Oral Reading Rate and Fluency
Oral reading can also be called "word recognition in context"
and refers to the ability to read connected text aloud with accuracy,
speed, and appropriate phrasing.
For most readers, accuracy, speed, and phrasing in oral reading are strongly related to reading comprehension. In fact, generally speaking, as oral reading skill increases, so too does reading comprehension. One reason for this might be that when word recognition becomes automatic (that is, oral reading rate goes up), a reader can dedicate more cognitive resources to understanding what he or she is reading. Conversely, when a reader has to spend time decoding words (that is, oral reading rate goes down), that reader is devoting cognitive resources to word analysis instead of comprehension.
The aim of reading instruction is to increase the level of silent reading comprehension. Researchers have found high correlations between oral reading fluency and reading comprehension. In order to be able to release attention to the meaning of sentences and paragraphs, learners have to be fluent readers. Hesitations caused by a need to decode unfamiliar words interrupts the flow of the author's intended meaning. Fluent reading requires that word recognition ability be automatic for the particular reading level being assessed. Researchers have found high correlations between oral reading fluency and reading comprehension.
ORAL READING RATE
Why do we need to measure oral reading rate?
It is a measure of word recognition automaticity. It is the first
step in an informal assesment of Fluency.
How do we measure reading rate?
Following is the process and formula that the ARCS researchers
used.
Reading rate is most often given as the number of words read correctly in one minute (wpm). It is found by a straightforward method that can be applied to any GE level passage. Follow these steps:
- Select a short, easy passage that is one or two GEs below the learner's
present oral reading instructional GE level. If you have not given
a graded oral reading test, chose a passage one or two GEs below their
Word Recognition GE. The purpose here is to see how easily someone
can read orally when she/he doesn't have to pause to decode unfamiliar
words.
- Count the words in the passage.
- Have learner read the passage once through orally so that both of
you can see that there are no troublesome words.
- Tell the learner to read the passage once more, but that this time
you are going to time the reading. The learner will read fast and
may not pay any attention to punctuation. That's all right.
- Record the time in seconds and compute the following:
words per minute = (number of words in passage ÷ reading time (in seconds)) x 60
"...[I]t is important for teachers to assess adult readers fluency. Also, because oral reading, not silent reading, is one of the most important methods used to teach fluency, completion of assessment studies of ABE students' oral reading fluency (accuracy and rate) should be a priority."
FLUENCY2
BUT, speed and word recognition accuracy are only part of fluent reading. Attention to punctuation helps the reader chunk words and phrases. Getting the phrasing right brings a rhythm to the text, and understanding the rhythm helps the reader understand the author's intended meaning. Appropriate intonation is an important aspect of fluent reading and an indication that the reader is paying attention to meaning.
Assessing fluency using a 'Pausing Scale'
(NRP, p 3-10)
"The National Assessment of Educational Progress fluency study…
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."
Developing fluency:
Developing fluency is important at any reading level. No matter how
bright a learner is, if she/he is not reading easily and with expression,
there is not enough attention being focused on meaning. Listening
to your learners read will tell you a lot about whether or not they
are comprehending a particular passage.
Repeated reading, a process where the teacher models oral reading and the learner then reads the passage repeatedly until some measure of fluency is reseached, will only be effective if there is guidance and feedback during the successive readings. Repeated reading has been shown to be effective in increasing fluency in K-12.
Other names for "repeated reading" from the National Reading Panel are:
- Paired reading
- Shared reading
- Collaborative oral reading
- Assisted oral reading
- Neurological impress