The Efficacy of Fluency-Based Instruction Model in the Teaching of Reading Comprehension: Evidence from Early English Readers
Keywords:
Fluency-based instruction, Repeated reading, Reading comprehension, Oral reading fluencyAbstract
This qualitative case study investigated the efficacy of a fluency-based instructional model in supporting early English readers’ reading fluency and reading comprehension in a real classroom context. The study focused on how core fluency routines such as repeated reading and oral reading with feedback were enacted, how learners’ observable reading behaviors changed over time, and which comprehension difficulties persisted during and after fluency practice. Data were collected through non-participant classroom observations using structured checklists and narrative field notes, complemented by semi-structured interviews with the classroom teacher and learners. Analysis followed an iterative qualitative framework of data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification, supported by triangulation across data sources. Findings indicate strong evidence of improvement in oral reading accuracy and reading rate, reflected in fewer decoding breakdowns, reduced hesitation, increased self-correction, and smoother sentence-level progression during repeated reading cycles. Moderate improvement was observed in prosody, particularly when teacher modeling and feedback emphasized phrasing and punctuation as cues for meaning. Comprehension gains were more selective: learners demonstrated modest growth in literal comprehension, especially on texts with familiar vocabulary and clear structure, while higher-level comprehension such as inference-making and cross-sentence integration remained limited. Persistent barriers included restricted academic vocabulary, weak morphological awareness, difficulties parsing complex syntax, weak cohesion and reference tracking, background knowledge gaps, and limited comprehension monitoring strategies. Overall, the study suggests that fluency-based instruction effectively strengthens oral reading fluency but supports comprehension most consistently when integrated with explicit vocabulary development, sentence-level unpacking, cohesion instruction, schema activation, and strategy training for monitoring and repair.
References
Agler, L., Stricklin, K., & Alfsen, L. (2020). Using personality-based propensity as a guide for teaching practice. Journal of Curriculum and Teaching, 9(3), 45. https://doi.org/10.5430/jct.v9n3p45
Ai-ping, Z., Zhang, X., Guo, Y., Dinnesen, M., Sun, S., & Xu, Y. (2025). Exploring the roles of L1 reading, L2 proficiency, strategy use and anxiety in L2 reading comprehension. Journal of Research in Reading, 48(1), 100–116. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12478
Alahmadi, N. (2024). Examining the impact of a digital reading progress tool on Saudi L2 learners’ reading aloud performance and proficiency. International Journal of Arabic-English Studies, 24(2). https://doi.org/10.33806/ijaes.v24i2.661
Al-Harthi, M. (2023). Corpus-based comparison of lexical complexity in L1 and L2 postgraduate academic writing. International Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, 12(3), 213–225. https://doi.org/10.55493/5019.v12i3.4852
Allor, J., & Chard, D. (2017). A comprehensive approach to improving reading fluency for students with disabilities. Focus on Exceptional Children, 43(5). https://doi.org/10.17161/fec.v43i5.6909
Alonso, R. (2019). A multicompetence perspective of hedging in second language academic writing. Onomázein, (45), 58–78. https://doi.org/10.7764/onomazein.45.02
Barrozo, S., & Esparrago, M. (2025). Reading fluency and comprehension level of Grade 6 learners in Rapu-Rapu West District, Albay Division: Basis for the development of culture-based reading materials. IJEBER, 5(3), 100–112. https://doi.org/10.59822/ijeber.2025.5305
Bell, D., & Bogan, B. (2015). Fluency in early childhood. International Journal for Innovation Education and Research, 3(12), 111–121. https://doi.org/10.31686/ijier.vol3.iss12.492
Bi, Y., & Tan, H. (2024). Language transfer in L2 academic writings: A dependency grammar approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1384629. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1384629
Busby, N., & Dahl, A. (2021). Reading rate of academic English texts: Comparing L1 and advanced L2 users in different language environments. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.35360/njes.542
Calet, N., Pérez-Morenilla, M., & Santos-Roig, M. (2019). Overcoming reading comprehension difficulties through a prosodic reading intervention: A single-case study. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 35(1), 75–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265659019826252
Choi, W., Tong, X., & Deacon, S. (2016). Double dissociations in reading comprehension difficulties among Chinese–English bilinguals and their association with tone awareness. Journal of Research in Reading, 40(2), 184–198. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12077
Choi, Y. (2015). Roles of L1 and L2 derivational morphological awareness in L2 reading through the mediation of L2 vocabulary knowledge. The Journal of AsiaTEFL, 12(3), 81–114. https://doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2015.12.3.4.81
