Reading Speed: A Major Factor in Skilled Reading and a Source of Comprehension Impediment
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Date
2016-03-07
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University of Eloued جامعة الوادي
Abstract
The present study aims at investigating the effects of paced reading on improving
Algerian students‘ reading speed without reducing their reading comprehension. It is
hopefully intended to help teachers identify the most effective ways of enhancing
reading efficiency for the Algerian students. The current study is stimulated by the
fact that reading is by far the most eminent skill that plays a significant role in
improving readers‘ language proficiency, especially in EFL settings. Actually, EFL
learners basically rely on this skill to acquire knowledge as the FL is seldom spoken
outside the classroom. Nevertheless, students, in general, endure serious reading
difficulties which are mainly caused by the lack of reading fluency. They tend to
plough through a reading print struggling in a word-by-word reading stumbling at
every unknown word, which makes it more difficult to grasp the meaning of what
they read. This is explained by the fact that spending more time and energy (not being
automatic) at recognizing individual words overloads their short-term memory so that
what is stored there is not meaningful to them. This, in fact, hampers their reading
comprehension because the mental energy used by a person to process incoming
information is a limited cognitive capacity.To achieve the aforementioned aim, an
empirical study is carried out. The study sample is divided into two groups: an
experimental group is submitted to paced reading training, and the control group is
not trained at all. The results obtained in the pretest and post-test are analysed via the
statistical student T-test. The latter showed an improvement in reading speed in
favour of the experimental group participants without a concurrent decrease in their
level of understanding.
Description
THE SECOND NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LANGUAGE, MIND AND LEARNER'S COGNITIVE CAPACITIES March, 7th/8th 2016 University of Eloued
Keywords
Reading Fluency, Reading Speed, Paced Reading, Word Recognition, Automaticity Theory, Short-Term Memory, Reading comprehension, Mental Processes, Cognitive Capacities.