingly.
... To avoid the problem of insufficient vocabulary overlap when using multiple graded readers or dissimilar texts, only one text was employed (Table 1). This text was selected according to Day and Bamford's (1998) interpretation of Samuels' (1979) easy material requirement (i minus 1 theory), which refers to material that is below each reader's i level (current level of linguistic competence). This was done to provide a good fit between the readers and texts (Chall and Dale, 1995). ...
English as a foreign language (EFL) learners often read at rates below recommended reading speeds needed for reading fluency. Two methods are often employed to facilitate reading rates: unassisted repeated reading (UARR) and audio-assisted repeated reading (AARR). Both approaches have demonstrated significant gains. However, the two methods’ effects have not been explored and compared in the course of one investigation. To address this, an experimental design was employed with undergraduate EFL learners (N = 50) at a university in Southern Vietnam. The results indicated that both procedures produced significant positive gains; however, the AARR showed a significantly higher effect than UARR (77.27, 44.72, p < 0.001). As no prior studies were found to have compared these two techniques, it is hoped that the findings will practically and theoretically further the literature regarding their comparative effectiveness.
... This indicates that KWG increases the prosodic reading skills of students and is effective in developing this skill. It is observed that the studies in the literature related to prosody are studies examining the relationship between comprehension and understanding in general (Dowhower, 1987(Dowhower, , 1994Kuhn, Schwanenflugel, & Meisinger, 2010;Miller & Schwanengflugel, 2008;Rasinski, Padak, & Fawcett, 2009) and there are no studies examining the relationship between word games or vocabulary and prosody. Therefore, it is possible to say that there is a gap at this point. ...
... Repeated reading can be categorized into two types: assisted and unassisted or unassisted (Dowhower, 1987;Stahl & Kuhn, 2002;Taguchi, Gorsuch, Lems, & Rosszell, 2016). Assisted repeated reading involves the use of models for fluent reading, such as a a teacher, parent, peer, tape recording, or some other method. ...
The ability to read during the early years of education plays a crucial role in students’ academic life. However, Cycle One Omani students continue to face significant challenges in reading fluently and comprehending texts. Many students struggle to read the assigned texts within a reasonable time, which negatively affects their ability to answer comprehension questions. This research paper focuses on grade three and four teachers’ opinion in North Al-Batinah Governorate regarding the repeated reading method, which they have been implementing in their classrooms for over six years. A designed and validated online questionnaire, to which 121 teachers responded was used to collect data. The study revealed that the majority of the participants strongly agreed on the effectiveness of the RR method in enhancing grade three and four students’ English language learning skills, particularly their reading fluency and overall English proficiency. Moreover, the data showed that RR is an effective, new and useful method, which made the teaching environment more interesting and broke the usual routine of teaching the reading skill. In addition, the results indicated that most grade three and four students enjoyed the RR experience and were motivated and eager when applying the RR method. Therefore, this study is one of the few in Oman to have investigated primary students’ reading skill, so it makes a distinguished contribution to the Omani context with regard to investigating young learners’ reading skills and strategies.
... Savaiano ve Hatton (2013) yaptıkları çalışmada tekrarlı okuma yönteminin görmede zorluk yaşayan çocukları üstünde pratik bir etkisi olduğu sonucuna varmışlardır. Dowhower (1987) tamamladığı çalışmasında tekrarlı okumanın okumayı geliştirdiği, okuma sırasında yapılan yanlışları azalttığı, okuduğunu anlama becerilerini geliştirdiği sonucuna ulaşmıştır. Özellikle ilkokul kademesinde öğretmenlerimiz bu yöntemi işe koyarak çocuklarda var olan bu problemin çözümüne katkı sağlayarak çocukların istenilen düzeyde okuma faaliyetini gerçekleştirmelerine, akıcı okumalarına, okuma sırasında gerçekleştirdikleri okuma hatalarını azaltmalarına ve okuduklarını anlamalarına yardımcı olabilirler. ...
... For example, vowels in stressed words have longer pronunciations than vowels in unstressed words (Temperley, 2009). A vowel's pronunciation can even be longer during the phrase-final lengthening, which is the lengthening of the vowel at the final position of a phrase (e.g., Dowhower, 1987Dowhower, , 1991Edwards et al., 1991;Turk & Shattuck-Hufnagel, 2007). Research has shown that appropriate phrase-final lengthening is a good indicator of readers chunking the reading material (Cooper & Cooper, 1980;Dowhower, 1991), which enhances reading comprehension (Stevens, 1981). ...
The purpose of this study was to examine if prosodic patterns in oral reading derived from Recurrence Quan-tification Analysis (RQA) could distinguish between struggling and skilled German readers in Grades 2 (n = 67) and 4 (n = 69). Furthermore, we investigated whether models estimated with RQA measures outperformed models estimated with prosodic features derived from prosodic transcription. According to the findings, struggling second graders appear to have a slower reading rate, longer intervals between pauses, and more repetitions of recurrent amplitudes and pauses, whereas struggling fourth graders appear to have less stable pause patterns over time, more pitch repetitions, more similar amplitude patterns over time, and more repetitions of pauses. Additionally, the models with prosodic patterns outperformed models with prosodic features. These findings suggest that the RQA approach provides additional information about prosody that complements an established approach.
... 33). Teacher read-alouds may be labeled as listening while reading when teachers read aloud out of textbooks that students have access to, because students are encouraged to follow along silently as they listen to their teacher read (Ariail & Albright, 2006;Dowhower, 1987). ...
For decades, K-12 teachers across the United States have read aloud to their students, whether it be to model fluent reading, to promote vocabulary acquisition, or out of pure enjoyment. As social justice becomes a more prevalent topic in classrooms across the country, interactive read-alouds are being used to introduce and discuss complex and delicate topics, like human rights and social justice. While students at all junctures of development and learning embrace and benefit from reading aloud, existing research primarily takes place in elementary school settings. Furthermore, literature used to explore social justice issues usually involves picture books rather than longer texts like chapter books. This study was designed to gain insight into how a classroom teacher facilitated a nonfiction chapter book read-aloud and how the students responded to the social justice themes represented in the chapter book. The study took place over the span of 18 days in a Midwest ninth-grade classroom. The theoretical underpinnings that framed the study were constructivism, transactional theory of reader response and critical literacy. Data were collected and analyzed using qualitative case study principles. Study results reveal five emerging themes across the research questions, including expressive reading; spontaneity; redemption; empathy; and awareness.
... When we examined the research, we discovered that there was a significant relationship between reading accuracy, reading speed, and prosodic reading skills. When the results of the studies in the literature are examined, it is seen that they support the results of this research (Dowhower, 1987;Schwanenflugel et al., 2004). In contrast to these studies, however, Bigozza et al. (2017) found that there was no significant relationship between reading speed and reading comprehension. ...
