In this article, I systematically review evidence on the relations between oral reading fluency (ORF) and reading comprehension (RC) for adolescents with limited reading proficiency (ALRP) in Grades 6 to12. I organized findings from 23 studies into five themes: (a) unclear role of ORF in the simple view of reading model for ALRP, (b) ALRP have…

Previous research has revealed conflicting results with regard to the role of the magnocellular visual system in reading and dyslexia. In order to investigate this further, the present study examined the relationship between performance on two magnocellular tasks (temporal gap detection and coherent motion), reading rate (oral and silent), and…

Purpose: To assess strengths and weaknesses of the reading level (RL) match approach and its potential to generate insights regarding the cognitive foundations of reading ability and disability. Method: We applied RL-match design to a sample of 2nd-6th graders reading a consistent orthography, Russian, using an "extreme phenotype"…

Reading rate, a component of reading not closely attended to by educators and researchers prior to the 20th century, quickly became the subject of considerable research shortly after the turn of the century. This article uses historical content analysis to examine primary source documents from that period (1910-1925) to explore why reading rate…

Text comprehension models in first and second language reading research posit that slow word recognition inhibits reading speed and decreases comprehension. To investigate the role of word recognition in reading, 2 experiments examined rereading benefits in participants' first and second languages using scrambled and normal versions of English and…

Thirteen English as a foreign language students read 26 passages during a 13-week period. Each passage was read five times, and students answered comprehension questions after the first and the fifth reading. Another 13 students read the same number of passages but without repetition and only answered the comprehension questions once. All students…

This study examined the relationship among word reading efficiency, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension for adult English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Data from 185 adult Chinese EFL learners preparing to take the Test-of-English-as-a-Foreign-Language[TM] (TOEFL[R]) were analyzed in this study. The participants completed a…

Paul Nation's talents and interests extend well beyond vocabulary to include research on speaking, writing, classroom learning and teaching, reading, and fluency. In keeping with Nation's interests in fluency, extensive reading, and reading instruction, I outline current perspectives on reading fluency and its role as a key component of reading…

Fluent reading is essential for successful comprehension. One dimension of reading fluency is reading rate, or reading speed. Because of the importance of reading fluency, fluency development activities should be incorporated into classroom practice. One activity that meets the fluency development conditions proposed by Nation (2007) is speed…

Reading depends on the speed of visual recognition and capacity of short-term memory. To understand a sentence, the mind must read it fast enough to capture it within the limits of the short-term memory. This means that children must attain a minimum speed of fairly accurate reading to understand a passage. Learning to read involves "tricking" the…

Research indicates that repeated reading improves students' reading fluency. Although found to be effective, the underlying reading processes impacted by the intervention remains unclear. Two theoretical rationales, automatic word processing and the contextual linguistic effect, explaining repeated reading's effectiveness have been advanced in the…

Although techniques of measuring reading rate have been studied and reported in the literature, actual practice is not always consistent with the findings. A study reexamined the reading rate issue in light of additional information regarding the test-taking experience provided directly by the test takers themselves. The purpose of the study was…

Presents three studies where children in mainstream schools compared text on white paper with identical text covered in turn by each of 10 differently-colored plastic overlays. Shows consistency with regard to the proportion of children in mainstream education who report beneficial perceptual effects with colored overlays and who demonstrate…

This edition of "NAEPFacts" highlights findings from the first attempt by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure elementary students' oral reading on a large scale. This article presents data on 1,136 fourth graders' oral fluency and its relationship to 3 other aspects of reading ability: comprehension,…

A study examined the relative effectiveness of repeated readings and listening-while-reading in promoting reading fluency. Subjects, 20 third grade students in a community in the southeastern United States, of high, average, and low reading levels, had their reading fluency measured in two cycles: subjects who repeatedly read a passage in the…