Fluency in Reading

Research

Question: What are the three elements in fluent reading?

Note: The following article involves significant information about training in fluent reading. Like other articles before it, this article emphasizes prosody, oral expression, rather than speed because excellent oral prosody signals excellent comprehension. RayS.

Abstract

Quote: “Over the past decade, fluent reading has come to be seen as a central component of skilled reading and a driving force in the literacy curriculum. However, much of this focus has centered on a relatively narrow definition of reading fluency, one that emphasizes automatic word recognition. This article attempts to expand this understanding by synthesizing several key aspects of research on reading fluency, including theoretical perspectives surrounding automaticity and prosody. It examines four major definitions of reading fluency and their relationship to accuracy, automaticity and prosody. A proposed definition is presented. Finally, the implications of these definitions for current assessment and instruction are considered along with suggestions for reinvisioning fluency’s role within the literacy curriculum.” P. 230.

History of the Emerging Emphasis on Fluency in Reading

Quote: “Over the past decade, the field of literacy education has seen a major shift in fluency’s role in the literacy curriculum, moving from a rarely encountered instructional component to one that is often responsible for driving major instructional decisions…. This shift is due, in part, to the identification of fluency as one of the areas reviewed by the National Reading Panel (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). It also results from a broader reconsideration of the role of oral reading in the development of skilled reading….” P. 230.

Our Definition of Fluency

Quote: “Fluency combines accuracy, automaticity, and oral reading prosody, which, taken together, facilitate the reader’s construction of meaning.  It is demonstrated during oral reading through ease of word recognition, appropriate pacing, phrasing, and intonation. It is a factor in both oral and silent reading that can limit or support comprehension.” P. 240.

Quote: “It is critical that we establish assessments, and instruction, that assist learners in becoming truly fluent readers rather than just fast ones.” P. 246.

Comment: An important article because it relates oral reading to silent reading. RayS.

Title: “Aligning Theory and Assessment of Reading Fluency: Automaticity, Prosody, and Definitions of Fluency.” MR Kuhn,  PJ Schwanenflugel, EB Meisinger,et. al.  Reading Research Quarterly (April/May/June 2010), 230-251.