The Effects of Choral Repeated Reading on Foreign Language Reading Fluency of Words in Connected and Disconnected Text

Dacian D Dolean,Raluca Pop,Crina I Damsa

doi:10.5296/ijl.v9i2.11051

Abstract

Repeated reading has been successfully used to enhance reading fluency in L1, but little is known about how (and to what extent) this strategy impacts reading in foreign language classrooms. Our paper reports the results of a 5-week intervention program aimed to improve reading fluency of middle school students during their English as a foreign language classes. Four classes of sixth-graders divided in two groups received two reading treatments for the last 15 minutes of the class: choral repeated reading (CRR) and reading comprehension/vocabulary development (RC/VD). Results indicated that a short term intervention program of repeated reading can lead to significant improvements of fluency only at lexical level (words in disconnected text) but not at syntactic level (words in connected text). Pedagogical implications and further research directions are addressed.

Highlights

Reading fluency (RF) has been identified as one of the main components of reading proficiency (NRP, 2000)
It is unclear whether the development of RF in a foreign language (FL) is similar at lexical level with the one at syntactic level, given different predictive values of the two levels of RF on reading comprehension
In this study we will explore the potential advantage of improving RF in a foreign language (FL) at both lexical and syntactic levels using a strategy that has been reported to be effective in L1 reading classes: choral repeated reading

Summary

Introduction

Reading fluency (RF) has been identified as one of the main components of reading proficiency (NRP, 2000). The relationship has been framed conceptually by the Automaticity Theory (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974) and Verbal Efficiency Theory (Perfetti, 1985) Both theories suggest that the more automatized the reading fluency, the more cognitive resources (e.g. attention, short-term memory) readers can employ to focus on understanding the meaning of what is being read. While there are many empirical studies that explored how can native speakers improve their RF skills in the classroom, surprisingly there is little evidence about how this skill can be enhanced during foreign language (FL) classes It is unclear whether the development of RF in a FL is similar at lexical level (words in disconnected texts) with the one at syntactic level (words in connected text), given different predictive values of the two levels of RF on reading comprehension. In this study we will explore the potential advantage of improving RF in a foreign language (FL) at both lexical and syntactic levels using a strategy that has been reported to be effective in L1 reading classes: choral repeated reading

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Conclusion