Chapter 6

Fluency

Definition

Reading fluency refers to the speed and ease with which we read. Beginning readers are not fluent. Their reading is choppy and filled with hesitations, mispronunciations, and false starts. Even mature readers' fluency can suffer when they encounter new and unfamiliar texts. Most of us are not comfortable reading esoteric scientific texts, for example, and if we have to read them, we read them more slowly and with more hesitations and mispronunciations than usual.

Fast and accurate decoding are two elements of fluent reading. A third is prosody, or reading with the proper rhythm, intonation, and expression (NRP, 2000b, p. 3-1).

...fluency may also include the ability to group words appropriately into meaningful grammatical units for interpretationÉ Fluency requires the rapid use of punctuation and the determination of where to place emphasis or where to pause to make sense of a text. Readers must carry out these aspects of interpretation rapidly--and usually without conscious attention. Thus, fluency helps enable reading comprehension by freeing cognitive resources for interpretation, but it is also implicated in the process of comprehension as it necessarily includes preliminary interpretive steps (p. 3-6).

Detailed studies of the way the eyes move during reading suggest that fluent reading is not the same as skimming or scanning a text, where a reader ignores or skips over words and sentences. The development of fluent reading involves learning to look at each word more quickly or efficiently (NRP, p. 3-9). The eye movements of poor readers or those with a reading disability reflect their lack of fluency. They take in less with each fixation of the eyes on a text, and move backwards or skip words more often than good readers (NRP, p. 3-9).

Guided oral reading and frequent independent reading are the major instructional techniques used to increase reading fluency. When teachers use guided oral reading, they listen to students read aloud and give them support and advice as they read. Some names of guided oral reading procedures are repeated reading, neurological impress, paired reading, shared reading, collaborative oral reading, and assisted reading (p. 3-1).

Newer guided repeated oral reading techniques share several key features. First, most of these procedures require students to read and reread a text over and over. This repeated reading usually is done some number of times or until a prespecified level of proficiency has been reached. Second, many of these procedures increase the amount of oral reading practice that is available through the use of one-to-one instruction, tutors, audiotapes, peer guidance, or other means... Third, some of the procedures have carefully designed feedback routines for guiding the reader's performance (p. 3-11).

Encouraging frequent reading is a less explicit approach to teaching fluency than guided oral reading. Students are encouraged to read more on their own in order to increase their reading fluency. Some names of programs that encourage frequent reading are sustained silent reading (SSR), Drop Everything and Read, and Accelerated Reader (AR) (pp. 3-1 -- 3-2).

Rationale

Why should fluency be taught? Students who are not fluent readers will spend more time on decoding than they do on understanding the meaning of a text. Choppy, inaccurate reading will impede reading comprehension (Snow, Burns, & Giffin, 1998, cited in NRP, 2000b, p. 3-1). Reproducing the rhythm that the author of a text intended will help a reader understand the author's intended meaning.

Accurate word recognition or decoding is not enough to ensure comprehension of a text. Those "who do not develop reading fluency, no matter how bright they are, will continue to read slowly and with great effort" (p. 3-3).

Assessment

Fluency assessment usually includes measures of reading accuracy and reading rate or speed. Reading accuracy is the number or percentage of words read correctly and rate is the number of words read in a given amount of time such as the number of words read per minute. The student is usually asked to read aloud although measures of rate can also be obtained by timing how long it takes to read a passage of text silently.

Reading fluency can be measured formally with standardized tests such as the Gray Oral Reading Test (Weiderholt & Bryant, 1992) or informally with Informal Reading Inventories, miscue analysis, pausing indices, or measures of rate (NRP, p. 3-18).

