Hispanic students are falling behind their peers in reading fluency and are struggling to close the gap. This study examined the reading fluency influence on 73 Hispanic second and third grade students while receiving reading fluency support from middle school Hispanic tutors. These students were compared to Hispanic second and third grade students not receiving tutoring reading support. All students were assessed before the tutors gave reading support, mid-year and after the reading support finished using a school district fluency measurement. Findings found that students made rapid growth in reading fluency from the beginning of the tutoring support to mid-year. From mid-year to the end of the tutoring support, students continued to make growth but at a slower rate. The study used a Likert scale questionnaire given to the teachers and administrators to evaluate perspectives of the effectiveness of the tutors. The findings indicate that tutors are beneficial in supporting the increase in reading fluency achievement as well as being role-models for young Hispanic students. Results of the study suggest that small group instruction guided by a tutor is beneficial to second and third grade students.

The present study explores the relationship between temporal fluency and second language (L2) learners' self-assessed and externally assessed proficiency level across the target languages French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Temporal fluency is operationalized as articulation rate (the speed of speech), the mean length of utterance, and the silent pause frequency. Participants (n = 283) in this study are native English speakers enrolled in upper-division language courses at Brigham Young University (BYU). Each participant completed both a self-assessment (the Language Ability Self-Evaluation Resource or LASER) as well as the Computerized Oral Proficiency Interview (OPIc) to receive an external proficiency assessment. Temporal fluency measures were automatically extracted from audio recordings used for the self-assessment (LASER) using a Praat script developed by De Jong & Wempe (2009). The results from this study find a strong, significant relationship between all temporal fluency measures and both self-assessed and OPIc-assessed proficiency. This relationship remains strong when comparing across L2 groups for all three temporal fluency measures and OPIc proficiency rating. For self-assessed proficiency, only some temporal fluency measures are found to be significantly related to self-assessed proficiency across each target language group, with articulation rate found to be the most consistently significant temporal fluency measure across all three target language groups. Together, these findings suggest that as speakers speak faster, produce longer utterances, and pause less frequently, they also tend to increase in proficiency, both according to their own self-assessment as well as within a formal oral proficiency assessment (OPIc).

The present thesis is concerned with the topic of fluency in learner language, more precisely of two types of fluency - perceived and productive. Little is known about L2 fluency, especially about the fluency of Czech learners of English. The main aim of the thesis is to establish whether there is a correlation between productive fluency, represented by speech rate, and perceived fluency, represented by native speakers' evaluations. In addition, it aims at better understanding the process of evaluation of perceived fluency by native speakers of English. The material for the analysis were samples of recordings from the LINDSEI corpus, for which speech rate in WPM was calculated, evaluations of fluency of these samples by native speakers of English on a 7-point scale and the raters' commentaries on the evaluation process. The analysis tries to prove or disprove the hypothesis that speech rate is one of the features which influence perceived fluency. The results show medium correlations for two raters, low or no correlations for the rest of the raters, showing together with the commentaries, that there is a relation between perceived fluency and speech rate, but it is not as strong as previous research suggests. The results show that fluency is a complicated, highly subjective phenomenon, and further...

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Students are often referred for special education evaluations following teacher generated referrals. These referrals indicate observable poor academic progress, although often there is no indication of the cause of the poor performance as well as no indication of remediation attempts prior to a special education referral. Students who demonstrate reading difficulties struggle in nearly all areas due to the dependence on reading that permeates all academic classes. Poor reading abilities are a prominent concern in schools and one of the primary reasons for special education referrals (NAEP, 2007). The purpose of this study was to determine whether effectively implementing a reading fluency intervention prior to referring a student for a special education evaluation led to fewer overall special education referrals as well as more accurate special education referrals. Results of this study indicated that the implementation of a reading intervention did significantly decrease the number of overall special education referrals that were made. The students who were referred for special education following participation in the intervention program were also more likely to qualify for special education services compared to students who had not participated in the intervention program. Additional student characteristics that were explored included sex, work habits, attendance rates and socioeconomic status (SES). Results indicated that work habits and sex did not significantly affect the rate of teacher referral for special education evaluations. Poor attendance did have a significant relationship on special education referral rates, indicating that students with poor attendance were more likely to be considered in need of special education support. SES was found to have a significant relationship to special education referrals over the length of the study as well as during the pre-intervention period, but did not have a significant impact on special education referrals during the intervention period.

