Text Reading and Rereading: Determinants of Fluency beyond Word Recognition

Factors related to the slower reading of text by reading disabled compared to average readers were studied. Thirty-seven children selected as poor and average readers in Grade 2 were followed through Grade 4; each year they reread text passages at a level of difficulty appropriate for each child. Phonological awareness (phoneme deletion) and digit-naming speed were consistently related to speed and errors on initial reading of a text and on reading it for the fourth time. After controlling for word-recognition skill, only digit-naming speed contributed significant additional variance to reading speed before and especially after practice, even over more than a 2-year period. Such independent relationship to fluency suggests that current theories stressing the role of phonemic sensitivity in fluent as well as accurate reading need to be modifed to include the role of processes indexed by simple symbol-naming speed.