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.