Assessing EFL Students’ Oral Reading Fluency Skills: An Exploratory Study

This study examined the oral reading fluency skills of Jordanian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. The study employed a rubric evaluation tool based on Zutell and Rasinski’s (1991) framework to gather data. The sample of the study encompassed 64 Grade 5 students. The data comprises different domains of reading fluency standards, such as overall fluency levels, accuracy, rate, and prosodic elements. Results show that participants’ general reading fluency skills were classified as instructional. This classification proposes that EFL learners face difficulties in demonstrating diverse expressions, variations in volume, nuances of expressiveness, and appropriate pacing during their oral reading. Additionally, 80% of the accuracy and rate measurements indicated instructional levels characterized by instances of mispronunciation. Therefore, this study highlights the importance of employing effective pedagogical strategies to assist EFL teachers in efficiently assessing and monitoring the progress of EFL learners’ oral reading fluency skills.