Oral Reading Error Analysis: A Critical Review of Research and Application

ORAL READING error analysis contains the potential for generating important clues to our understanding of the reading process but this potential is currently unrealized. In a historical overview of this investigative approach, three problems that plagued early oral reading error studies are evident: 1) the lack of a clearly articulated theoretical framework, 2) an inadequate sensitivity to important methodological issues, and 3) a failure to adequately test the major assumptions involved in this approach. The overview suggests that current oral reading error studies have overcome the first problem but not the second and third. Furthermore, methodological problems contribute significantly to the inconsistent results typically found among oral reading error studies. Finally, there are several critical assumptions that have been ignored by reading error researchers. Until the methodological problems are overcome and until the assumptions are validated, we cannot use the results from oral reading error analysis confidently in order to make strong claims about either the nature of the reading process or the most appropriate instructional procedures for children.