What Is Reading Fluency and Why Is It Important?

Reading fluency can be defined as the “ability to read smoothly and effortlessly with appropriate rate and phrasing” (O’Connor, 2014, p. 126). It is widely accepted that the ability to read connected text fluently is an essential component of proficient reading. When a reader can instantly recognize words encountered on the page, they are then able to allocate the necessary cognitive resources to comprehend what is read (LaBerge & Samuels, 1974, as cited in O’Connor, 2014, p. 126). However, when a reader is dysfluent, reading is slow and laborious (O’Connor, 2014, p. 126), and much mental bandwidth must be dedicated to decoding words each time they are encountered, taking away valuable energy from understanding what the words mean. They are spending too much energy on figuring out what the words say, and thus, their reading comprehension is compromised. Therefore, direct instruction in fluency is an essential part of reading instruction.  

Components of Reading Fluency

Reading fluency is measured by:

• Accuracy: correctly read words in connected text
• Rate: how quickly they can read them 
• Prosody: intonation and expression while reading aloud. 

Accuracy and Rate

The large body of research dedicated to unpacking how reading skills develop has established that to be a fluent reader, and specifically to possess proficient oral reading fluency, requires many intact literacy skills. Specifically, research notes that accurately reading words in a connected text with a deep sight word vocabulary is critical (Torgesen, Alexander, et al., 2001, as cited in Mather & Wendling, 2024, p. 160). Sight word vocabulary is composed of words that do not need to be broken down and decoded each time a reader confronts them, as the word is processed as a whole; the meaning and pronunciation are recognized instantly. This is not a process of memorization, but rather a product of orthographic mapping. Mather and Wendling (2024) write in their book Essentials of Dyslexia Assessment and Intervention that “the brain needs to become skilled at remembering words so that it can quickly and efficiently recognize words. Thus, reading itself becomes automatic, both accurate and at an appropriate pace, allowing the brain to consider the meaning of words. Therefore, the orthographic mapping of thousands of words is crucial to reading fluency, which leads to enhanced reading comprehension” (Mather & Wendling, 2024, p. 106). 

Keep in mind that the goal of fluency instruction is not to get students to read as quickly as possible. Instead, the goal is for students to read accurately and fast enough to support comprehension. This fast enough pace can be thought of as a reading with a “conversational rate” (Hudson et al., 2022, p. 96), meaning the student is reading aloud at a rate similar to how they speak.

An article published by Orkin, Wolf, and colleagues for The Reading League Journal (2022) also asserts that fluency is more than just reading words correctly and quickly. They suggest that to be able to read quickly and efficiently (fluently), readers need to be automatic with multiple reading subskills, including letter-sound correspondences, word meanings, morphology, and syntactic knowledge (pp. 4-5). Additionally, these skills need to be integrated together in what the authors describe as a “multi-component approach” (p. 4). 

Prosody

Instantaneously recognizing words accurately is only part of reading fluency; prosody is another important component. As Joan Sedita describes, “Readers who read orally with good expression tend to comprehend well when they read orally or silently […] (Rasinsky; Paige et al., 2013)” (Sedita, 2023). Although it is not clear whether reading with appropriate prosody is a causal factor resulting in improved reading comprehension or an outcome of good reading comprehension  (Shanahan, 2023), direct instruction in prosody can be a useful method to support students’ comprehension. Assessing prosody can also yield valuable data about a student’s comprehension of what they have read. By listening to a student’s ability to, for example, place stress in the right spot, attend to punctuation, or use correct expression when reading character dialogue, instructors get clues as to students’ ability to understand what they have read. When educators encourage students to immerse themselves not only in what the words say but also in what they mean, they are providing authentic and engaging reading instruction.  

References

Hudson, R.F., Anderson, E.M., McGraw, M., Ray, R. & Wilhelm, A. (2022). Structured literacy interventions for reading fluency. In L. Spear-Swerling (Ed.), Structure literacy interventions: Teaching students with reading difficulties, grades K-6. Guilford Press.

LaBerge, D., & Samuels J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading. Cognitive Psychology, 6, 293-323.

Loftus, M. & Sappington, L. (Hosts). (2024, May 10). Science of Reading beyond phonics: Fluency instruction and assessment with Jan Hasbrouck (No. 153) [Audio podcast episode]. In Melissa & Lori Love Literacy. Great Minds. https://literacypodcast.com/podcast?podcast=Buzzsprout-15157927

Mather, M. & Wendling, B.J. (2024). Essentials of dyslexia assessment and intervention (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

O’Connor, R. E. (2014). Teaching word recognition: Effective strategies for students with learning difficulties (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. 

Orkin, M., Vanacore, K., Rhinehart, L., Gotlieb, R., & Wolf, M. (2022 May). The more you know: How teaching multiple aspects of word knowledge builds fluency skills. The Reading League Journal, 3(2), 4-13.

Shanahan, T. (2023, July 5). Can we really teach prosody and why would we want to? Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-on-literacy/can-we-really-teach-prosody-and-why-would-we-want