This study aims to examine the relationship between reading speed, accurate reading, prosodic reading, and reading comprehension skills, as well as to show the current state of affairs. The study group for the document review-based research consists of publications published between 2011 and 2022 that examine the association between fluent reading and reading skills in Web of Science, Tr-index, Google Scholar, and Eric. According to the " Inclusion Criteria" developed by the researchers, fifteen studies were included in the research for analysis after being pre-evaluated. When the studies comprising the study group were examined using the collected codes, it was revealed that there was a strong association between reading accuracy, reading speed, prosodic reading, and reading comprehension. In other words, there is a linear link between these skills that are supposed to be acquired during the read-write process, and these talents are complementary. Therefore, it is recommended to raise awareness and place a greater emphasis on these skills to guarantee that they are acquired optimally during elementary school.
... Mevcut araştırmada okuma hatalarının okuduğunu anlama becerisinin anlamlı bir yordayıcısı olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Elde edilen bu bulgu, alan yazında yer alan ve okuma hatalarının okuduğunu anlama becerisi üzerinde etkisini raporlayan çalışmaları desteklemektedir (Başar, Batur ve Karasu, 2014;Dowhower, 1987). Ayrıca elde edilen bu bulgunun alan yazında yer alan akıcı okuma yöntemleri esas alınarak hazırlanmış müdahale programlarının öğrencilerin akıcı okuma becerilerini geliştiren ve bu gelişimin okuduğunu anlamayı da artırdığını raporlayan çalışmaların sonuçlarıyla da paralellik gösterdiği söylenebilir (M. ...
Araştırmanın ilk amacı, ilkokul üçüncü sınıfa devam öğrencilerin ön bilgileri, okuma hataları ve kelime tanıma becerilerinin okuduğunu anlama becerisini yordama düzeyini incelenmektir. Araştırmanın ikinci amacı ise öğrencilerin sahip oldukları ön bilgilerin okuma hataları üzerindeki etkisini ortaya koymaktır. Araştırma, tarama modellerinden korelasyonel tarama modelinde gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu 75 üçüncü sınıf öğrencisi oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada ön bilgilerin ölçülmesi için Cümle Doğrulama tekniği (CDT), kelime tanıma becerisinin ölçülmesi için dakikada okunan doğru kelime sayısı, anlama becerisinin ölçülmesi için ise Yanlış Analiz Envanteri’nin soru ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın verileri çoklu regresyon path analizi ile analiz edilmiştir. Path analizi ise AMOS 24 paket programı kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgulara göre, kelime tanıma ile ön bilgi arasındaki korelasyonun .40 olduğu görülmektedir. Benzer şekilde kelime tanıma ile okuma hatası arasındaki korelasyonun -.54, okuma hatası ile ön bilgi arasındaki korelasyonun ise -.70 olduğu görülmektedir. Öte yandan standardize edilmiş regresyon katsayıları dikkate alındığında kelime tanıma, okuduğunu anlamanın anlamlı bir yordayıcısı değildir (β=.09, p>.05). Ancak okuma hatası (β=-.46, p<.001) ve ön bilgi (β=.40, p<.001) okuduğunu anlama becerisinin anlamlı birer yordayıcısıdır. Araştırmada elde edilen bir başka önemli bulgu ise okuduğunu anlama becerisinde meydana gelen değişimin %72’lik kısmı konuyla ilgili ön bilgiler, okuma hataları ve kelime tanıma becerisi tarafından açıklanmaktadır. Ayrıca öğrencilerin sahip olduğu ön bilgiler sözlü okuma hatalarındaki değişimin %49’unu açıklamaktadır ve ön bilgi okuma hatalarının anlamlı bir yordayıcısıdır.
... Prosodic reading and comprehension are directly related to each other (Dowhower, 1987;Dowhower, 1991;Schreiber, 1991;Schreiber and Read, 1980). When an improved level of automaticity occurs, the reader constructs meaning to the text by expressive reading. ...
... For example, vowels in stressed words have longer pronunciations than vowels in unstressed words . A vowel's pronunciation can even be longer during the phrase-final lengthening, which is the lengthening of the vowel at the final position of a phrase (e.g., Dowhower, 1987Edwards et al., 1991;Turk & Shattuck-Hufnagel, 2007). Research has shown that appropriate phrase-final lengthening is a good indicator of readers chunking the reading material (Cooper & Cooper, 1980;, which enhances reading comprehension (Stevens, 1981). ...
Reading skills are among the most important basic skills in society. However, not all readers are able to adequately understand texts or decode individual words. Findings from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS; German: IGLU) show that about one fifth of fourth graders can only establish coherence at the local level, and in some cases they only have a rudimentary understanding of the text they read (Bremerich-Vos et al., 2017). In addition, these reading deficits persist and have a negative impact on academic and professional success (Jimerson, 1999). Therefore, identifying the causes of these deficits and creating opportunities for interventions at an early stage is an important research objective. The aim of this dissertation was to examine the relationship between the aspects of reading fluency and their influence on reading comprehension. Despite the increasing scientific interest in reading fluency in recent years, a research gap still exists in the relationship between word recognition accuracy and both speed and the relevance of prosodic patterns for reading comprehension. Study 1 investigated whether German fourth graders (N = 826) were required to reach a certain word-recognition accuracy threshold before their word-recognition speed improved. In addition, a sub-sample (n = 170) with a pre-/posttest design was examined to assess the extent that the existing word-recognition accuracy can influence the effects of a syllable-based reading intervention on word-recognition accuracy and word-recognition speed. Results showed that word-recognition speed improved after children achieved a word-recognition accuracy of 71%. A positive intervention effect was also found on word-recognition accuracy for children who were below the 71% threshold before the intervention, whereas the intervention effect on word-recognition speed was positive for all children. However, a positive effect on reading comprehension was only found for children who were above the 71% threshold before the intervention. Study 2 investigated the relationship between word-recognition accuracy threshold and word-recognition speed shown in the first study in a longitudinal design with German students (N = 1,095). Word-recognition accuracy and speed were assessed from the end of Grade 1 to 4, whereas reading comprehension was assessed from the end of Grade 2 to 4. The results showed that the developmental trajectories of word recognition speed and reading comprehension were steeper in children who reached the word-recognition accuracy threshold by the end of the first grade than in children who later reached or had not reached this threshold. In Study 3, recurrence analysis (RQA) was used to extract prosodic patterns from reading recordings of struggling and skilled readers in the second (n = 67) and fourth grade (n = 69) and was used for the classification into struggling and skilled readers. In addition, the classification based on the prosodic patterns from the recurrence quantification analysis was compared with the classification of prosodic features from the manual transcription of the reading recordings. The results showed that second-grade struggling readers have lengthier pauses within or between words and take more time between pauses on average, whereas fourth-grade struggling readers spend more time between recurring stresses and have multiple diverse patterns in pitch and more recurring accents. Although the recurrence analysis had a good goodness of fit and provided additional information about the relationship of prosody with reading comprehension, the model using prosodic features from transcription had a better fit. In summary, the three studies in this dissertation provide four important insights into reading fluency in German. First, a threshold in word-recognition accuracy must be achieved before word-recognition speed improves. Second, the earlier this accuracy level is reached, the greater the gain in word-recognition speed and reading comprehension. Third, the intervention effects of a primary school reading intervention are influenced by the accuracy level. Fourth, although incorrect pauses within or between words play an important role in identifying and describing struggling readers in second grade, the importance of prosodic patterns increases in fourth grade.