For example, informal reading inventories (IRI) require students to read grade-level passages aloud and silently. The teacher determines a reading level by calculating the proportion of words read accurately in the passage. To ensure that students do not focus solely on fluency--at the expense of comprehension--the student is expected to summarize or answer questions about the text.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress fluency studyÉ calculated speed and accuracy but performed most analyses on the basis of a four-point pausing scale. This scale provided a description of four levels of pausing efficiency with one point assigned to readings that were primarily word by word with no attention to the author's meaning, to four points for readings that attended to comprehension and that paused only at the boundaries of meaningful phrases and clauses (pp. 3-9 -- 3-10).

Fluency Assessment: Principles and Trends

Question

Based upon assessment results, what are ABE learners' strengths and needs in fluency?

Two studies addressing ABE learners reading fluency were located. No studies were located that investigated the specific effects of language issues or learning disabilities on reading fluency. Although there is some ESOL research on fluency (e.g., McLeod & McLaughlin, 1986) it is, like a lot of other ESOL reading research, based on studies of students in post-secondary as opposed to ABE settings.

Fluency assessment for adults whose first language is not English is an issue that needs to be addressed. Obtaining reliable measures of oral reading accuracy is complicated by interference, or a second-language learner's accent that results from the transfer of speech sounds from a first language to English. For example, in a descriptive study of advanced ESL learners' oral reading, pronunciation ability (oral reading accuracy) was found to vary based on the age at which an immigrant arrived in an English-speaking country (Piper & Cansin, 1988). How should oral reading accuracy be assessed when working with non-native speakers of English?

Principle 8

Fluency is an issue for adult beginning readers, intermediate readers, and perhaps for those reading at more advanced ABE levels. There are very large differences between adults with good and poor reading fluency, and adult beginning readers' fluency is similar to the fluency of children who are beginning readers. (Gallo, 1972; Mudd, 1987)

A 1972 large-scale NAEP study of young adults' literacy measured the silent reading rates of 26 to 35 year-olds as they read passages written at the 10th grade and college levels (Gallo, 1972). The average silent reading rate (speed) for those adults with poor fluency (those at the 25th percentile) was 145 words per minute, close to 100 words per minute slower than the rate for those with good fluency (75th percentile), and 40 words per minute slower than those with average fluency (50th percentile). Experimental results from a comparison of ABE beginning readers with reading-level matched children (approximately GE 1) suggest that the oral reading rate and accuracy (number of hesitations, corrections, and omissions) of adult beginning readers is similar to the rate and accuracy of children who are beginning to read. The use of decoding and contextual cues as reading strategies is similar between groups as well (Mudd, 1987).

Fluency Instruction: Principles and Trends

Two emerging principles related to fluency instruction were identified from the ABE reading instruction research. One is a general principle and the other is a principle related to teaching strategies. No additional principles or trends related to goals and setting, methods and materials, or learner characteristics were identified.

Overall

Questions

Does participation in adult basic education increase ABE students' reading fluency? Does fluency instruction lead to gains in reading achievement?

Principle 9

Fluency may be taught to ABE students and fluency practice may lead to increases in reading achievement. (Brock, 1998; McKane & Greene, 1996; Meyer, 1982; Tan, Moore, Dixon, & Nicholson, 1994; Venezky, Bristow, & Sabatini, 1994)

Results from two experimental studies suggest that teaching fluency leads to increases in reading achievement. In one of the studies, fluency instruction was effective with intermediate adult readers attending a technical school (Meyer, 1982) and in the other with beginning adult readers in a prison setting (McKane & Greene, 1996).

Fluency instruction in the technical school consisted of seven hours of instruction over a period of two or more weeks that included listening to taped versions of passages while simultaneously reading them aloud using typed transcripts. The difficulty level of the passages was one grade level above the GE score a student received on a standardized test of reading comprehension ability (the Tests of Adult Basic Education or TABE). Students practiced re-reading the passage while listening until they felt they could read it aloud on their own to the instructor. When they read two passages with 90% accuracy (mispronouncing no more than 10% of the words in a passage), they were given the next highest grade level passages to work with. Students using this approach significantly increased their vocabulary and total reading scores (comprehension and vocabulary combined) on the TABE, but not their comprehension scores (GEs were used in the analysis). The study's author suggests that fluency practice improved students' word recognition, implying that it helped them to recognize words that they already knew the meanings of and that this led to the increase in the vocabulary and combined vocabulary-comprehension scores.

