Changes in Oral Reading Strategies as a Function of Quantities of Miscues

Abstract

Changes in oral reading miscues as a function of quantity of miscues were studied by evaluating the tape-recorded oral reading of 30 eighth-grade children reading passages of sixth-, eighth-, eleventh-, and thirteenth-grade readability. Children reading with 95-99% accuracy tended to make NONSENSE errors on unfamiliar words; whereas, children reading with 90-94% accuracy omitted such words. Results showed that reading with 90-94% accuracy resulted in a greater percentage of MEANING LOSS errors than reading with 95-99% accuracy. Results imply that reading from materials where fewer than 5% error occurs may result in more efficient use of the cue systems in reading. The analysis of oral reading miscues (Goodman, K., 1965) as a methodolgy for the study of reading has received much attention. While the assumptions underlying miscue analysis are being challenged (e.g., Mosenthal, 1976), others are focusing on the refinement of the methods of study (e.g.. Hood, 1976), and on the identification of factors affecting the types of miscues made by readers (e.g., Cohen, 1974). One factor which has been cited as affecting miscue type is the difficulty level of the selection for the reader. McCracken (1967) suggests that a good reader in sixth-grade may make: (a) no errors when reading from a third-grade reader; (b) repetitions when reading from a fourth-grade reader; (c) substitutions when reading from sixthand seventh-grade materials but will correct the errors; and (d) uncorrected substitutions when reading eighthand ninth-grade materials. The effect of oral reading accuracy on the quality of miscues made was also described by Y. Goodman (1972). The oral reading miscues of the one child studied showed that as the number of miscues increased the number which resulted in a loss of meaning also increased (Goodman, Y., 1972). Despite these reports, most researchers have not controlled for the oral reading accuracy level of subjects. Thus, studies may attribute miscue differences between two groups of subjects to characteristics of the children (e.g., average readers vs. below-average readers) when the groups are reading at different accuracy levels (e.g., Weber, 1970). It is likely that some of these miscue differences are a function of the accuracy levels at which the children were reading. The first purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of oral reading accuracy on the types of miscues made by readers. Another issue surrounding oral reading miscue analysis lies in the relationship of miscues to comprehension. It seems necessary to identify the types of miscues which affect comprehension. The second purpose of the present study was to assess the relationship of oral reading accuracy (and resulting miscue types) to comprehension as measured by the cloze technique (Bormuth, 1968).