... contour (Clay and Imlach, 1971;Cowie, Douglas-Cowie and Wichmann, 2002;Schwanenflugel, 2006, 2008;. Prosodic reading improves also after practice, i.e. repeated text reading (e.g., Dowhower, 1987;Herman, 1985). Note that improvement in children reading prosody allows predicting later fluency achievement, also controlling for word reading efficiency and text reading rate (Miller and Schwanenflugel, 2008). ...
Visual and linguistic factors in literacy acquisition: Instructional Implications For Beginning Readers in Low-Income Countries. A literature review prepared for the Global Partnership for Education, c/o World Bank.
... As mentioned above, oral reading prosody refers to individual variability in using acoustic features (e.g., pitch and duration variations) presented in ordinary conversation for reading aloud sentences in texts (Allington, 1983;Dowhower, 1987;Schreiber, 1980Schreiber, , 1987Schreiber, , 1991. As long as individuals read aloud with prosodic fluctuations, they would chunk sentences into phrases (Kraljic & Brennan, 2005;Schafer et al., 2000;Snedeker & Trueswell, 2003) for syntactic processing. ...
Several cross-linguistic studies found that oral reading prosody (i.e., prosodic variations in reading aloud) correlates with reading comprehension. As an extension, the present study aimed to examine the relationship between oral reading prosody and beyond word-level reading abilities in tone languages like Mandarin. One hundred and nine third-grade children were recruited in Taipei, Taiwan and undertook the following tasks: nonverbal IQ, vocabulary and syntactic knowledge, word reading, reading fluency (rate and accuracy), reading comprehension, and oral reading prosody. In the oral reading prosody task, children read aloud narrative prose at the Grade 3 level and their production was evaluated through two rating scales: Rasinski's (2004) and Benjamin et al.'s (2013) scales. Several key findings were found as follows. First, ANOVAs compared children’s performance on oral reading prosody across word reading quartiles and found that oral reading prosody differed as a function of word reading. Second, hierarchical regressions controlled age, nonverbal IQ, vocabulary and syntactic knowledge, word reading and found that oral reading prosody rated through Rasinski's (2004) and Benjamin et al.'s (2013) scales made significant contributions to reading fluency and reading comprehension in Grades 3 and 4. Taken together, oral reading prosody, implicated in word reading, is important to beyond word-level reading abilities.
... Repeated reading has been studied extensively in L1 English settings as a means for improving reading fluency among beginning readers and learning-disabled children (Lee & Yoon, 2017;Kuhn & Stahl, 2003;Meyer & Felton, 1999;National Reading Panel, 2000;Therrien, 2004). Rate gains have been observed both when students read the same text repeatedly and when reading unfamiliar texts after RR intervention (Dowhower, 1987;Kuhn, 2005;Lee & Yoon, 2017;Rasinski, 1990;Therrien, 2004). In Lee and Yoon's (2017) meta-analysis of 34 studies of RR among reading-disabled primary-and secondary-grade students, all studies reported WPM rate gains from pretest to posttest with posttest means about 1.41 standard deviations higher than pretest WPM rates. ...
Repeated reading is a popular intervention used to help struggling readers by exposing them to the same text multiple times. While the approach has been effective in L1 and some EFL settings, little research has explored its effectiveness compared against a control group or among ESL learners. Our study examined reading rate gains using words per minute and four eye-tracking measures with 46 mid-intermediate ESL learners grouped into three 14-week treatment groups: a control group that read 26 text passages (about two per week) just once through, another that read the same passages twice in each sitting, and a third that read the passages three times per sitting. Data collection on unfamiliar reading passages took place at 7-week intervals. While results indicated no significant difference among the groups, reading rate did improve significantly in all measures within the first seven weeks but tapered off in the final seven weeks. Eye-tracking measures revealed that readers made fewer regressions and skipped fewer words but gazed at words for less time by week 7, a finding that suggests reading fluency interventions helped students become more fluent readers. While these findings corroborate previous L1 and EFL research and provide support for the efficacy of reading fluency intervention, more research is needed to understand specific contexts in which repeated reading is most efficacious.
... Reading comprehension requires reading fluency skills. In their studies, Başaran (2013), Yamaç and Sezgin (2018), Yılmaz (2008), Samuels (1979), Herman, (1985), Dowhower, (1987, Sinderal, Monda, and O'shea (1990) determined the effects of repeated reading on comprehension and revealed similar results as the present study. ...
The study was aimed to find out the effect of oral reading method based on self-evaluation on fluent reading and reading comprehension of fourth grade elementary students. The search was designed using a mixed method of nested mixed method patterns. In the quantitative dimension of the search from the quasi-experimental models, the unaligned pretest-posttest control grouped pattern was used. In qualitative dimension, interview sand document analysis were conducted. The study group of the research consisted of the fourth grade students at the a Primary School in the province of Nevsehir in Turkey in 2018-2019 academic year. In order to prevent time and cost loss in the determination of the study group, non-selective status sampling method was used. Based on the self-evaluation reading method, the applications were made in the class of their searcher and the other one in the school was determined as the control group. Experimental and control groups were determined (both n = 10). Statistical techniques were used to compare the pre-post-test results of each group. In addition, content analysis method was used to determine the opinions of the experimental group about the application. As to the result it has been observed that reading method based on self-evaluation is effective in improving the correct reading, reading, and reading comprehension skills of the students. It was determined that there was not a significant difference in gender except reading speed in the development of these skills.
... ** p < 0.010. *** p < 0.001 interventions (e.g., Downhower, 1987), most repeated reading studies in which word reading efficiency was trained through repeated reading of isolated words instead of connected text passages did not succeed to obtain transfer effects. Most repeated word reading interventions primarily boosted poor readers' word reading efficiency on trained words or words that included syllables that were explicitly trained in isolation (e.g., Huemer et al., 2010). ...
In the present study, a 5‐week tablet‐based word reading efficiency game intervention (Reading Turbo) was integrated in a comprehensive phonics‐based reading curriculum. The aims of the study were to examine whether the game would advance children's word reading efficiency, and to determine the extent to which pre‐reading capacities and in‐game mechanisms could explain individual variation in responsiveness to the game. To do so, word reading efficiency scores of first graders in an intervention group (n = 132) and a control group that continued with the usual reading curriculum (n = 118) were compared prior to, directly after, and 2 months after the 5‐week intervention period. Individual variation in responsiveness was examined by relating reading precursors (i.e., phonological awareness, letter efficiency, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and verbal working memory) measured at the onset of the intervention, and in‐game accuracy and efficiency to word reading efficiency outcomes in untrained words. Results indicated that playing the word reading game significantly enhanced first graders' word reading efficiency directly after the intervention, but the effect was no longer significant 2 months after the intervention. With respect to individual variation in game responsiveness, it was found that phonological awareness, letter efficiency, and verbal working memory predicted responsiveness to the game via in‐game accuracy. In addition, phonological awareness and RAN predicted responsiveness to the game via in‐game efficiency, and letter efficiency and verbal working memory were directly related to responsiveness. The effectiveness of the word reading game thus differentiated between children with higher and lower pre‐reading capacities, and operated via in‐game child affordances.
