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Running Head: Fluency: A Key Link Between Word Identification and Comprehension

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Title --------> Fluency: A Key Link between Word Identification and Comprehension

School -----> Miami Dade College

Class include period ---> RED3013

March 2010 <------ date

Your name ---> Esther Herrera

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The article examines the complexity of the reading process and the gap between word
recognition and comprehension is linked to fluency. Two main approaches to reading
development are mentioned, the narrow approach vs. the broad. This article focuses on the
narrow approach which is explicitly and restrictively based on the automatic recognition of
familiar words. The broad approach focuses on comprehension and higher order thinking as the
elements in reading development. The complexity of reading involves the following key factors
to be present, a “[demand] for phonological and orthographic processing that [is] essential to
word identification as well as the linguistic and cognitive requirements…essential for fluent
reading and comprehension of the text” Bashir, A., & Hook, P. (2009). <------ in text citations in
purple

Fluency involves many processes which occur at the same time. Readers must decode
words quickly and accurately and should have some background knowledge in the language and
subject specific vocabulary that is found in the text. Content language and vocabulary is a key
underlying factor in connecting word identification to comprehension of the text. Many students
may have a good phonological and orthographical background which allows them to read words
successfully, however the limited content knowledge may lead to discomfort and frustration in
reading due to a lack of comprehension. However, others that have little word recognition skills,
and may lack automaticity sometimes perform better at a reading task if they bring some
experience or knowledge of that content area (Bashir and Hook 2009). Students which contain
domain-specific knowledge and vocabulary are better equipped to reading fluently and
understand what they read.

Fluency is sometimes neglected when trying to teach students to develop their reading
abilities. It is a common misconception that the capability of identifying and accurately reading a
specific amount of words per minute will involuntarily give rise to the comprehension of these
words and meaning of the connected text. In order for comprehension of a text to be realized,
word identification must be linked by fluency to comprehension. Fluency as defined by Bashir
and Hook (2009) is “the rapid and accurate reading of a connected text that results when
orthographic, phonological, and semantic processes are retrieved rapidly and are high in quality.”
This means that fluent readers are able to read smoothly and effortlessly without paying much
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attention to decoding words or phrases. In addition to reading smoothly, fluency also involves
the intonation and phrasing of the sentences being read. This last component is called prosody
and it is a reflection of a reader’s comprehension of the text since they are “[recognizing]
accurately and automatically most of the words they are reading ….. [Their] oral reading
approximates real speech” (Tompkins 2010)

Fluency is not just present at the connected text level when readers are able to articulate
and understand the text being read. It is also present at the beginning of reading development.
Fluency develops from the accurate and automatic emergence of “perceptual, phonological,
orthographic, and morphological processes at the letter, letter-pattern, and word levels, as well as
the semantic and syntactic processes at the word level” ( Bashir and Hook 2009). Once students
are able to identify words and word patterns including knowledge of word structures at the
morphological level, they too can become fluent in reading simple texts at that level. A study
mentioned by Tompkins (2009) shows that phonological awareness, orthographic pattern
recognition and prompt letter naming into words contributed to fluency in students with dyslexia.
Students showed an initially slow reading rate but through the development of word recognition,
language and text knowledge students were able to gradually break down the sentences into
appropriate units following grammatical rules. They were able to read with prosody and
therefore fluently.

The development of reading fluently is an important progression step in moving from

consciously decoding of words to the reading and comprehension of a text. Beginning readers
are initially slow at decoding words and make a great effort in doing so. In order to be able to do
this, they are taught phonological awareness as well at orthographical knowledge and
morphological knowledge. In addition, students are taught a set of words related to the text and
give them time to practice these skills by repeatedly reading the text containing the words.
Eventually these learned abilities are developed to the point where they are performed
effortlessly. Once they are able to decode a word and recognize it in other texts, they do not have
to make a conscious effort to comprehend what is being read. Efficient word recognition frees
up space that was usually focused on the processing of the word and allows for these resources to
be focused on grasping the concept portrayed in the reading (Birsh and Hook 2009). Students are
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then able to move from word recognition to comprehension of the text through the use of
fluency.

I agree that the fluency of a reader is dependent on the level of the reading material. As
stated above, fluency is present at the beginning of reading development (Birsh and Hook 2009).
Students become fluent readers as soon as they are able to recognize the words that they are
reading with ease. When new unfamiliar words are presented, fluency is weakened. Most adults
are able to recognize and read approximately 250 words per minute however this value varies
“depending on the difficulty of what they’re reading and their purpose” (Tompkins 200). In some
level all readers are fluent readers as long as they are reading text that is at their level of
understanding. A person’s fluency continues to grow and develop as readers are exposed to more
vocabulary and different genres of text. As declared by Birch and Hook (2009) in their article,
reading fluency can be achieved not only with phonological and orthographical knowledge but
also with “sufficient language and conceptual knowledge.”
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References:

Bashir, A., & Hook, P. (2009). Fluency: A Key Link Between Word Identification and
Comprehension. Language, Speech, & Hearing Services in Schools, 40(2), 196-200.
doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2008/08-0074).

Tompkins, Gail (2010) Literacy for the 21st century: a balanced approach. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice Hall.