How are Literacy, Fluency and Reading Comprehension Affected by Using Oral Reading Methods in the Classroom?

Literacy, fluency and reading comprehension all play a crucial role in determining how learners acquire skills within the classroom. This paper will review a number of scholarly literatures that give more details about fluency and reading comprehension.

Over a long period of time, the ability of a learner to read educational materials fluently has been taken as the most thorough learning method through which the learner can acquire literacy. Kuhn, Schwanenflugel and Meisinger (2010) argue that reading fluency should not only focus on automatic word recognition as a way to assess the ability of a learner (p. 231). The authors argue that there should be other methods to assess reading fluency through prosody, which can influence the rhythm of spoken language. Automatic word recognition helps a learner to read with speed, limited effort, with autonomy and without having to be conscious. All these attributes make the reading fluency of a learner to improve.

Dewitz, Jones and Leahy (2009) state that comprehension reading instructions in classrooms does not always meet the standards that have been set by educational experts (p. 107). The comprehension programs adopted do not provide learners the time to practice what they are learning through the comprehension because learners are given too much material to learn. Learners are at a disadvantage because they may probably not complete the core curriculum topics as outlined in the study guide. The programs cover a lot more topics than before, which make instructors to rush learners through the curriculum before a clear assessment of learners’ internalization of what they are taught is done.

Rasinski (1999) states that one of the most effective ways to assess a learner’s reading abili...

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...uency. Reading Research Quarterly, 45 (2), 230-251.

Nichols, W. D., Rupley,W. H., & Rasinski, T. (2009). Fluency in learning to read for meaning: Going beyond repeated readings. Literacy Research and Instruction, 48, 1-13.

Pikulski, J., & Chard, D. (2005). Fluency: Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58(6), 510-520.

Rasinski, T., & Hoffman, J. (2003). Oral reading in the school literacy program. Reading Research Quarterly, 38(4), 510-522.

Rasinski, T. (2000). Speed does matter in reading. The Reading Teacher, 54(2), 146- 152.

Rasinski, T. (1999). Reading first: Fluency is fundamental. Scholastic Instructor, 113(4), 15-20.

Slavin, R., Cheung, A., Groff, C., & Lake, C. (2008). Effective reading programs for middle and high schools: A best-evidence synthesis. Reading Research Quarterly, 43(3), 290-322.