... Samuels [21] suggested that automaticity in reading could be trained through procedures involving repeated reading. As Samuels commented: teachers [23][24][25][26][27][28], parents [29,30], as well as peer tutors [31][32][33][34][35]. The evidence from these various types of implementation has been positive, effects have often been rapidly obtained, and variations in implementation procedures have produced similar positive effects (e.g. ...
Dr. Charles Potter’s Reading Fluency Programme implements individual learning programmes focusing on children’s learning needs. The methods and materials can be used in the treatment of dyslexia, as well as for working with children with reading, writing, and spelling difficulties or difficulties with rate of work at school. The programmes are activity-based, and are introduced through online sessions related to the child’s individual learning needs as identified through initial assessment and ongoing evaluation. Based on assessment, an individual programme is developed for the child, focusing on areas of need. The programme then uses electronic books, activity books and materials for treatment of phonological and phonemic difficulties, phonic difficulties, as well as linked problems with reading, writing, spelling, reading comprehension and working memory development. This chapter provides theoretical background on the neurolinguistic basis of the programme’s methods and materials, which have been developed internationally and implemented pre COVID with both first and second language speakers of English. It also provides information on how the materials have been implemented post COVID using activity-based online learning formats, and the results of children based on pre and post assessments.
... Therefore, it remains to be confirmed how many repetitions may most benefit a given group of L2 learners. For L1 readers, Dowhower (1987) suggests an optimal number of between three and five repetitions, though other recent studies (Ardoin et al., 2008;Foster et al., 2013;Manlanga, 2003) have used different numbers, ranging from two to four, indicating that the optimal number of repetitions may differ, depending on readers' fluency development. We wonder whether learners whose fluency is limited may need more repetitions initially, but fewer as their fluency grows. ...
Audio-assisted Repeated Reading (RR) is a method which scaffolds L2 readers to build fluency. This study focused on 27 U.S. college-level learners of Japanese comprising three ability groups from mid-beginner to low-intermediate. It aimed to explore whether a modest semester-long RR program facilitates learners’ fluency growth, and see how the learners perceive the method itself using a questionnaire. We found beneficial effects of audio-supported RR in terms of reading rate growth while learners maintained good comprehension. The study showed a significant practice effect, in which learners increased their reading rates while re-reading the same passage. Further, learners in one of the three groups read significantly faster with a new, unpracticed passages representing transfer of the practice effect. Additionally, questionnaire responses demonstrated that learners perceived beneficial effects from RR. Finally, we make a proposal on measuring learners’ reading comprehension in fluency intervention programs such as RR. We proposed that measurement of learners’ reading comprehension have two different purposes, pedagogical purposes and research purposes. Thus the reading comprehension measures would have different designs and cut scores.
... Prosodic or expressive reading is directly related to comprehension ( [11], [12], [34], [35], [36]). When an improved level of automaticity occurs, the reader constructs meaning to the text by expressive reading. ...
This paper explores the computational extraction and analysis of
prosodic features in children’s Filipino speech for application in
automated oral reading fluency assessment. Automatic syllabication
was optimized on children’s Filipino speech using the Children
Filipino Speech Corpus. Prosodic features such as speech rate, articulation rate, pauses, syllable duration, and pitch were extracted and grouped according to human rater assessment of fluency. ANOVA
results showed that speech rate, articulation rate, pauses, syllable
duration, and to some extent, pitch, as measures of prosody, can be
used to predict children’s oral reading fluency in Filipino.
... It can be viewed as the spoken realization of textual punctuation, with added expression to convey meaning and affect. Phrasing refers to the grouping of words as related to the syntax and influenced by the need for breathing pauses (Dowhower, 1987). Accordingly, the ideal chunking of an utterance involves splitting it into small meaningful groups similar to grammatical clauses (Schwanenflugel et al., 2004). ...
Prosody is the supra-segmental aspect of speech that helps to convey the structure and intended meaning of lexical content unambiguously. The automatic detection of prosodic events, such as phrase boundary and word prominence, has a number of applications in discourse analysis, where a combination of syntactic and acoustic-prosodic features is typically employed. This work addresses prosodic event detection in the context of assessing oral reading skills of middle-school children. We discuss the observed characteristics of a specially created labeled data set of oral reading recordings of English stories by non-native speakers. The obtained diversity of language skills adds to the known challenges of high speaker variability in the acoustic realization of prosodic events. A combination of knowledge- and data-driven feature selection is implemented to identify a compact set of word-level features from the acoustic correlates of prosody considering different ways of incorporating the necessary temporal context. The system is benchmarked with reference to a widely known prosodic event recognition system in a speaker-independent set-up to obtain a competitive performance with greatly reduced feature dimensionality. The interpretable features enable us to use the predictor model importance scores to identify high-level speaker traits that influence the acoustic realization of prosodic events, suggesting a potential extension to systems that can extract and utilize speaker idiosyncrasies for superior prosodic event detection.
... speech, which reflects the organization of speech into meaningful units, is closely related to reading fluency (Dowhower, 1987;Kuhn, Schwanenflugel, & Meisinger, 2010). Research has also suggested that weak readers who struggled with automatic lexical representation of individual words appeared to experience difficulty in prosody because they failed to integrate individual words into a coherent representation of text (Faulkner & Levy, 1999). ...
This study examined whether, and if so how, L1 and L2 segmental and suprasegmental phonological awareness is longitudinally related to L1 and L2 reading comprehension difficulties among Hong Kong Chinese-English bilingual children. Using a regression approach, we identified five types of comprehenders, i.e., 11 poor-Chinese/average-English comprehenders, 19 poor-English/average-Chinese comprehenders, six poor-Chinese/poor-English comprehenders, 12 average-Chinese/average-English comprehenders, and seven good-Chinese/good-English comprehenders among 223 Grade 4 Chinese-English bilingual children who were comparable in age, nonverbal IQ, and word reading, but differed in reading comprehension. These children were compared retrospectively on segmental and suprasegmental phonological awareness in both Chinese and English for three consecutive years from Grade 2 to Grade 4. The results revealed that only Cantonese lexical tone awareness distinguished poor comprehenders from typically developing comprehenders. Specifically, the poor-English/average-Chinese comprehenders performed worse than the average-Chinese/average-English and good-Chinese/good-English comprehenders in Grades 4 and 3, but not in Grade 2; and the poor-Chinese/average-English comprehenders performed worse than the good-Chinese/good-English comprehenders in Grades 4 and 3, but not in Grade 2. These findings suggest that suprasegmental phonological awareness, especially Cantonese lexical tone awareness, is critical for both Chinese and English reading comprehension development among Hong Kong bilingual children.
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.