Cypert, R., & Petro, M. (2019). Prosody instruction intervention as a means to improved reading comprehension. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 33(6), 1305–1311. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3593
Cueva, E., Álvarez‐Cañizo, M., & Suárez‐Coalla, P. (2022). Reading comprehension in both Spanish and English as a foreign language by high school Spanish students. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 789207. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.789207
Deng, Q., Choi, W., & Tong, X. (2019). Bidirectional cross-linguistic association of phonological skills and reading comprehension: Evidence from Hong Kong Chinese-English bilingual readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 52(4), 299–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219419842914
Fite, N., Morrison, J., Hawkins, R., Newman, C., & Rojas‐Guyler, L. (2021). Increasing content accessibility to promote reading comprehension among English learners. Psychology in the Schools, 58(6), 1096–1113. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22491
Godde, E., Bosse, M., & Bailly, G. (2021). Échelle multi-dimensionnelle de fluence : Nouvel outil d’évaluation de la fluence en lecture prenant en compte la prosodie, étalonné du CE1 à la 5e. L’année Psychologique, 121(2), 19–43. https://doi.org/10.3917/anpsy1.212.0019
Guérin, A., & Murphy, B. (2015). Repeated reading as a method to improve reading fluency for struggling adolescent readers. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 58(7), 551–560. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.395
Haim, O. (2015). Investigating transfer of academic proficiency among trilingual immigrant students: A holistic tri-directional approach. Modern Language Journal, 99(4), 696–717. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12278
Hindin, A., & Steiner, L. (2022). Creating opportunities to read and build fluency at home. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 24(1), 217–240. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984211051083
Hudson, A., Koh, P., Moore, K., & Binks‐Cantrell, E. (2020). Fluency interventions for elementary students with reading difficulties: A synthesis of research from 2000–2019. Education Sciences, 10(3), 52. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10030052
Jungjohann, J., DeVries, J., & Gebhardt, M. (2023). Measuring oral reading fluency (ORF) computer-based and paper-based: Examining the mode effect in reading accuracy and reading fluency. Education Sciences, 13(6), 624. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060624
Kuperman, V. (2025). How does language distance affect reading fluency and comprehension in English as second language? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 47(3), 757–773. https://doi.org/10.1017/s027226312510065x
Rafanan, J., & Raymundo, J. (2024). Impact of customized reading remediation and intervention in reading fluency of high school students. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation, 7(7), 66–74. https://doi.org/10.32996/ijllt.2024.7.7.8
Sabatini, J., Wang, Z., & O’Reilly, T. (2018). Relating reading comprehension to oral reading performance in the NAEP fourth-grade special study of oral reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 54(2), 253–271. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.226
Shibasaki, H., Tokimoto, S., Ono, Y., Inoue, T., & Tamaoka, K. (2015). English reading comprehension by Japanese high school students: Structural equation modeling including working memory and L1 literacy. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 5(5), 443–458. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojml.2015.55039
Stone, A., Kartheiser, G., Hauser, P., Petitto, L., & Allen, T. (2015). Fingerspelling as a novel gateway into reading fluency in deaf bilinguals. PLOS ONE, 10(10), e0139610. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139610
Tong, X., McBride, C., Shu, H., & Ho, C. (2017). Reading comprehension difficulties in Chinese–English bilingual children. Dyslexia, 24(1), 59–83. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.1566
Trofimovich, P., Kennedy, S., & Blanchet, J. (2017). Development of second language French oral skills in an instructed setting: A focus on speech ratings. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 20(2), 32–50. https://doi.org/10.7202/1042675ar
Vettori, G., Casado-Ledesma, L., Tesone, S., & Tarchi, C. (2023). Key language, cognitive and higher-order skills for L2 reading comprehension of expository texts in English as foreign language students: A systematic review. Reading and Writing, 37(9), 2481–2519. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-023-10479-3
Xiao, H. (2019). L1 transfer and unlearning in the development of interlanguage. DESTECH Transactions on Computer Science and Engineering (ICCIS). https://doi.org/10.12783/dtcse/iccis2019/31994
Yapp, D., Graaff, R., & Bergh, H. (2021). Effects of reading strategy instruction in English as a second language on students’ academic reading comprehension. Language Teaching Research, 27(6), 1456–1479. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820985236
