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Does Reading Fluency Predict Reading Comprehension of Korean Middle School EFL Learners?

  • Modern English Education
  • Abbr : MEESO
  • 2018, 19(4), pp.50-58
  • DOI : 10.18095/meeso.2018.19.4.50
  • Publisher : The Modern English Education Society
  • Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Language Teaching
  • Published : November 30, 2018

Junhee Park 1

1고려대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the research interest in the effect of reading fluency on reading comprehension has been on the rise. However, empirical research evidence regarding the significance of word reading fluency and oral reading fluency on EFL learners’ reading ability is scarce. This study examines the relation of word reading fluency, pseudo word reading fluency and oral reading fluency to Korean middle school EFL students’ reading comprehension and whether those relationships differentiate between two types of comprehension abilities, namely literal and inferential comprehension. Forty-six 16-year-old middle school English learners participated in this study. Their performance of word reading fluency, pseudo word reading fluency, oral reading fluency and reading comprehension abilities were measured. Surprisingly, the findings revealed that pseudo word reading fluency and oral reading fluency had a significant relationship with general reading abilities. Moreover, word reading fluency and pseudo word reading fluency were significant predictors of literal comprehension abilities, while pseudo word reading fluency was the only important predictor of inferential comprehension abilities. Therefore, the results suggest that instructors should focus on word-level and text-level oral reading to improve reading comprehension abilities of Korean EFL learners.

Citation status

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