Abstract
Reading is not synonymous to comprehension; rather it is a prerequisite that doesn’t, by itself, guarantee comprehension. This is to say that being efficient in decoding letters, syllables and whole words and recognizing vocabulary does not ensure natural r automatic comprehension. Fluency seems to be the bridge between the mastery of the mechanics of reading and the dynamics of comprehension. Abundant research exists that explores how to improve reading skills of EFL learners at Saudi universities. However little, if any, of this array of research sought to discern the potential effects of educational technology on the fluency of struggling readers in continuous learning programs. To fill this gap, this study seeks to probe the multi dimensions of the problem and suggest ways to solve it. For this purpose, 24 EFL lecturers from three Saudi universities were selected and interviewed. A suggested computer-assisted collaborative reading model was put forth to be applied in the three universities. Students were diagnosed by their instructors as gaining relatively enough grasp of decoding skills at the multi-levels of orthographic knowledge, mono and polysyllabic words, but exhibit slow and inaccurate reading indicating reprehensive symptoms for a fluency problem. The lecturers explained that the disappointment resulting from learners’ inability to reach comprehension despite mastering decoding skills influences their attitudes towards reading and language learning, bringing about reading apathy and low self-esteem. The proposed model is designed to enhance reading fluency which is perceived as the underlying problem that makes the reader struggle. It is to be delivered partly individually and partly collaboratively online. Collaboration also is operated via face to face instruction especially in teaching the reading strategy. In doing so, the procedures followed are in line with the blended learning. The findings indicate clearly that the proposed model was successfully used to improve reading fluency through accelerating the different reading subskills for decoding and create positive attitudes toward reading. The results highlight the importance of establishing a level of automaticity that gives rise to the higher skills of comprehension.
Highlights
English is gaining prominence in the Saudi community .This is reflected through the pivotal position the educational system assigns to teaching English
The unique profile typical to continuous learning students compared to standard programs in terms of the program‟s admission prerequisites entails special attention to be directed to investigating the teaching and learning practices of such sector especially concerning struggling readers
The affective profile of the students improved as a result. This can be attributed to some factors; dealing comprehensively with the reading process from its two extremes, decoding and comprehension, through accelerating decoding pace to the level of automaticity and the application of strategic reading to the level of comprehension; the collaborative mode of the computer assisted language learning was useful in many ways including securing the social interaction and scaffolding students into more reflection on their mental processing through comparing their performance with their peers
Summary
English is gaining prominence in the Saudi community .This is reflected through the pivotal position the educational system assigns to teaching English. The increasing demands for more proficient language learner locally and overseas impose pressure on educational stakeholders to secure such employable working force It is becoming integral part in all university programs [1, 2]. Twenty four EFL lecturers and faculty members from three Saudi universities were selected and interviewed about the characteristic profile of the struggling students who flounder with reading in spite of the fact that they are good at decoding with its different subskills. It defines the key concepts of the study and sets the relation between computerassisted collaborative models and reading fluency. This is a qualitative data analysis of the data derived from the interviews with the selected EFL lecturers. It summarizes the main findings of the study and discusses the implications of the study to teaching English in continuous programs in the Saudi universities and to further research
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