This paper is about oral reading fluency, how it has been measured, the students who have been measured, and the outcomes that have been reported for both performance and progress. This measurement system has almost become ubiquitous with documentation of response to intervention in reading and become a focal point of research on reading. Fluency…

The CCSS framework indicates more difficult texts are to be used with students. However, the rationale for increasing text difficulty, decreasing text difficulty, is unsupported by the research that shows texts have been increasing in difficulty for at least 50 years. Oral reading accuracy is a traditional method of estimating text difficulty. For…

In polysyllabic languages the assignment of stress is crucial for understanding the reading process. Here we review empirical evidence, drawn mainly from studies on Italian, and discuss critical issues in understanding reading. We first discuss the lexical and sublexical mechanisms responsible for stress assignment and propose that the former is…

This article examines how a second-grader demonstrates that reading is not about decoding letters and words in linear order but is a more complex activity involving the reader's decisions with respect to several aspects of their knowledge of their language and how comprehension is key to transacting with texts. The paper observes and documents the…

This article is concerned with the role of reading aloud (RA) in language learning. General ELT methodology literature does not recommend the practice. However, recent research and specialist literature recommend using RA for various purposes. It can help reading by reinforcing graphemic-phonemic correspondences. It can aid the acquisition of…

Second language research and classroom practice have tended to sideline reading in favor of an emphasis on the oral language development of the English Language Learner (ELL). First-language (L1) reading research is well developed but has limited usefulness to the teacher or researcher interested in second-language (L2) reading. Developing L2…

This study examined orthographic learning in oral and silent reading conditions. Dutch third graders read, either aloud or silently, short texts containing novel target (pseudo) words. The acquisition of new word-specific orthographic knowledge was assessed several days later by comparing target spellings with homophonic spellings in tasks…

Examines four recent criticisms of the ideas of Kenneth Goodman on reading and on the use of oral reading for diagnostic purposes. (TJ)

The feasibility of administering the Woodcock Passage Comprehension Test in written rather than oral form was examined. The written test was found to be a quick and valid assessment of students' reading achievement. (MKM)

The purpose of this study was to examine the character identification strategies of Chinese children during their oral reading of a continuous text. Eighteen second graders' oral reading of a story, as well as an interview about their decoding strategies, were audiotaped and transcribed. The results generally converged with those of previous oral…

Reports on regression analyses that determined the predictability of each of three oral reading behaviors on comprehension (unaided recall of story propositions) with adjustments for the effects of other variables so that the effect of a single oral reading behavior on comprehension could be independently determined. (HOD)

This article discusses three major reasons why children who can decode the stories in their basal readers may still have problems reading content area textbooks. The reasons include: (1) lack of prerequisite knowledge (including content, discourse, and strategic knowledge); (2) poorly written textbooks; and (3) negative classroom experiences in…

This manuscript is the outcome of the first year of a two-year project designed to explore what works in reading instruction for students who are highly mobile. The project includes several components. The first was to conduct an extensive literature review to identify what is already known (the focus of this document). In addition to the…

The assumption that phonological processes support comprehension guided two experiments in manipulating the similarity of the consonant code both within silently read sentences and between these sentences and concurrently vocalized phrases. The first experiment examined whether tongue-twisters would take longer to read than phonetically…

Reading failure can be eliminated by the year 2000 if reading teachers believe it can be done, can develop the new procedures needed to make their dreams come true, and are willing to make fundamental changes in how they teach reading. Phonic utility research clearly indicates that phonics instruction is neither dependable nor useful. The current…