A MODERN PERSPECTIVE OF READING FLUENCY

HE Shao-xian

(Minjiang Teachers College,Fuzhou Fujian 350008,China)

Fluency has a direct impact on a reader’s ability to comprehend,and is an essential component of the reading process in both oral and silent reading.The research in this paper will look at the evolution of fluency and its modern definition,explore the essential elements of fluency,and examine the role and need for fluency instruction.As teachers we need to reflect upon this modern definition and make sure that our assessments and practices within the classroom align to this new view of fluency so that our students are developing the necessary skills to be successful life-long readers.

1 The Evolution of Fluency

To understand the importance of fluency today we must reflect on how it has evolved over time.

LaBerge and Samuels were early entrepreneurs in the field of literacy,and captivated the attention of educators with their theory of automatic information processing.They focus their attention to fluency development through repeated readings,and that as readers are exposed to words repeatedly,they should be able to recognize words with increasing accuracy and automaticity.[1]This research has shaped teaching practices for many years,however it has also lead to the understanding that fluency meant fast readers were fluent readers.

Julie E.Schrauben challenges educators and researchers to think beyond automaticity.She encourages teachers to consider the role of prosody and how monitoring a students’ability to read with proper expression is an important factor when monitoring fluency.

Rasinski states that fluency is defined as“reading with and for meaning”[2]and that reading fluency extends beyond fast oral reading,because silent reading is also greatly utilized in schools.With these new perspectives on fluency researchers are faced with the challenge to look at the components of fluency,create a modern definition of fluency,and share effective practices for instructing fluency in today’s classrooms.

2 A Modern Definition of Fluency

According to Kuhn et.al.，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.[3]

This definition sheds light on the modern view of fluency for many reasons,one being that it highlights the importance between fluency and comprehension.Second,it emphasizes prosody along with accurate and automatic word reading without giving greater value to one area over another.Finally,this definition also begins to examine the modern perspective of reading fluency,that is an essential element of both oral and silent reading,and that rate and expression are important contributors to the reading process.[3]

Based on this new definition,fluency is an element of reading that is essential for comprehension and is a vital component to all levels of literacy instruction.“fluency is a developmental process of building decoding skills that will form a bridge to reading comprehension and that will have reciprocal,casual relationship with reading comprehension.”[4]

3 Essential Elements of Fluency

According to the above definition of fluency,automaticity,accuracy,and prosody are the basic elements which each individually contributes to the reading process and overall comprehension of text.

Accuracy means“freedom from mistake or error.”[5]In reading,accuracy refers to the words a child is able to read correctly,without error,in a given passage.Accuracy is often measured and evaluated through oral reading assessments,and can be timed or untimed.

Automaticity,the most long-standing and essential element of fluency,refers to the reader’s ability to recognize words automatically and effortlessly.“Our goal should be for readers to read the words in texts accurately and automatically.”[6]When the words in text are identified automatically,readers can employ most of their limited cognitive energy to that all-important task in reading comprehension.”[6]

Prosody,what was described as reading with expression,includes the reader’s ability to use pitch/intonation,stress/loudness,and length of phrases,pasual intrusions,and final phrase lengthening.

4 Fluency Instruction for readers

Fluency instruction includes the use of wide and deep reading instruction,using performance within the classroom,and integrating repeated readings into classroom routines.

Wide reading which includes reading,discussion,response and instruction aims at developing skills and strategies,targets to increase the volume of texts used,and is a component to an effective reading program.

Deep reading is often used in the form of repeated reading,and is used when student reread the same text multiple times until a fluency goal is achieved.One way to increase the use of deep reading is through performance,utilizing songs,poems,and readers theatre.Research shows that the readers in these environments make significant gains in reading with meaningful expression,improve automaticity in word recognition,demonstrate greater comprehension in passages read both silently and orally,and tend to have more enjoyment in the reading process.

Coinciding with the use of performance,repeated readings are another strategy proven to be effective for the development of fluency.[7]Through repeated readings,students have opportunities to improve their automaticity so that more of a student’s cognitive energy can be focused on the comprehension of the text.

5 Conclusion

Fluency,once associated with the ability of a student to read fast,now extends to include their expression in reading as well as their ability to read silently and orally for meaning.It is a factor that can ultimately limit or support comprehension.

When a student is able to successfully read with high levels of accuracy,automaticity,and prosody demonstrating they are able to read with great fluency they are spending less energy decoding text,and therefore have more energy to apply to comprehension.

Teachers need to consider what approaches they are implementing to develop and monitor student fluency beyond“speed reading.”The way fluency is approached within the classroom needs to be reevaluated so that practices are authentic and instruction meaningfully draws upon each individual aspect of fluency.S

［1］LaBerge,D.&Samuels,S.J.Towards a theory of automatic information processing in reading[J].Cognitive Psychology,1974,6:293-323.

［2］Rasinski,T.,Samuels,S.J.Hiebert,E.,Petscher,Y.,&Feller,K.2011.The relationship between a silent reading fluency instructional protocol on students’reading comprehension and achievement in an urban school setting[J].Reading Psychology,32(1):75-97.

［3］Kuhn,M.R.,Schwanenflugel,P.J.,&Meisinger,E.B.2010.Aligning theory and assessment of reading fluency[J]:Automaticity,prosody,and definitions of fluency.Reading Research Quarterly,45(2):230-251.

［4］Pikulski,J.J.,&Chard,D.J.Fluency:Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension[J].The Reading Teacher,2005,58(6):510-519.

［5］[Merriam-Webster,Incorporated].Retrieved December 1,2013,from Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus website[OL].http://www.merriam-webster.com/.

［6］Rasinski,T.V.2012.Why reading fluency should be hot[J].Reading Teacher,65(8):516-522.

［7］Schrauben,J.E.Prosody’s contribution to fluency:An examination of the theory of automatic information processing[J].Reading Psychology,2010,31(1):82-92.