Results from the prison setting (McKane & Greene, 1996) suggest that using a computer software fluency program with adult beginning readers (reading below GE 3) leads to an increase in total reading achievement (comprehension and vocabulary combined on the TABE; non-equal-interval GE scores may have been used in the analysis). This computer-based instruction provides practice in improving the rate and accuracy of letter, syllable, and word recognition, as well as phrase, sentence, and paragraph reading. The smaller units are practiced to a criterion level before the introduction of larger units.

One non-experimental study looked for increases in reading rate that might result from fluency practice (Tan, Moore, Dixon, & Nicholson, 1994). In this study (which used a single-subject, multiple-baseline, reversal design), three ESL students reading at about the 1st or 2nd grade level were taught to rapidly identify isolated words taken from a passage. They then practiced reading this passage fluently (with increased rate and accuracy). These students had sustained increases in their word and passage fluency, but not in passage comprehension.

In a case study of an adult receiving one-to-one tutoring, increases in fluency (accuracy during oral reading) were observed during instruction that focused on the adult's strengths in oral language using a language experience approach (discussion and dictation of a picture book story) along with word recognition practice and repeated readings using the student's dictated story (Brock, 1998).

Finally, a non-experimental study, which directly addresses the first question posed above, presents somewhat negative results. Results from this study suggest that participation in a large ABE program utilizing trained teachers does not lead to increases in oral reading fluency (Venezky, Bristow, & Sabatini, 1994).

Goals and Setting

Questions

Does participation in a program specifically aligned with one of the three major ABE goals or settings lead to a greater increase in reading fluency than participation in another type of program? Does setting affect the degree to which fluency instruction increases achievement in other aspects of reading?

No research was found that compares the effects of fluency instruction in programs aligned with one of the three major ABE goals or settings: general functional literacy, workplace literacy, or family literacy.

Question

Within any one type of program, is it possible to increase fluency, and is instruction related to fluency effective in increasing other aspects of reading?

All of the research described above, with one exception (Meyer, 1982), took place in general functional literacy programs.

Instructional Methods and Material

Several studies that touch on teaching strategies for fluency were found, and one study investigated the effects on fluency of the length of time students spent in a program. However, no studies related to the separate effects of instructional material or teacher preparation were found.

Teaching Strategies

Question

What specific teaching strategies or techniques can be used to increase fluency?

Principle 10:

Fluency may be taught using approaches that include the repeated reading of passages of text, words from texts, and other text units. (Brock, 1998; Meyer, 1982; McKane & Greene, 1996; Tan, Moore, Dixon, & Nicholson, 1994)

Several studies, all discussed above, have used repeated reading to improve student fluency. Students read the same text several times until they are able to read it rapidly and accurately. These studies, two experimental and two non-experimental, differ in the type of text they focus on during fluency instruction: whole passages of text, isolated words, or a mixture of text types. More research is needed to determine which of these may be more effective.

In the approach that focuses on re-reading passages of text, adult learners were taught how to read passages of text out loud (orally) while listening to them on audiotape (Meyer, 1982). Although the texts were challenging, one grade level above a learner's reading grade level, listening provided enough pronunciation help for students to reach 90% accuracy on two texts before being given more difficult ones to work on. During this study, students received a total of seven hours of fluency instruction over two or more weeks of class while receiving no other reading instruction. Scores on measures of vocabulary and total reading (vocabulary and comprehension combined) on a standardized test (the TABE) increased significantly.

