< The Importance of Automaticity and Fluency For Efficient Comprehension

by Pamela E. Hook & Sandra D. Jones

he reading process involves two Wood, Flowers, and Grigorenko (2001) Tseparate but highly interrelated emphasize that fluency also involves areas–word identification and compre- anticipation of what will come next in the hension. It is well established that difficulties text and that speeded practice alone is not in automatic significantly sufficient. Anticipation facilitates reaction affect a reader’s ability to efficiently time and is particularly important for com- comprehend what they are reading (Lyon, prehension. 1995; Torgesen, Rashotte, and Alexander, 2001). Even mild difficulties in word What are the relationships among identification can pull attention away from , and the underlying meaning, reduce the speed orthographic reading? of reading, and create the need to reread Figure 1. Relationships Among Phone- selections to grasp the meaning. Many The ability to read fluently develops mic Awareness, Phonics and students who struggle to learn to read are during Jeanne Chall’s Stage 2 of reading, Recognition Skills. able, with appropriate instruction, to Ungluing from Print, which for most compensate for initial reading problems by students occurs around second to third Figure 1 illustrates the relationships becoming accurate decoders but fail to grade. (For a complete discussion of Chall’s among the processes involved in word reach a level of sufficient fluency to stage theory of reading acquisition, please identification. The bottom of the figure become fast and efficient readers. Thus, see Chall, 1983.) This is the last stage depicts a strong base in phonemic the development of techniques for im- where the student is developing skills awareness upon which word identification proving automaticity and fluency is critical. related to “learning to read” and after this skills are built. There is, however, a reciprocal Although the research is clear that a stage, the child will be required to shift to relationship between the development of systematic alphabetic approach to teaching an emphasis on “reading to learn.” The phonemic awareness and the development beginning and struggling readers is more type of text being read shifts from being of phonic word attack strategies. As the effective than a whole word approach primarily narrative to expository and the child becomes more familiar with letters, (Adams, 1990; Chall, 1996; Snow, Burns, complexity of the written material phonemic awareness also improves. Ulti- and Griffin, 1998), the most effective ways begins to increase dramatically (including mately, strong underlying orthographic to develop fluency are less well under- level, sentence complexity, and patterns begin to emerge. stood. Although current research has given text structure). The importance of back- Most children go through this process us some direction about effective methods ground knowledge for comprehension also relatively seamlessly, moving easily from the for increasing fluency (National Reading increases. Fluent reading at this point is use of alphabetic strategies to the Panel, 2000), further systematic research is essential. formation of strong orthographic repre- needed to give us more comprehensive Automatic reading involves the sentations that can be accessed automatically. answers to questions concerning the best development of strong orthographic repre- There is, however, a percentage of “at risk” methodologies, types of materials, and sentations, which allows fast and accurate children (approximately 20-40% depending length/intensity of interventions necessary identification of whole words made up of on the specific school demographics) who for optimal gains. The purpose of this article specific letter patterns. English benefit from having phonemic awareness is to suggest some techniques that are is generally alphabetic in nature and initially and phonic word attack strategies consistent with the research and have been word identification is based on the systematically taught. There is also a smaller found to be either clinically effective or application of phonic word attack strategies percentage of children who will need more logically appropriate. (letter-sound associations). These word intensive work in this area (See Sanders attack strategies are in turn based on the 2001 for a more in-depth discussion). The What are Automaticity and Fluency? development of phonemic awareness, children who struggle the most with which is necessary to learn how to map learning to read also fail to develop Automaticity is defined as fast, accurate on to print. It is important to keep adequate automaticity (orthographic reading) and effortless word identification at the in mind that prior to the stage where and need structured, systematic training in single word level. The speed and accuracy children read orthographically, they apply this area. It appears that early preventive with which single words are identified is alphabetic strategies to analyze words intervention may be particularly important the best predictor of comprehension. (Frith, 1985). in the development of automaticity and Fluency, on the other hand, involves not fluency (Torgesen et al., 2001). only automatic word identification but also the application of appropriate prosodic features (rhythm, intonation, and phrasing) at the phrase, sentence, and text levels. continued on page 17

