Fluency development through extensive reading: two case studies

This paper compares the development of fluency from two forms of Extensive Reading (ER) in case studies of learners who had just completed five-week ER courses. These involved 1 hour per week of shared-book reading and 3.5 hours weekly of individual sustained silent reading (SSR). The two participants were preparing for university entry at an English Language Centre (ELC) and both were enthusiastic leisure readers in their first language. In the ER courses, one read intermediate-level graded readers for language growth, with the other read simplified-intermediate books for fluency development. At the conclusion of their courses, the participants undertook thinkaloud interviews while reading a graded reader excerpt at their respective levels. Their transcripts were then evaluated using semantic assessment, procedural development measurements and error counts. It was established that the participant reading for fluency development experienced significant growth in that area. This suggests that fluency training should be included in university language preparation courses.