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between each of three variables of creativity — Verbal Fluency, Verbal Flexibility, Verbal Originality — and each of nine measures of sensory perception. The nine sensory measures included three visual, three auditory, and three tactual tasks.

Many adults and children have problems reading and comprehending books, signs, written directions, etc. These same individuals have difficulty processing written materials as a result of right hemisphere interference. The Lynks Reader (DLR Co., Richmond, VA) is a commercially developed device which has been used to help individuals move from their right to their left hemisphere and to increase reading fluency and comprehension. The objective of this project was to evaluate the best way to use the various forms of the Lynks Reader. Using the device demonstrated an increase in reading fluency and comprehension by increasing the left hemisphere dominance. In addition, different types of headphones with microphones, and music devices (MP3 or CD player), were studied to determine which performs best in formulating a more effective device. Furthermore, the voice and music sound level and frequency output of the device was calibrated to insure the efficacy.

Background: Speech rate plays an essential role in overall speech intelligibility in fluent speakers and is an important variable affecting fluency in people who stutter (PWS). There are no normative speech rate data for South African English (SAE). In PWS, attempts to manipulate speech rate for improved fluency have mostly focused on articulation rate. Revisiting the role of pauses in speech rate and the manipulation of both frequency and duration of pauses was deemed necessary to investigate a potentially valuable alternative strategy to assist PWS in rate reduction and possible improved fluency. Aims: The aims of this study were to investigate the speech rate and pause use for first language (L1) and second language (L2) SAE fluent speakers and PWS in both monologue and reading tasks. In addition, this study investigated if the manipulation of pause use could increase fluency in L1 and L2 PWS given six sessions of pause instruction in SAE. Methods: 80 fluent speakers (40 L1 SAE and 40 L1 isiZulu) and 14 PWS (7 L1 SAE and 7 L1 isiZulu) were asked to engage in a 2-minute monologue and a reading task in order to calculate the mean speech rate, frequency of pauses and average pause duration for each group. Following baseline measures, the 14 PWS were randomly assigned to either immediate or delayed intervention consisting of 6 sessions addressing manipulation of pauses. A crossover treatment design allowed for repeated measures of speech rate and pause use across three data collection periods. Results: Results revealed L1 and L2 SAE fluent speakers differed significantly in speech rate and frequency of pauses in reading and in pause length in the monologue. L1 and L2 PWS differed in frequency of pauses in reading. L1 fluent speakers and PWS differed in speech rate and both measures of pause use in reading. L2 fluent speakers and PWS differed in frequency of pauses in the monologue. Results from the crossover intervention for the PWS revealed a significant decrease in percentage syllables stuttered (% SS) for the delayed treatment group and a clinically significant decrease in % SS for both groups, in conjunction with a reduced speech rate that could be linked to increased frequency and/or average duration of pauses. Conclusions: This study presented speech rate and pause use norms for both fluent speakers and PWS, L1 and L2 SAE speakers that may provide useful guidelines for speech language pathologists in South Africa. Additionally, the intervention results for PWS presented efficacy data for six sessions of pause manipulation with measurable findings for improved fluency.

Abstract Gwyn Randleff-Rasmussen An experimental intervention for reading fluency and comprehension using RAVE-O: A case study of one Grade 2 reading group in one Johannesburg school. RAVE-O (Retrieval, Automaticity, Vocabulary Elaboration (or Engagement with language) and Orthography) is a reading intervention developed using scientific principles specifically aimed at teaching dyslexic children to read. This study examines the effects of a RAVE-O intervention on fluency and comprehension in reading. It follows the application of the intervention by one teacher with a group of seven children with severe reading difficulties in a Johannesburg school, using participant observation to document how she adapted the resources and concepts of the program to meet the specific needs of the children in the group, over the course of one year. The results of reading tests administered before and after the intervention were compared. The generally positive results in reading fluency, comprehension, phonological awareness and RAN in this small group of children with reading difficulties indicate that the program would help in improving literacy outcomes in other South African contexts. The study highlights the specific difficulties encountered during the South African application with regard to the Americandeveloped materials and the constraints of the program in relation to the South African school timetable. It also elaborates on particular strengths of the program, primarily vocabulary acquisition and an increased engagement with and enjoyment of language.