The Importance of Context

When it comes to repeated reading and fluency improvement, which is better: repeated word reading or repeated passage reading? Therrien and Kubina make the position that repeated practice with connected text is a critical component for increasing fluency.

The researchers conducted a study where the participants read contextual and acontextual words.  They found that when students re-read words in context, they read faster and made fewer errors.  The students’ reading speed increased and the number of word errors decreased as they re-read the connected text passage.  They concluded that their study provided support for the contextualized linguistic effect for reading fluency and word recognition.

There are several practical implications from their research:

·      Re-reading words in context of passages is more efficient for instruction than re-reading just words out of context.

·      Word recognition improves with practice.

·      When re-reading connected text, phrases and word patterns can become so familiar so as to be automatic.

As I am always looking for ways to make my limited instruction time more efficient, I introduce vocabulary and difficult words before reading a passage and point them out where they appear in the text.  I find the students rarely hesitate when they then read the word in context.  Additionally, context helps with high frequency words when students have the surrounding words to cue decoding.  Thus, when it comes to answering the initial question above, the answer appears to be that reading words in context of a passage is more effective for increasing fluency than rapid proficiency with isolated words.

APA Citation for the article:

Therrien, W. J., & Kubina, R. M., Jr. (2007). The importance of context in repeated reading. Reading Improvement, 44(4), 179-188.

Read, Repeat...

Repeated reading is an effective and well-recognized fluency intervention today.  The method’s origin was born out the research of S. Jay Samuels and David LaBerge in the mid-1970’s.  Together, they developed the theory of automatic processing in reading which holds that a fluent reader decodes text automatically without attention, leaving attention free for comprehension.  Samuels took his automatic processing theory to practical application with his article, The Method of Repeated Reading. His research on repeated reading made a significant impact on the field of reading instruction.  Samuels led the way for other researchers in decades that followed to explore more techniques examining practice and repetition.

Repeated reading consists of rereading short passages several times until a satisfactory level of fluency is reached. Using this method with study participants, Samuels found that reading speed increased and errors decreased.  He discovered that when the emphasis was on reading speed instead of reading errors, his research participants were less fearful of making mistakes.  Although comprehension was not a focus of his study, he learned that comprehension also improved with each rereading.  He concluded that as less attention was needed for decoding, more attention could be given to comprehending the passage.

While Samuel’s repeated reading method has been around for more than forty years, it continues to be a tool that educators use to increase reading fluency. As I begin my action research using repeated reading as one component of my intervention package, I can already see the gains my students are making in speed, words read correctly, and in confidence.

APA Citation for articles:

LaBerge, D., & Samuels, S. J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in    reading. Cognitive Psychology, 6, 293-323.

Samuels, S. J. (1979/1997). The method of repeated readings. The Reading Teacher, 50(5), 376-381.