Bu araştırmanın amacı Akıcı Okuma Stratejileri Aile Eğitim Programı’nın (AKOSEP) ve performans geri bildirimlerinin özel öğrenme güçlüğü (ÖÖG) tanılı çocuğu olan bir anneye akıcı okuma stratejilerini öğretmedeki etkililiğini belirlemektir. AKOSEP kapsamında anneye öğretilmesi hedeflenen akıcı okuma stratejileri tekrarlı okuma, kelime tekrar ve eko okuma stratejileridir. Araştırmanın katılımcılarını bir anne ve ÖÖG tanısı olan 10 yaşındaki oğlu oluşturmaktadır. AKOSEP’in etkililiğinin belirlendiği bu araştırmada tek denekli araştırma modellerinden davranışlar arası yoklama evreli çoklu yoklama modeli kullanılmıştır. Ayrıca araştırmada, strateji öğretimi sürecinde katılımcı çocukla birlikte uygulanan akıcı okuma stratejilerinin çocuğun akıcı okuma becerileri üzerindeki etkisi deneysel bir kontrol kurulmadan incelenmiştir. Araştırma bulguları, AKOSEP ve performans geri bildirimlerinin annenin akıcı okuma stratejilerini edinmesinde ve doğru bir şekilde kullanmasında etkili olduğunu; bu etkinin uygulamanın sona ermesinden sonra da sürdürülebildiğini göstermiştir. Ayıca strateji öğretimi sürecinde uygulanan akıcı okuma stratejilerinin ÖÖG olan çocuğun okuma doğruluğunda ve okuma hızında artışa neden olduğu gözlenmiştir. Araştırmanın sonunda anne-çocuk çiftinin AKOSEP ve uygulama sürecine ilişkin olumlu düşüncelerini dile getirdikleri belirlenmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular alanyazın çerçevesinde tartışılmış, uygulamaya ve ileriki araştırmalara yönelik çeşitli önerilerde bulunulmuştur.
The study employed a quantitative research design to explore the current reading fluency of the first year students at Dai Nam University in Hanoi, Vietnam. The participants consisted of 123 first year student who have completed their first semester of English study. The findings showed that the reading fluency was at low level; M=2.74. The findings demonstrate that shadow reading techniques have a positive effect on the reading fluency of first-year students. This improvement is evident in their ability to read words accurately and quickly, maintain a consistent reading pace, and exhibit appropriate expression and intonation. As a result of improved fluency, students are better equipped to comprehend and understand the text they read. This has implications for their overall reading achievement and academic success. The study reveals that shadow reading not only enhances fluency but also increases students' motivation and engagement with reading. Students who participated in shadow reading activities reported a greater enjoyment of reading. Future investigations may delve deeper into specific factors influencing the effectiveness of shadow reading, explore its long-term impact on reading achievement, and examine variations in effectiveness among diverse student populations.
Aynı özelliğin farklı yöntemler kullanılarak değerlendirilmesi ve sonuçlarının karşılaştırılması, araştırmacılara ve uygulayıcılara ölçme yöntemlerine ilişkin önemli bilgiler sunabilir. Bu araştırmada özel eğitime gereksinimi olan hafif derecede zihinsel engelli öğrencilerin okuma akıcılığı ve prozodik okuma becerileri, derecelendirme tipi maddelerden oluşan bir ölçme aracı ve bir dereceli puanlama anahtarı kullanılarak değerlendirilmiş, elde edilen sonuçlar karşılaştırılmıştır. Araştırmada 5. sınıf düzeyindeki özel gereksinimli 75 öğrenciden veri toplanmıştır. Öğrencilerden daha önce görmedikleri bir metni okumaları istenmiş, öğrencilerin okuma performanslarına göre değerlendiriciler Prozodik Okuma Ölçeği ile Çok Boyutlu Okuma Akıcılığı Puanlama Anahtarını kullanarak değerlendirme yapmışlardır. Değerlendirmeler dört farklı uzman tarafından gerçekleştirilmiştir. Değerlendiriciler arasındaki uyum G ve Φ katsayıları, Cronbach’ın katsayısı, korelasyon katsayıları hesaplanarak incelenmiştir. İki ölçme aracından elde edilen sonuçlar arasında pozitif yüksek korelasyonların olduğu belirlenmiştir. Her iki ölçme aracından elde edilen verilerde tek faktörlü bir yapı olduğu görülmüştür. Ölçme araçlarından elde edilen sonuçlar Çok Boyutlu Okuma Akıcılığı Puanlama Anahtarı’nda yer alan hız bileşeni hariç cinsiyet ve engel türü değişkenlerine göre benzer sonuçlar üretmiştir. Ölçme araçlarının uygulanmasından elde edilen sonuçların güvenilir ve uyumlu olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.
This article examines the research regarding fluency and its impact on struggling readers. Fluency is a key component of reading instructions for all learners. It encompasses the students’ ability to read with automaticity, accuracy, and prosody for understanding. Research suggests that struggling readers have difficulty when fluency is weak, which impacts comprehension and cognitive resources. The examination of the literature yielded targeted interventions focused on fluency improves reading for students with reading difficulties.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of tele-practice parent coaching on parents’ intervention strategies and the reading fluency skills of children with cochlear implants (CIs).Methods: Five dyads of mother and child with CIs participated in this study. Five Korean second graders with cochlear implants participated in reading fluency tasks individually. All of them had reading fluency difficulties. We examined the efficacy of tele-practice parent coaching program for children with CIs by employing a pretest-posttest-maintenance design.Results: The parents demonstrated increases in their use of each reading intervention strategies after parent-coaching instruction. Post and maintenance of intervention strategies use in the home was sustained; indicating that parent coaching routines are effective to achieve maximal outcomes. All children demonstrated gains in their use of reading fluency skills.Conclusion: The results show that the parent coaching delivered through tele-practice had positive effects on parents’ learning behaviors and the reading fluency of children with CIs. This study provides useful information for developing parent coaching programs in terms of the reading fluency skills of children with CIs. Thus, the implementation of developing parent programs in the field of communication disorders is suggested.
The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of a home-based, repeated reading intervention in which texts are matched to children’s school-based instructional reading level. Results indicated that across the five cases, improvements were evident in reading accuracy, rate, and fluency for the take-home texts and all participants’ instructional reading levels increased during the intervention. Parents’ support for children’s reading differed across cases. The five participating children read more than 18,000 words during the course of the intervention.
There are many students within our school systems who have a learning disability in reading. Some have been identified, and unfortunately, some have not been identified. Those that have been identified may continue to have problems because teachers are not sure how to meets their needs. This chapter addresses what teachers need to know in order to meet the needs of our most precious resources by offering some suggestions that can be used in the classroom to ameliorate reading deficits, especially first year teachers.
One challenge for foreign language learners is getting sufficient L2 input and experience using the L2. Reading continues to be a reliable means for accomplishing this. Fluency in lower-level reading processes is a cornerstone to successful reading comprehension. Without comprehension, reading cannot be input. We believe second and foreign language programs need to pay more attention to reading fluency. By “reading fluency,” we mean fast and accurate character and word recognition, and also basic post-lexical processes such as parsing sentences. There are theoretically and empirically robust methods for helping learners with reading fluency. Fluency building programs are also rich grounds for research and we offer questions and areas for research in this chapter.
