During the last decade new attention has been paid to reading fluency. One reason might be that training studies often have failed to provide growth in reading rate in spite of the fact that the accuracy problem was remediated. Recent research has also indicated that, in languages with a consistent mapping between graphemes and phonemes, automatization of decoding processes are more difficult to reach than aquiring accurate decoding skills. Several studies have found that computer-based flashcard training seems to be a productive way to develop reading fluency. The aims of this thesis are partly to replicate some of the previous studies with time pressured exposure and partly to examine whether the condition with time pressure is more effective than the flashcard condition with fixed exposure duration. In the time pressure condition, the exposure duration was varied as a function of accuracy. This thesis reports one main study and two case studies. The participants in the main study were 17 males and 11 females between the ages of 11 and 17. All of them were poor readers, scoring below the 11th percentile on standardized reading test for their age group. The two participants of the first case study were the poorest readers of all. Their decoding strategies differed greatly. The younger of them, a slow reader in the fourth grade, can be seen as “a speller” with most impairment in the orthographic processing and the older, a quick reader in the fifth grade, can be seen as “a guesser” with most impairment in the phonological processing. The four participants in the second case study were moderately poor readers between the ages of 12 and 14. Each participant practiced the two different conditions of the computer-based flashcard training with spelling response in sessions about twenty minutes long twice to three times a week during three to four months. Teacher-controlled tuition was only given in some pre-sessions. According to the online results, all participants in both of the exposure conditions were capable of keeping the accuracy at a high level, i.e. fluent reading was expected to be developed. A battery of silent and oral reading tests and spelling-to-dictation tests was used in pre-, middle- and posttest. Both accuracy and rate were measured in reading. Except for “the speller” in the first case study, significant improvements were found on all tests for both conditions. The best progress was during the first training period independent of condition. Positive effects were found for both trained and untrained material and for words and pseudo-words. The reading progress has in general been better than the average student usually develops during the same time. The students reported the time pressured condition as being more effective and motivating but no significant difference was found between the two conditions in the pre- to posttests.

重複式閱讀法(repeated reading)最初在英語為母語的國家施行，藉由重複閱讀同一文章方式，達到認字自動化(automaticity)，用以提升閱讀的速度與理解度。多項實驗研究顯示，口語流暢度與閱讀能力有高度的正向相關，而重複式閱讀法能有效提升口語流暢度。此研究是為期十二週的同儕教導式閱讀教學法(peer-mediated repeated reading)運用於台灣北部一所國中英語課程中，參與者為二十八名八年級學生。以學校教科書內文章和學校採用的學習補充閱讀內容為學習教材。重複閱讀活動每週兩次，共二十四節活動。 此研究採個案研究法，選擇三組學習者作為觀察對象，以深入探討學習者於同儕教導式重複閱讀法中的學習過程，以及觀察探討關鍵事件(critical event)於學習的影響。資料蒐集包含質性資料：(1)課堂觀察記錄，(2)學生學習日誌，(3)四次個人訪談，以及(4)四次文章一分鐘口語閱讀正確字數(correct words read per minute)的量化資料。 根據三組個案研究得到的結果顯示，於國中英語課堂中實行同儕教導式閱讀教學法，對口語流暢度產生的學習機會為：(1)因累積的練習影響與斷句運用而導致口語速度的增加。(2)口語閱讀準確度的增加。同儕提供的口語錯誤糾正，學習者自身對於正確度的自覺提升，以及自我學習狀態監測對正確度提升有正向影響。(3)因閱讀速度增加的學習成果或指導同儕提高自我信心而提升的英語學習動機。而在運用同儕教導式閱讀教學法於課堂活動，可能遭遇到的挑戰為：(1)同儕無法提供糾正性回饋，導致口語錯誤一再重複。(2)因欲增加口語速度或因重複的過程無聊，而未清楚地唸出英文字彙的發音，隨意帶過。(3)過度依賴同伴提供的立即口語回饋，以及標示的中文注音符號來念出不會的單字。最後，依據本研究結果，針對此三項挑戰提出建議。並基於此研究中同儕教導式重複閱讀法對於口語流暢度產生正向的增進效果和提供的學習機會，建議於國中英語課堂中採用此學習法，有助於增進國中生口語能力。 / This study was conducted to determine affordances and challenges pertaining to peer-mediated repeated reading (RR) as a regular classroom activity in junior high schools. Although RR has been widely used in L1 countries as a method to develop oral reading fluency, it has only been studied by Taiwanese researchers in the last decade. However, limited research has been conducted regarding the implementation of RR in junior high school English classrooms. Therefore, this qualitative study was conducted to obtain further understanding of the impact of RR regarding the improvement of oral reading fluency among junior high school students. Changes in oral reading performance among 28 participants from a junior high school in Northern Taiwan were observed over the course of a 12-week peer-mediated RR program; furthermore, the learning processes among all participants, which featured three focused dyads, and the critical events experienced along with the impact of these events, were observed. The collected data included classroom observation notes and videos, students’ learning journals, four interviews, and quantitative oral reading rate data (correct words read per minute). The affordances of this method were determined as follows: (1) oral reading rates increased because of the effect of accumulated practice and more practice with sentence chunking; (2) oral reading accuracy was enhanced because participants were provided corrective feedback and developed a sense of accuracy; furthermore, some high achievers demonstrated an enhanced metacognitive ability; and (3) having a partner motivated the participants to learn and facilitated the development of a sense of self-competence during the RR sessions. The following challenges were also encountered: (1) repeated errors resulted from the lack of corrective feedback from partners, (2) careless oral reading owing to the pursuit of a higher oral reading rate or the boredom arising from repetition, and (3) overreliance on corrective feedback from partners and the use of Mandarin phonetic symbols to read out unknown words. Overall, the findings of this study suggested that the peer-mediated RR method could be effectively applied as a regular classroom activity in junior high schools to enhance the oral reading fluency of students.