In the approach that focuses on re-reading single words from a text, used with beginning ESL readers, potentially difficult words in a reading passage are identified and then these isolated words are practiced until students can read all the words accurately at a rate of about 1.5 seconds per word. Passage reading is then practiced (with oral reading followed by comprehension questions). For the three beginning ESL readers (reading at GE 0-3), this led to an increase in word recognition fluency and accuracy, and oral reading accuracy, but not to sustained increases in comprehension (Tan et al., 1994).

In an approach that focused on a mixture of text types, a components strategy towards fluency instruction was taken (McKane & Greene, 1996). Adult learners used a computer software program that first identifies areas or components of reading in which students lack automaticity (adequate accuracy and rate). The program then provides audio-visual practice in the weakest areas. Practice starts with lower level processes or smaller units and progresses to larger units as accuracy and rate criteria are met. These units include letters, regular letter combinations representing real and nonsense syllables, real words, and nonwords. Practice in fluently reading phrases, sentences, and paragraphs follows. Targeting areas in which automaticity is weak in this way led to increases in reading comprehension achievement for these beginning adult readers (those reading below GE 3; non-equal-interval GE scores may have been used in this analysis).

A case study (Brock, 1998) illustrates how repeated reading might be used in a tutoring situation. In this study of an adult receiving one-to-one tutoring, increases in fluency were observed following instruction that included repeated readings and focused on the adult's strengths in oral language. Instruction began with language experience exercises. The student looked at a picture book, discussed the story depicted in the book, and then dictated a story based on the pictures. Instruction also included word recognition practice, using the limited number of words that appeared in the picture book, and repeated readings using the student's dictated story.

Intensity and Duration of Instruction

Question

Learner Characteristics

Functional Reading Level

Question

Are certain forms of reading fluency instruction more effective for students reading at a particular reading level (for beginning versus more advanced readers, for example)?

More fluency studies with adults are needed to determine whether fluency instruction is more or less effective for adults at different reading levels. Results from two studies are somewhat contradictory. One (McKane & Greene, 1996) suggests that developing automaticity (accuracy and rate) in areas of the reading process where an adult learner's fluency is diagnosed as weakest (letter, syllable, word, phrase, sentence, and/or paragraph reading) leads to increases in reading achievement for beginning readers (those at GE 3 based on the TABE total reading score), but not for better readers (those reading between GE 3.1 to 6.1 or between 6.1 to 9.0). Another study, however, suggests that adults reading at about GE 5 or 6 can benefit from fluency instruction (Meyer, 1982). As noted above, both studies may have used GE scores in their analyses.

Ideas for Fluency Instruction from K-12 Research

The National Reading Panel (NRP) findings related to fluency instruction at the K-12 level are based on a much larger set of studies than exist in the ABE fluency research base. The major ABE research results are supported by the NRP findings, although the NRP findings extend beyond those from the ABE research base.

ABE research related to fluency assessment suggests that beginning adult readers lack fluency, as do children learning to read. Emerging principles from the ABE research base related to fluency instruction suggest that fluency can be taught to adults using approaches that include repeated readings of text, and, that developing fluency can sometimes lead to increases in reading achievement. The NRP review also found that fluency can be taught, but it found a much stronger relationship between fluency instruction and increased reading comprehension achievement. The NRP results also suggest that fluency instruction is beneficial for students with reading problems through grade 12, not just for beginning readers. Finally, various approaches to fluency instruction have been evaluated at the K-12 level and are reviewed in the NRP report.

Most of the topics important to ABE instruction are not addressed by the NRP review of fluency research. Unlike the large research base used in the NRP review of alphabetics research, the fluency research base at the K-12 level is relatively small. Fourteen studies were available for the NRP fluency meta-analysis. Separating out the various factors related to the ABE topics was not possible with such a small set of studies. Two of the ABE topics are covered by the K-12 research: Teaching Strategies and Functional Reading Level.

Goals and Setting

Unlike the NRP review of alpabetics research, the review of research related to fluency instruction did not evaluate the effects of socioeconomic status or other setting variables. The research base for K-12 fluency instruction was much smaller than the research base for alphabetics instruction.