This book presents the results of a series of literacy experiments in ten Niger-Congo languages, representing four language families and spanning five countries. It asks the research question, "To what extent does full tone marking contribute to oral reading fluency, comprehension and writing accuracy, and does that contribution vary from language to language?". One of the main findings is that the ethno-literacy profile of the language community and the social profile of the individual are stronger predictors of reading and writing performance than are the linguistic and orthographic profiles of the language. Our data also suggest that full tone marking may be more beneficial for less educated readers and those with less experience of L1 literacy. The book will bring practical help to linguists and literacy specialists in Africa and beyond who are helping to develop orthographies for tone languages. It will also be of interest to cognitive psychologists exploring the reading process, and researchers investigating writing systems.
This book presents the results of a series of literacy experiments in ten Niger-Congo languages, representing four language families and spanning five countries. It asks the research question, "To what extent does full tone marking contribute to oral reading fluency, comprehension and writing accuracy, and does that contribution vary from language to language?". One of the main findings is that the ethno-literacy profile of the language community and the social profile of the individual are stronger predictors of reading and writing performance than are the linguistic and orthographic profiles of the language. Our data also suggest that full tone marking may be more beneficial for less educated readers and those with less experience of L1 literacy. The book will bring practical help to linguists and literacy specialists in Africa and beyond who are helping to develop orthographies for tone languages. It will also be of interest to cognitive psychologists exploring the reading process, and researchers investigating writing systems.
Background
Reading fluency is essential for our functioning in the literate society in which we live. Reading expressiveness or prosody, along with speed and accuracy, are considered key aspects of fluent reading. Prosodic patterns may vary, not being the same in children learning to read as in adulthood. But little is known about the prosodic characteristics and reading fluency of people with neurodegenerative diseases that causes language impairment and reading difficul- ties, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Objective
The aim of this work was to study reading fluency in AD, considering reading speed, ac- curacy and reading prosody.
Method
The participants were 20 healthy elderly Spanish adults, and 20 AD patients, aged 64-88 years. An experimental text was designed, that included declarative, exclamatory, and interrogative sentences, words with different stresses and low-frequency words. The reading of the participants was recorded and analyzed using Praat software.
Results
The AD group showed significantly longer reading duration, both at the syllable level and at the word and sentence level. These patients also committed more pauses between words, which were also longer, and more reading errors. The control group showed a variation of the syllabic F0 in the three types of sentences, while these variations only appeared in declarative ones in the AD group.
Conclusion
The pauses, along with the slight pitch variations and the longer reading times and er- rors committed, compromise the reading fluency of people with AD. Assessment of this reading feature could be interesting as a possible diagnostic marker for the disease.
This article examines the effects of a reading fluency intervention on the fluency and comprehension of struggling middle school readers. The secondary fluency routine was developed by the first author, and was based on effective practices described in other studies. Thirty-nine seventh and eighth grade students enrolled in reading intervention classes participated in the study, which lasted for a period of 18 weeks. Students in the treatment classes participated in the Secondary Fluency Routine for 10 minutes daily, while students in the comparison classrooms participated in independent reading during that time. Participants were pre- and posttested using the GORT-5. A repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted on all outcome measures which included rate, accuracy, fluency, oral reading index, prosody, and comprehension. There were no interaction effects; however, main effects were detected on all measures, and mean difference effect sizes indicated that the intervention was effective in increasing reading fluency and comprehension.
Two studies of second graders at risk for reading disability, which were guided by levels of language and functional reading system theory, focused on reading comprehension in this population. In Study 1 (n = 96), confirmatory factor analysis of five comprehension measures loaded on one factor in both fall and spring of second grade. Phonological decoding predicted accuracy of real-word reading; automatic letter naming predicted rate of real-word reading; accuracy and rate of both real-word reading (more so than decoding of pseudowords) and text reading predicted reading comprehension; and Verbal IQ also predicted reading comprehension. In Study 2 (n = 98), the treatment group (before/after school clubs receiving an integrated instructional approach that was supplementary to the general reading program) improved significantly more in phonological decoding and state standards for reading fluency than the control group (general reading program that had some code instruction but emphasized comprehension). The rate of phonological decoding explained 60.3% of real-word reading. Both treatment and control children improved significantly in reading comprehension, but controlling for pretreatment individual differences in oral vocabulary or in phonological decoding eliminated this effect. Taken together, the results of the two studies support two paths to reading comprehension: one from vocabulary and verbal reasoning, and one from written language that has multiple links between subskills: (a) alphabetic principle → phonological decoding, (b) automatic phonological decoding → accurate real-word reading, (c) automatic letter coding → automatic word reading, and (d) automatic word reading → fluent text reading. Instructional implications of both paths and the links within the written language are discussed.
Described 4 models for accounting for reading difficulty: defect, deficit, disruption, and difference. Poor readers fitting 2 of these models, a Difference group (assumed to read word-by-word) and a Deficit group (assumed to have relatively inadequate vocabulary skills) were compared with each other and with good readers. Ss were 64 male undergraduates. As hypothesized, the Difference group but not the Deficit group read as well as good readers when material was presented in preorganized phrases. Results support the notion that 1 source of comprehension difficulty can be attributed to a difference in the way some poor readers organize reading input. Implications for differential diagnosis, remediation, and research are discussed.
96 1ST GRADERS IN 3 GROUPS, AT 2 LEARNING APTITUDE LEVELS, WERE COMPARED TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS: AN ECHOIC OR ORAL RESPONSE BEFORE SILENT READING, BY ENCOURAGING THE APPLICATION OF INTONATION PATTERNS TO BEGINNERS' READING, WILL IMPROVE ACHIEVEMENT AND REDUCE VOCALIZATION. 4 CLASSROOM TEACHERS TAUGHT A PREPRIMER VOCABULARY; E THEN TAUGHT THE PREPRIMER TEXT TO THE GROUPS, GIVING RIGID SILENT, ORAL, OR ECHOIC TRAINING BEFORE SILENT READING. SS WERE TESTED FOR READING ACHIEVEMENT AND VOCALIZATION AFTER EACH OF THE 3 PREPRIMERS. ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE INDICATED THAT ECHOIC GROUPS READ MORE FLUENTLY AND THAT ECHOIC AND ORAL TRAINING REDUCED VOCALIZATION. NO SIGNIFICANT GROUP DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND FOR WORD RECOGNITION AND IDENTIFICATION, OR COMPREHENSION.
1. Introduction.- Previous Studies of Fundamental Frequency.- Linguistic Structure and F0.- Speech Production and F0.- Anatomy and Physiology of the Larynx.- Laryngeal Features for Plosive Consonants.- Acoustics and F0.- The Present Study.- Phenomena.- Issues.- Methods.- Sentence-Reading Procedure.- Acoustical Measurement of F0.- Statistical Analysis.- Summary.- Conclusion.- 2. Declination.- Study 2.1. The F0 Topline and the Topline Rule.- Experiments.- Study 2.2. Topline Rule Invariance and Extensions.- Experiments.- Study 2.3. The Domain of F0 Declination.- Experiments.- General Conclusions.- 3. Fall-Rise Patterns.- Study 3.1. Clause Boundaries.- Experiments.- Conclusion.- Study 3.2. Phrase Boundaries.- Experiments.- Conclusion.- Study 3.3. Deletion Sites.- Experiments.- Conclusion.- General Conclusions.- 4. Blocking.- Study 4.1. Stress Blocking.- Conclusion.- Study 4.2. Voiced-Voiceless Blocking.- Experiments.- General Conclusions.- 5. Conclusions.- Consolidation.- New Directions.- 6. Extensions.- Language Development (From Infancy through Adulthood).- Pathology.- Aphasia.- Speech Training of Hearing-Impaired Children.- Autism.- Laryngeal Pathology.- Global Pathologies.- Personality and Emotion.- Perception.- Memory.- Speech Synthesis-by-Rule.- Speech Recognition by Machine.- Speaker Recognition.- Animal Communication.- Other Languages.- Dialects.- Tone Languages.- Conclusion.- References.- Author Index.