[ 16 ] Perspectives, Spring 2004, The International Association The Importance of Automaticity and Fluency For Efficient continued from page 16

WORD LEVEL – and Stillman, 1997). This activity involves the tokens for the unaccented syllables (see AUTOMATICITY having the student practice reading words Bell, 1997 for a complete description of (and some nonwords) on cards as wholes this approach.) How do we develop this automatic, beginning with simple syllables and moving orthographic reading ability in our systematically through the syllable types to Training and Linking the students? complex syllables and two-syllable words. Orthographic Processor In the beginning–the six syllable types The words are divided into groups that Although most students learn to apply correspond to the specific sequence of the rules of phonic word attack strategies One of the most powerful tools to skills being taught. and later of prefix, stem, and suffix through begin instruction in this area is the visual multisensory, structured, systematic teaching patterns inherent in the six syllable types Accent techniques and become quite accurate in (Steere, Peck and Kahn, 1988). (See Figure 2.) In addition to acquiring phonic word their reading, many remain slow and attack strategies, prosodic features at the laborious. They have trouble moving to the next level of automatic orthographic Figure 2. The Six Syllable Types word level such as stress on syllables are important. At times, poor readers can reading and thus comprehension suffers. accurately decode a word but true Even adults who have seemingly compen- recognition of the word eludes them sated for their reading difficulties still because they have not correctly accented require extended time when taking tests. one of the syllables. Dyslexic students often These students need systematic training in have difficulty hearing the accented syllable the development of strong orthographic in a word, so teachers should first deter- representations that will allow them to read quickly and effortlessly. mine if a student is able to discriminate and Approaches have been developed that identify through listening alone. If a use a variety of repeated reading strategies student cannot hear differences, lessons to strengthen these orthographic images. should begin with listening practice and The automatic recognition of single then move to oral production. Visual and is a critical first step to the tactile/kinesthetic strategies can be development of the letter patterns that incorporated with listening if necessary. make up words or word parts (Adams, A teacher can begin to practice 1990). English orthography is made up of listening for and producing accented four basic kinds of words: 1) regular for syllables using the alphabet. The alphabet reading and (e.g., mat, sprint); 2) is presented in pairs and one letter of the regular for reading but not for spelling (e.g. pair is accented until a student is boat, rain–could be spelled “bote” or successful. The teacher begins presenting “rane” respectively); 3) rule based (e.g., the accent only on the first letter until the planning–doubling rule, baking–drop e student is consistent and then presents the rule); and 4) irregular (e.g., beauty–it accent only on the second letter. When a should be noted that most parts of an It is these letter (orthographic) patterns student can do both of those successfully, “irregular” word are actually regular and that signal vowel pronunciation. For the teacher can then present mixed pairs to only the irregular part needs to be example, while one or more consonants at practice (e.g., A´B C´D E´F or GH´ IJ´ KL´ specifically addressed). the end of a syllable (closed syllable type) or M´N OP´ Q´R). Instruction should move Students must learn to recognize all signals a short vowel sound, a vowel at the as quickly as possible from using the four types of words automatically in order end signals a long vowel sound, etc. alphabet to using real words. The teacher to be effective readers; thus, techniques for Highlighting, underlining, or enhancing the can begin with names to practice listening developing strong orthographic repre- saliency of the visual pattern in some way for accented syllables (e.g., Court´ ney, sentations for all types of words are is recommended to direct the student’s Mich elle´, Ty´ ler, Je sus´). essential. Extensive opportunity for attention to the critical components of the Mirrors can be used for visual repeated practice in pattern recognition is orthographic image. Students must reinforcement so students can see that often necessary. In order to strengthen the become able not only to apply their their mouths open wider when they letter patterns associated with the six knowledge of these patterns to recognize produce an accented syllable. If students syllable types and other rule based the syllable types, but to see these patterns need more reinforcement, they can place orthographic patterns in English (such as e, automatically, and ultimately read words as their hands along their jawline and feel the i and y signaling the pronunciation of c and wholes rather than through the