Instructional Methods and Material

The NRP review supports trends from the ABE research base suggesting that fluency can be taught to adults and that developing fluency can sometimes lead to increases in reading achievement. Of the topics important to adult education, the NRP data address Teaching Strategies directly. The NRP review does not make research-based conclusions related to Instructional Materials, Intensity and Duration, and Teacher Preparation, although some preliminary comments related to Materials and Teacher Preparation are presented.

Teaching Strategies

Idea 14:

To improve ABE readers' fluency (as well as word recognition and reading comprehension achievement), use repeated guided oral reading procedures.

K-12 Research. The NRP review of research at the K-12 level found that "procedures that have students reading passages orally multiple times while receiving guidance or feedback from peers, parents, or teachers are effective in improving a variety of reading skills" (p. 3-20). These repeated reading procedures accompanied by guidance from others lead to increases in reading fluency as well as increased word recognition and reading comprehension achievement (p. 3-18). Many procedures, such as repeated reading (with and without feedback), paired reading, shared reading, and collaborative or assisted oral reading, seem to be effective although there was not enough information to compare their relative effectiveness (p. 3-19).

Idea 15:

Encouraging adults to read independently more often may not lead to improvements in reading achievement without other forms of reading instruction.

K-12 Research. The NRP review of procedures such as Sustained Silent Reading and others that encourage students to read more (and thus perhaps develop their reading fluency) does not find that these approaches are effective in improving students' reading (p. 3-27).

Idea 16:

Use systematic phonics instruction (as opposed to non-systematic or incidental phonics instruction) to improve adult beginning readers' reading fluency.

K-6 Research. The NRP review of research related to phonics instruction found that children's reading fluency improves when they are taught decoding using systematic approaches to phonics instruction (p. 2-113).

Instructional Materials

The NRP review does not evaluate specific materials used for fluency instruction. It does note, however, that repeated and guided reading is a relatively simple procedure that uses text as opposed to other special equipment or material (p. 3-20).

It is also clear that these procedures are not particularly difficult to use; nor do they require lots of special equipment or materials, although it is uncertain how widely used they are at this time.

Teacher Preparation

As with instructional materials, the NRP review does not evaluate the effects of teacher preparation, but notes that the procedures "are not particularly difficult to use" (p. 3-20).

Learner Characteristics

Functional Reading Level

Trends in the ABE research suggest that ABE beginning readers may benefit from fluency instruction, but that more advanced readers may not. Results for children, however, are somewhat different.

Idea 17:

Most ABE learners receiving reading instruction could be classified as poor readers. Fluency instruction may be especially effective for improving poor readers' reading achievement, regardless of their reading grade equivalent.

K-6 Research. The NRP review found that fluency instruction is effective for normally achieving readers at least through the 4th grade. This may support a trend from ABE research suggesting that adult beginning readers (those reading, roughly, up to about the 3rd or 4th grade level) also benefit from fluency instruction. The NRP also found that poor readers at all grade levels benefit, suggesting that adults reading above the 3-4 GE in reading may also benefit. More research is needed at the K-12 level to separate the effects of grade level in school and reading grade level equivalents.

Motivation

Although the NRP review does not address motivation directly, one major finding may be relevant to this topic, which is especially important in ABE settings, where attrition is often a problem. When looking at the immediate effects of fluency instruction on students' ability to read passages that were used during instruction, the NRP review found that reading improves from the first passage read to the final passage read. Fluency instruction immediately improves the reading rate, accuracy, and comprehension of passages read (pp. 3-15 -- 3-16). Assuming that, based on the research discussed above, transfer to other passages that are not a part of instruction will occur after fluency practice of some length of time, the immediate benefits to adults may be motivational. Adult readers should see improvement in their reading fairly quickly, at least over the passages that they are practicing.