The effect of reading practice in a "repeated readings" format upon reading ability was investigated, using a computer-based instructional system. High school students who read poorly were given reading training using a recently developed technique called programmed prose, which allowed regular reading material to be automatically converted into training material. Each programmed prose passage was read and reread on a PLATO IV computer terminal until mastery was achieved. Each student was given 50 to 70 hours of individualized instruction on the terminal; over 20 measures of progress were administered each hour. There were two separate studies with six high school students in each study. The results of Study 1 were replicated in Study 2. Specific gains in fluency on the practice task were clearly evident. On one measure of general reading ability, there was a large amount of gain from about Grade Level 5 to 8; however, on another general measure of reading ability, there was little or no evidence of gain. Hence, the effect of reading practice upon gain in reading ability may be limited. A theoretical interpretation of the findings is presented./// [French] On a étudié l'effet des exercices de lecture dans un format de "lectures répétées" pour la capacité de lecture, en utilisant un système éducatif sur ordinateur. On a donné à des lycéens qui lisaient mal une formation de lecture basée sur une technique récemment développée, nommée prose programmée, qui permettait aux matériaux de lecture réguliers d'être convertis automatiquement en matériaux de formation. On a lu et relu chaque passage de prose programmée sur un terminal d'ordinateur Plato IV jusqu'a maitrise totale. On a donné à chaque étudiant 50 à 70 heures d'instruction individualisée sur le terminal; on a administré plus de 20 mesures de progrès chaque heure. Il y avait deux études séparées avec six lycéens dans chaque étude. Les résultats de l'étude I ont été reproduits dans l'étude II. On a noté de manière clairement évidente une facilité croissante spécifique dans la tâche d'exercices. Sur une mesure de capacité de lecture générale, il y avait une grande quantité de croissance à partir environ du niveau de la septième à la quatrième; cependant, sur une autre mesure générale de capacité de lecture, il y avait peu ou aucune evidence de croissance. Ainsi, l'effet des exercices de lecture pour une capacité croissante de lecture peut être limité. On a présenté une interprétation théorique de ces découvertes./// [Spanish] Se investigaron los efectos de la práctica de lectura con un formato de "lectura repetida" para el desarrollo de la habilidad de lectura, utilizando un sistema de instrucción con computadoras. A malos lectores de secundaria se les dio instrucción de lectura con la técnica recientemente desarrollada llamada prosa programada, que permite regular el material de lectura y convertirlo automáticamente en material de instrucción. Cada pasaje de prosa programada fue leída y releída en un terminal de computadora PLATO IV hasta que se consiguió maestría. Cada alumno recibió 50 a 70 horas de instrucción individualizada con el terminal; cada hora se administraron más de 20 mediciones de progreso. Se hicieron dos estudios separados con 6 alumnos de secundaria en cada uno. Los resultados del Estudio I se repitieron en Estudio II. Ganancias concretas de facilidad en la tarea de práctica fueron claramente evidentes. En una medida de habilidad general de lectura hubo extenso progreso de un quinto grado a octavo; sin embargo, en otra medida de habilidad general de lectura se observó poco o ningun progreso. Por lo tanto, los efectos de la práctica de lectura sobre habilidad de lectura puede que sean limitados. Se presenta una interpretación teórica de los resultados.
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.
The acquisition of reading fluency crucially involves the beginning reader's tacit recognition that s/he must learn to compensate for the absence of graphic signals corresponding to certain prosodie cues by making better use of the morphological and syntactic cues that are preserved. It is argued that the success of the method of repeated readings and similar reading instruction techniques results from the fact that these methods facilitate discovery of the appropriate syntactic phrasing in the written signal. It is suggested that the crucial step comes with the beginning reader's recognition that parsing strategies other than those which rely on prosody or its somewhat haphazard graphic analogues are required in order to read with sense.
Presents results from a study of oral reading errors made by 42 children in two first-grade classes from October to May. Errors were analyzed in terms of their contextual constraints ("making sense" in light of preceding context) and graphic constraints (graphic approximation of error response to printed word). Non-response errors were also studied. Three main phases of development were identified. The first is characterized by a predominant use of contextual information. The second phase is characterized by a predominance of non-response errors and a significant increase of graphically constrained errors (39 vs. 19 per cent of response errors.) The third phase is characterized by an increase in co-occurrence of graphic and contextual constraints (30 per cent of graphically constrained errors were contextually constrained in the first two phases; 70 per cent were in the last phase) and in most cases by a reduction of the frequency of non-response errors. It was suggested, and some evidence presented, that the early, context-using phase represents an attempt by the child to avoid using graphic information as much as possible. The non-response phase was interpreted as a shift by the child to attending primarily to graphic information. Possible factors involved in changes in phase and educational implications were discussed./// [French] Presente les resultats d'une étude sur les erreurs en lecture orale faites par 42 enfants en 2 classes de première année au cours du terme octobre-mai. Les erreurs ont été analysées par rapport à leurs limites de contexte ("en faire un sens" selon contexte) et à leur limites graphiques (approximation graphique de la réponse en erreur et mot imprimé). Les erreurs de non-réponse ont été étudiées elles aussi. Trois phases principales de développement ont été identifiées. La première se caractérise par une prédominance d'information de contexte. La deuxième phase se caractérise par une prédominance d'erreurs de non-réponse et par une augmentation significative d'erreurs limitées par le graphique (39 vs. 19% des erreurs de réponse). La troisième phase se caractérise par une augmentation dans la co-existence des limites et graphiques et contextuelles (30% des erreurs graphiquement limitées étaient contextuellment lìmitées dans les premières phases; 70% l'étaient dans la dernière phase) et dans la plupart des cas par une réduction de la fréquence des erreurs de non-réponse. C'était suggéré, avec preuves à l'appui, que la phase primitive qui est celle de l'usage de contexte, représente un essai chez l'enfant d'éviter autant que possible l'information graphique. La phase non-réponse a été interprétée comme une attention chez l'enfant portée plutôt sur l'information graphique. Des facteurs inhérents dans les changements de phases et les implications pour l'instruction ont été mis aussi en discussion./// [Spanish] Se presentan los resultados de un estudio sobre los errores en la lectura oral efectuado con 42 niños en dos clases del primer grado, desde Octubre hasta Mayo. Se analizaron los errores en relación a las restricciones contextuales (que "tenían sentido" en relación al contexto precedente) y las restricciones gráficas (aproximación gráfica de contestaciones erróneas a la palabra impresa). También se estudiaron los errores sin respuesta. Se identificaron tres fases principales de desarrollo. La primera se caracteriza por el uso predominante de información contextual. La segunda fase se caracteriza por la predominancia de errores sin respuesta y por un aumento significativo de errores de restricción gráfica. (39 vs. 19 por ciento de errores con respuestas). La tercera fase se caracteriza por un aumento en la co-ocurrencia de restricciones gráficas y contextuales (30 por ciento de los errores de restricción gráfica fueron contextualmente limitados en las dos primeras dos fases; 70 por ciento en la última fase) y en la mayoría de los casos por una reducción de la frecuencia de errores sin respuesta. Se sugirió, y se presentó alguna evidencia, de que la frase temprana utilizando el contexto representa una tentativa de parte del niño a evitar en todo lo posible el uso de información gráfica. La fase sin respuestas se interpretó como la tendencia del niño a prestar atención principalmente a la información gráfica. Se reseñan los posibles factores comprendidos en los cambios de fase y las implicaciones educacionales de los mismos.