application jaw opening wider on the accented g), Fischer (1994) has developed drills to of phonic word attack strategies. This need syllable. Visual signals such as bolding or “train the orthographic processor” which to move from decoding to automatic accent marks can be used to indicate which involve having the student mark the vowels recognition was recognized years ago by syllable is accented. Manipulatives such as long or short based solely on the letter Anna Gillingham when she incorporated tokens or blocks can also be used to patterns contained in the word. They do the Phonetic Word Cards activity into the indicate accent placement by moving the not actually read these words, but instead Orton-Gillingham lesson plan (Gillingham token for the accented syllable higher than continued on page 18

Perspectives, Spring 2004, The International Dyslexia Association [ 17 ] The Importance of Automaticity and Fluency For Efficient Reading Comprehension continued from page 17 focus attention on the letter patterns. The have been developed to strengthen the allows a reader to self-monitor and self- next step is to “link the phonological and orthographic representations by the use of correct, which in turn facilitates the orthographic processors” which involves multisensory activities that link the motor comprehension of text. saying only the vowel sound of the words and visual modalities to reinforce the Fluency training helps a student to rather than reading the word. Again, the auditory. Tracing, copying, and connect the prosody of focus is primarily on the orthography. words have long been a part of many to the prosodic features of text that are Other ways of emphasizing orthography multisensory, structured language signaled through punctuation. There are would be card sorts where students sort approaches. (e.g., See Gillingham and features present in spoken language that different syllable types into appropriate Stillman, 1997 and Raines, 1980 for a provide clues to a speaker’s intent such as categories as quickly as possible and then complete discussion of these techniques.) gestures, facial expression, intonation, and say the vowel sounds of each syllable type Sky writing, which involves using gross stress that are not present in printed text. as quickly as possible. motor movements of the whole arm to The absence of these prosodic features in form letters in the air, has also been used to text inhibits some readers from chunking Single word level word drills–regular help reinforce single letter formation by words (grouping by semantic and syntactic and irregular words combining visual, auditory and tactile- features) into meaningful units. Just as we Once these orthographic signals have kinesthetic cues. More recently an air teach students to make sound-symbol become automatically recognized, the writing technique has been included as a correspondences during decoding instruc- students complete speed drills in which component of a program intended to tion, we also must teach readers to map they read lists of isolated words with improve symbol imagery, or the formation the prosodic features of spoken language contrasting vowel sounds that are signaled of orthographic representations (i.e., onto the printed text. Structured and by the syllable type. For example, six to Seeing Stars Nanci Bell, 1997). This techni- systematic instruction in this area will eight closed syllable and vowel-consonant - que involves having the student look at a facilitate spoken-to-print prosodic cor- e words containing the vowel a are word or word part pronounced by the respondences and enhance comprehension. arranged randomly on pages containing teacher, name the letters, and then use his about 12 lines and read for one minute. finger to write the word in the air directly in Intonation/Punctuation Individual goals are established and charts his visual field while looking at his finger. To begin to develop awareness of the are kept of the number of words read The student then reads the word from prosodic features of language, teachers correctly in successive sessions. The same memory and the teacher questions him can introduce a short three-word sentence word lists are repeated in sessions until the about the order and placement of specific with each of the three different words goal has been achieved for several sessions letters in the word (e.g., “What is the third underlined for stress (e.g. He is sick. He is in a row. When selecting words for these letter in the syllable?” “What is the second sick. He is sick.). The teacher can then word lists, the use of high-frequency words letter?” etc.). The emphasis here is on model the three sentences while discussing within a syllable category would increase enhancing the students’ ability to “see” the possible meaning for each variation. the likelihood of generalization to text the letter patterns in their minds. The students can practice reading them reading. (See the SPIRE program, Clark- with different stress until they are fluent. Edmands, 1998, for word lists based on Text Level–Fluency These simple three-word sentences can be frequency.) modified and expanded to include various The lack of fluency in poor readers is These same kind of speed drills can be verbs, pronouns, and tenses (e.g. You are evidenced by