Reading Skill and Context Facilitation: A Classic Study Revisited

The question of whether increased reading fluency is associated with an increased dependence on context in the process of word recognition was examined. Goodman (1965) concluded that this is indeed the case. In a similar study, Nicholson (1991) arrived at the opposite conclusion, finding that increased use of context is associated with less reading skill. In the current study, Goodman's data were reanalyzed, and his procedure was repeated with 42 children in Grades 1-3. Reading fluency was not significantly associated with use of context.