A procedure involving repeated readings of the same passage combined with the programing evaluation procedure caused 16 learning-disabled secondary students' reading attitudes to change significantly. Feedback to the student was provided by charting the record of faster times and number of word errors. (SBH)
A review of research concerning the nature of text organization skills that contribute to reading comprehension ability reveals two distinct categories of studies: (1) those in which texts have been manipulated so as to facilitate spontaneous syntactic-semantic organization by the reader, and (2) those in which readers have received training or instructions to process unaltered texts in a manner presumed conducive to improved comprehension. Studies in both categories suggest that the degree of organization imparted to a text during input processing is an important variable in reading comprehension. (Author/FL)
A memorization technique using books recorded on tapes gave nonreading children practice in reading connected discourse and put them in touch with a variety of books. (JH)
A model of information processing in reading is described in which visual information is transformed through a series of processing stages involving visual, phonological and episodic memory systems until it is finally comprehended in the semantic system. The processing which occurs at each stage is assumed to be learned and the degree of this learning is evaluated with respect to two criteria: accuracy and automaticity. At the accuracy level of performance, attention is assumed to be necessary for processing; at the automatic level it is not. Experimental procedures are described which attempt to measure the degree of automaticity achieved in perceptual and associative learning tasks. Factors which may influence the development of automaticity in reading are discussed.
When the variables of juncture, pitch, and stress were analyzed for a large sample of oral reading behavior from 7-year-old children, different behavior patterns emerged for children at different stages of reading progress. The behavior of the best readers suggested the hypothesis that they were processing cues at the intersentence, sentence, phrase, and word level whereas the behavior of the poor readers was dominated by part-word and word cues. The study provides further behavioral evidence that the quality of early reading progress is related to the organization of the sequential decoding activity, and implies a processing advantage for linguistic over visual cues.
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 1973. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 240-248). Microfilm of typescript.
The paired reading tuition procedure is described as a simple and flexible remedial technique for general application, incorporating simultaneous reading and verbally reinforced individual reading, and utilising textual material suited to the child's interests and chronological age rather than his reading age. The technique was taught to the parents of four reading-retarded children, for use at home for a quarter of an hour daily. The group's reading ages progressed markedly over 12 to 13 weeks of tuition. Reading comprehension, but not spelling performance, also advanced markedly.
The pattern of durations of individual phonetic segments and pauses conveys information about the linguistic content of an utterance. Acoustic measures of segmental timing have been used by many investigators to determine the variables that influence the durational structure of a sentence. The literature on segmental duration is reviewed and related to perceptual data on the discrimination of duration and to psychophysical data on the ability of listeners to make linguistic decisions on the basis of durational cues alone. We conclude that, in English, duration often serves as a primary perceptual cue in the distinctions between (1) inherently long verses short vowels, (2) voiced verses voiceless fricatives, (3) phrase-final verses non-final syllables, (4) voiced versus voiceless postvocalic consonants, as indicated by changes to the duration of the preceding vowel in phrase-final positions, (5) stressed verses unstressed or reduced vowels, and (6) the presence or absence of emphasis.
Subject Classification: [43]70.40, [43]70.70, [43]70.20.
Becoming a nation of readers: The report of the commission on reading. Washington, DC: National Institute of Reading Meeting the challenge
- R C Anderson
- E H Hiebert
- J A Scott
- I A G Wilkin-Son
- E N Askov
- W Otto
ANDERSON, R.C., HIEBERT, E.H., SCOTT, J.A., & WILKIN-SON, I.A.G. (1985). Becoming a nation of readers: The report of the commission on reading. Washington, DC: National Institute of Reading. ASKOV, E.N., & OTTO, W. (1985). Meeting the challenge. Columbus, OH: Merrill.
Effects of reading and math homework on standardized achievement test scores of two first-grade classes
- C Burns
- R Tharp
- S L Dowhower
BURNS, C., THARP, R., & DOWHOWER, S.L. (1983). Effects of reading and math homework on standardized achievement test scores of two first-grade classes (Research Report).
An experimental pro-gram for teaching high-speed word recognition and com-prehension skills Effect of repeated reading on se-lected second graders'oral reading and comprehension. Doctoral dissertation
- P R Dahl
- S J Samuels
- S L Dowhower
DAHL, P.R., [& SAMUELS, S.J.] (1979). An experimental pro-gram for teaching high-speed word recognition and com-prehension skills. In J.E. Button, T. Lovitt, & T. Rowland (Eds.), Communications research in learning disabilities and mental retardation (pp. 33-65). Baltimore, MD: Uni-versity Park Press. DOWHOWER, S.L. (1986). Effect of repeated reading on se-lected second graders'oral reading and comprehension. Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madi-son (University Microfilm No. 58785DAO).
The Ekwall reading inventory. Bos-ton The young Ameri-can basic reading program
- E E Ekwall
- Allyn
- Bacon
- L Fay
- R Ross
- M Laprag
EKWALL, E.E. (1979). The Ekwall reading inventory. Bos-ton: Allyn and Bacon. FAY, L., ROSS, R., & LAPRAG, M. (1974). The young Ameri-can basic reading program (Level 7, teacher's edition).
The psychology of reading. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press Gilmore oral reading test Psycholinguistics experiments in spontaneous speech
- E Gibson
- H Levin
GIBSON, E., & LEVIN, H. (1975). The psychology of reading. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. GILMORE, J.V. (1952). Gilmore oral reading test. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. GOLDMAN-EISLER, E (1968). Psycholinguistics experiments in spontaneous speech. New York: Academic Press.
Comprehension in good and poor readers
- R Golinkoff
GOLINKOFF, R. (1976). Comprehension in good and poor readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 4, 623-656.
Rereading: Ef-fect on error patterns and performance levels on the IRI. The Reading Teacher
- P C Gonzales
- D V Elijah
- Jr
GONZALES, P.C., & ELIJAH, D.V., JR. (1975). Rereading: Ef-fect on error patterns and performance levels on the IRI. The Reading Teacher, 28, 647-652.
Foundations of literacy Successive approximations and be-ginning reading The many facets of assisted reading
- R Holdaway
- Ashton
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