A Study of How Repeated Reading Affects English Recitation Fluency in College Students

Abstract

The present study verified the effect and efficiency of repeated reading (RR) on oral reading fluency in the EFL environment of Taiwan. By promoting oral reading speed and automaticity, RR proved to be an effective technique to enhance oral reading and thus speaking fluency. Fifty-one freshman students from Tamkang University in Taiwan participated in this study. They had eight 30-minute instructions during the intervention period. SPSS 11.0 was adopted to do the quantitative analysis (paired sample t-test, effect size, regression analysis). The results indicated that there was a significant improvement in oral reading speed after the intervention (130-211 words correct per minute) regardless of the following factors: (1) gender, (2) native language, (3) time using/learning English outside of training, and (4) pre-test performance. Responses from post-test questionnaires indicated a high acceptability of RR among subject groups. Accordingly, RR appears to be a highly promising technique for automaticity development, speed training, and fluency in oral teaching. 本论文目的在于探讨在指导之下的重复阅读是否能增进学生英文口读速度的效果，进而增进口语流畅度，并研究不同的背景条件是否影响重复阅读的效果。本研究以淡江大学大一学生为研究对象，共计八周，并且接受前、后测及填写前、后测问卷。本论文挑选完全参与前、后测，并出席五次以上的学生为有效研究对象，总计51名。本研究的结果如下：1.重复阅读能够显著影响学生的口读速度。2. 即使是在一个英语为外国语言的学习环境，重复阅读也能帮助学生提升口读速度。3. 对于字汇重复率低的文章，学生在练习过程中所累积进步的口读速度也可以转移到新的文章中，此现象并不局限于英语为母语或第一语言的学习环境中，在英语为外国语言的学习环境也可以成立。4. 重复阅读能够显著提高学生的口读速度，不论他们的性别、母语、参与实验学习或使用英文的时间和前测成绩。本研究并发现，重复阅读对于发音有困难的和落后的同学有显著帮助。而对于程度较优秀的学生，其学习效果则更甚于程度一般学生。5. 重复阅读的训练重点应是速度，而非重复。重复的目的只是为了要使速度更快，唯有当速度快到达到自动化程度时，重复阅读才会展现显著的效果。总之，本论文证明，在指导之下的重复快速口读，的确可以在短期内有效地提升学生口读的流畅度。