In the past decade, there has been a growing recognition that society's emphasis on speed and efficiency came with some costs: a loss of the ability to appreciate activities and understand their meanings. Recently, this meta-movement has made its way into the literature on literacy, causing the author to embark on an investigation into the…

The current study investigated the relation and comparison of reading comprehension and reading rate in Japanese high school EFL learners. One hundred and forty-eight tenth-graders in a Japanese high school participated in this study. Results showed that the relation between reading comprehension and reading rate was weak, but significant (r =…

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…

In this critique of current reading research and practice, the author contends that the extreme ambiguity of English spelling-sound correspondence has confined reading science to an insular, Anglocentric research agenda addressing theoretical and applied issues with limited relevance for a universal science of reading. The unique problems posed by…

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…

Examines five apparent axioms concerning the teaching of reading to ascertain if they are in reality axiomatic. (TO)

Uses a novel word-reading efficiency measure to determine if articulations or processing times associated with reading the word "aye" were enhanced through the phonological or orthographic qualities contained in the preceding word. Documents the importance of separating phonological and orthographic information in English homophones. (SG)

Concludes that the two reading courses offered by the education department at Clemson University are effective in increasing reading rate, vocabulary, and comprehension. (RB)

Presents and discusses findings from exploratory research on the effect of grouping and pace on reading acquisition. (RB)

Reviews 11 studies originally analyzed by Bergquist to support the contention that children can be trained to increase their reading rates without any loss of comprehension along with more recent work. Concludes that rapid reading results in a decrease in the accuracy of comprehension. (FL)

Examines the temporal processing deficit hypothesis. Administers a comprehensive battery to reading disabled adults and elementary students (reading-level controls). Finds that the timing tasks shared little variance with phonological sensitivity and contribute little unique variance to word reading. Provides evidence for the involvement of naming…

Acknowledges that symbol naming speed is an important correlate of reading skill. Proposes an informal model and reviews evidence for several of its links. Concludes that use of such a model may focus research questions more finely and lead to a more precise conceptualization of the basis for naming speed-reading relationships. (SG)

EFFORTS TO LEARN HOW THE ARRANGEMENTS OF THE PRINTED TEXT AFFECTS READING EFFICIENCY WERE SUMMARIZED. SEVERAL ASSUMPTIONS WERE BASIC. FIRST, ONE OF THE PURPOSES IS DEFINED AS INVESTIGATION OF ANY IDEA WHICH MIGHT LEAD TO RAISING THE EDUCATIONAL LEVEL. SECOND, IT IS ASSUMED THAT THE DISCOVERY OF A MEANS OF RAISING THE LEVEL OF READING COMPREHENSION…

Investigates whether two groups of 6-year-old beginning readers taught to read by a phonics and by a "book experience" non-phonics approach would differ in reading comprehension as well as the processes of word recognition. Finds that the non-phonics approach taught children much faster reading reaction times to familiar words but they scored…