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ResearchFindingsofFluency,MethodologyandAdult-OrientedMaterialsFluency"Fluencyistheabilitytoreadrapidlyandaccurately,withappropriaterhythm,intonation,andexpression.
Fluencyincludestheabilitytodecoderapidly,groupingwordsintomeaningfulunitsforinterpretation.
Fluencyalsoincludespronunciation,determinationofemphasis,andappropriatepausestomakesenseoftext.
Fluencyisameansreadersusetocomprehend.
"(EquippedfortheFutureReadingProject–DraftCopy)DatafromResearch-BasedPrinciplesforAdultBasicEducationReadingInstructionconcludesthat"theabilitytofigureouthowtoreadindividualwordsisnotsufficient.
Readersmustalsobeabletorapidlyrecognizestringsofwordsastheyreadphrases,sentencesandlongertext.
Fluentreadingiscrucialtoadequatecomprehension.
"(Kruidenier,2002)TheWisconsinLiteracyEducationandReadingNetworkSource(2003)reportsthat"readingfluencyisnecessaryforgoodcomprehension.
Whenareaderisstrugglingtodecodewords,littlementalenergyisleftforcomprehension.
"Poorreadersusetimeandresourcestodecodewords,whichhinderscomprehension.
Afluentreaderhasautomaticwordrecognition,isabletofigureoutunknownwordsquickly,andreadswithappropriatephrasingandexpression.
MethodologyA.
GuidedRepeatedOralReading(repeatedreadingandguidedreading)"EmergingprinciplesintheABEresearchindicatethatfluencycanbetaughttoadultswhoqualifyforABEprograms,thatteachingfluencyleadstoincreasesinreadingachievement,andthatonespecifictechniquecanbeusedtohelpadultsdeveloptheirreadingfluency.
Thistechnique,repeatedreadingofatext,isalsosupportedbyamuchlargerbodyofresearchwithchildren.
"(Kruidenier,2002,p.
8)"ToimproveABEreaders'fluency(aswellaswordrecognitionandreadingcomprehensionachievement);userepeatedguidedoralreadingprocedures.
"TheNRP(NationalReadingPanel)reviewofresearchattheK-12levelfoundthat"proceduresthathavestudentsreadingpassagesorallymultipletimeswhilereceivingguidanceorfeedbackfrompeers,parents,orteachersareeffectiveinimprovingavarietyofreadingskills"(p.
3-20).
Theserepeatedreadingproceduresaccompaniedbyguidancefromothersleadtoincreasesinreadingfluencyaswellasincreasedwordrecognitionandreadingcomprehensionachievement(p.
3-18).
"(Kruidenier,2002,p.
9)B.
Motivation1.
GraphingWewillbedesigningagraphtobeusedaspartofthecurriculumthatwillallowstudentstotracktheirownprogress.
Theywillgraphthenumberofwordsreadcorrectlyinaone-minutetimingpriortorepeatedreadingpractice,andthenagainafterasubstantialamountofrepeatedreadingpractice.
Thisgraphingtoolwillprovideimmediate,visualfeedbacktostudentsshowinghowimportantandproductivepracticeis.
2.
Confidence"Whenlookingattheimmediateeffectsoffluencyinstructiononstudents'abilitytoreadpassagesthatwereusedduringinstruction,theNRP(NationalReadingPanel)reviewfoundthatreadingimprovesfromthefirstpassagereadtothefinalpassageread.
Fluencyinstructionimmediatelyimprovesthereadingrate,accuracy,andcomprehensionofpassagesread(pp.
3-15–3-16).
Assumingthattransfertootherpassagesthatarenotapartofinstructionwilloccurafterfluencypracticeofsomelengthoftime,theimmediatebenefitstoadultsmaybemotivational.
Adultreadersshouldseeimprovementintheirreadingfairlyquickly,atleastoverthepassagesthattheyarepracticing.
"(Kruidenier,2002,p.
10)BasedonmyexperiencewiththeReadNaturallyprogram,theimmediatebenefitsarerealandverymotivationalforadultstudents!
Students'increasedlevelsofself-confidencearevisiblyapparent.
C.
Writing"Combiningreadingandwritingleadstohigherlevelsofthinkingthandoesaddressingeitherskillindependently".
(McGinleyandTierney,1989citedin"ImportantResearchFindingsoftheOhioLiteracyInitiative")*See"Materials"formorereferencetowriting.
Materials"Animportanttrendfromthe(ABE)instructionresearch,supportedbyresearchwithchildren,isthatcontextsthataremoreinterestingorengaging,suchasworkplaceorfamilycontextsforadults,maybeespeciallyusefulforvocabularyinstruction.
"(Kruidenier,2002,p.
8)"TheABEreadingcomprehensionresearchfoundthatuseofadult-orientedcontentmaterialsisaneffectivewaytohelpimprovecomprehension.
"(Kruidenier,2002,p.
8)Accordingto"Q&A:Planning,ImplementingandEvaluatingWorkplaceESL"fromtheProjectinAdultImmigrantEducation(PAIE)andtheNationalCenterforESLLiteracy(NCLE),thelearner-centeredstrategiesthataremosteffectiveinworkplaceESLprogramsare:Usingauthenticlanguage.
Placingthelearninginworkplaceandotheradultcontextsrelevanttothelivesoflearners,theirfamiliesandfriends.
Adoptingawholelanguageorientation–integratinglistening,speaking,reading,andwriting–toreflectnaturallanguageuse.
Choosingactivitiesthathelplearnerstransferwhattheylearnintheclassroomtotheworldsinwhichtheylive.
Integratingnewculturalskillswithnewlinguisticskills.
"Ohio'sModelCompetency-BasedLanguageArtsCurriculum"frameworksuggeststhatallstudentswhoarehavingreadingdifficultiesneedto:Writetheirreactionstothematerialtheyhaveread.
Listentoaccomplishedreadersastheyreadyqualitystories,articles,andothermaterials.
Listeninghelpsstudentsinternalizetherhythm,flow,structure,andvocabularyoftheEnglishlanguage.
Engageindiscussionsaboutwhattheyarereading,hearingandwriting.
"Studentswhoparticipateinclassesthatincludeauthentic,orlearner-contextualized,materialsandactivitiesaremorelikelytosaytheyhadstartednewliteracypracticesorhadincreasedtheamountoftimespentengaginginliteracyactivitiesoutsideofschool.
Bringingthelives,needs,andinterestsofthestudentsintotheclassroomisanintegralpartofbestpractice.
"LiteracyPracticesofAdultLearnersStudy(LPALS)Afterreviewinganumberofresearchstudiesrelatedtoreadingfluencyandcomprehension,itappearsthatlittledataisavailablethatspecificallyfocusesonadultlearnersandfluency.
OneofthemostcomprehensivereportsIfoundwasKruidenier'sResearchBasedPrinciplesforAdultBasicEducation,publishedinSeptember2002.
Ihighlyrecommendreadingitat:http://novel.
nifl.
gov/partnershipforreading/publications/html/adult_ed/adult_ed_6.
html.
Itprovidesstrongsupportfortheeffectivesofafluencytoolsuchastheonewearedevelopingforadultlearners.