本個案研究旨在探討讀者劇場對一位參與英語補救教學的國小學童口語閱讀流暢度以及學習態度的影響。資料收集與分析主要採取質性之資料收集及分析法，以期對於讀者劇場教學之於國小學童口語閱讀流暢度和學習態度能有更深入的了解。參與本研究的學生為一位就讀於新北市公立國小五年級，從小一就開始參與補救教學的學童。研究期間自民國一百零三年三月至民國一百零三年五月，資料收集方式以課堂錄影觀察、教學日誌、半結構式訪談為主，以及每週閱讀流暢度檢測為輔。 研究結果顯示，在口語流暢度方面，無論是正確度、情緒和音量、斷句、流暢性以及速度等面向皆有所進步。另一方面，由於讀者劇場提供學生真實的表演機會，提高學生的自我效能感，給予學習者自主學習的機會，以及創造出合作學習的氛圍，學生在學習態度方面也因此有所提升。研究者根據這些發現，提出對讀者劇場應用於國小學童口語流暢度訓練和提升學習興趣的看法，及未來研究方向的建議，以期對英語教學能有更多建設性的研究貢獻。 / This case study attempts to investigate the influences of Readers Theater on an EFL young learner’s oral reading fluency and learning attitudes. To achieve the purpose of this study, qualitative methods were adopted to capture a holistic understanding of the young learner’s oral reading fluency development and changes of learning attitudes. The participant was a fifth grader who studied in a public elementary school in Taipei City. He has been in a remedial English class since first grade. Data was collected from March 2014 to May 2014. The video-recordings of classroom observation, the teacher’s journals, the student’s learning log, one semi-structured interview, and multi-fluency assessments were utilized as data for the analyses of the influences of Readers Theater on an EFL young learner’s oral reading fluency development and learning attitudes. The results revealed that the participant improved his oral reading fluency and showed positive attitudinal changes while receiving the Readers Theater instruction. In terms of his oral reading fluency development, he first developed word recognition in accuracy; acquired prosodic reading ability gradually in expression and volume; learned to pause appropriately in phrasing; decreased hesitations while reading in smoothness; and increased reading speed in pacing. Moreover, his learning attitudes became positive, because RT provided authentic purposes for reading, increased his self-efficacy, and created an autonomous and cooperative learning atmosphere. Based on the findings, pedagogical implications and suggestions were recommended for future research. It is hoped that this thesis will provide some insights into the dynamics of Readers Theater instruction as well as EFL young learners’ oral reading fluency development and attitudinal changes of learning.

Thesis (Ed. S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Psychology, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-39).

Thesis (Ed. S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Psychology, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], v, 61 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-42).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

A brief reading assessment and preference assessment were conducted with three participants with developmental and learning disabilities (i.e., two participants were diagnosed with Autism, the third participant was diagnosed with intellectual disability) who did not acquire fluent reading in previous individualized instruction. The results of the brief reading assessment were analyzed in an alternating treatment design and a preference assessment was conducted to determine the participants' preferred reading intervention. Following the results of the two assessments, a reading intervention that matched effectiveness with preference when possible or favored effectiveness when a match was not possible. The selected interventions (and later combined interventions) were implemented for each participant using an A-B-A-C or an A-B-A-C-D design. The results suggest that the four reading strategies are effective options for improving reading fluency. Also, a brief reading assessment can help identify an effective reading strategy. The results are discussed in the context of fluency gains, limitations, and implications for future research.

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The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has mandated that all public school students will be reading at grade level by the 2013-2014 school year. Florida has embarked on an agenda to ensure that the kindergarten through high school student population is reading at or above grade level by 2014. Many of Florida's low-performing student population, including middle school students with high incidence disabilities, are reading below grade level. Using a multiple baseline across subjects design, this study examined the impact of computer-assisted repeated readings on the reading performance of three middle school students with mild intellectual disabilities over the course of 67 days. Results showed an improvement in reading fluency rate using instructional level text. The study was evaluated using quality indicators of single-subject research in special education. Future research is advocated to replicate this study across different grades and exceptionalities.

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