their slow, halting, and used for irregular words as well as sick. I am sick. They are sick.). inconsistent rate; poor phrasing; and multisyllable words that incorporate This strategy can also be used while inadequate intonation patterns. Not only higher-level concepts of structural analysis increasing the length of phrases and do good readers read fluently with (prefix, stem, and suffix). At the multi- emphasizing the different meanings (e.g. adequate speed, but when they read syllable level, automatically recognizing Get out of bed. Get out of bed. Get out of aloud, they also use appropriate phrasing, both the visual patterns related to syllable bed now.). Teachers can also practice intonation, and their oral reading mirrors division as well as prefixes, stems, and fluency with common phrases that their spoken language. Although practices suffixes (larger chunks) can be very helpful. frequently occur in text. Prepositional that incorporate prosodic reading have not The syllable division rules around vccv and phrases are good syntactic structures for produced stronger fluency gains (Torgesen vcv syllable patterns can train the student this type of work (e.g. on the ____, in the et al., 2001), application of appropriate to recognize visual patterns that signal _____, over the ____, under the _____, etc.). phrasing and prosodic features is important pronunciation. The SPIRE program contains Teachers can pair these printed for comprehension and should be directly speed drills that at first mark these syllable phrases to oral intonational patterns that addressed particularly with children who breaks as well as prefixes and suffixes and include variations of rate, intensity, and do not do this naturally. If fluency is a then fade the cues as the student pitch. Students can infer the intended stepping-stone to comprehension, then it is progresses through the drill. meaning as the teacher presents different necessary to help readers transition from prosodic variations of a sentence. For decoding text to constructing meaning by Air writing–development of symbol example, when speakers want to stress a connecting the prosodic features that are imagery concept they often slow their rate of inherent in text to their established spoken In addition to repeated of speech and may speak in a louder voice language system. If their spoken language words or word parts, specific techniques (e.g. Joshua, get-out-of-bed-NOW!). Often, system is intact, making this connection continued on page 19

[ 18 ] Perspectives, Spring 2004, The International Dyslexia Association The Importance of Automaticity and Fluency For Efficient Reading Comprehension continued from page 18 the only text marker for this sentence will Short phrases with familiar words can an independent level may divide passages be the exclamation point (!) but the be introduced through chunking machines. into phrases themselves. Comparisons can speaker’s intent will affect the manner in A chunking machine is a tachistoscope that be made to clarify reasons for differences in which it is delivered. Practicing oral allows a student to pull the reformatted or phrasing. variations and then mapping the prosodic chunked text through the window to Another way to encourage students to features onto the text will assist students in increase speed of recognition. (See Figure 3 focus on phrase meaning and prosody in making the connection when reading. for an example of a chunking machine.) It addition to word identification is to provide This strategy can also be used to alert is important to put comprehension tasks that require them to identify or supply students to the prosodic features present in questions at the beginning and end of this a paraphrase of an original statement. punctuation marks. In the early stages activity. Students benefit from an advanced There are semantic paraphrases and using the alphabet helps to focus a student organizer before reading to help them syntactic paraphrases (Pearson and on the punctuation marks without having anticipate what they will be reading. The Johnson, 1978). Some examples follow: to deal with meaning. The teacher models same series is read until students can pull for the students and then has them the phrase strips through quickly and Semantic Paraphrase practice the combinations using the correct answer all of the questions correctly. Jim jumped over the bushes. intonational pattern to fit the punctuation Chunking machines are simple to make Jim leaped over the hedge. mark (e.g., ABC. DE? FGH! IJKL? or ABCD! and allow the student to focus on small Syntactic Paraphrase EFGHIJ? KL.). portions of text at one time. If teachers Teachers can then move to simple wish to emphasize one particular word that Jim flew the kite. (active voice) two-word or three-word sentences. The is important for comprehension, they may The kite was flown by Jim. sentences are punctuated with a period, chunk it separately or underline it for stress. (passive voice) question mark, and exclamation point and Once text has been reformatted, students the differences in meaning that occur with can transfer these phrases to the cards and Teachers can change the punctuation each different punctuation mark (e.g. Chris make chunking machines for each other. and vary intonation of paraphrases to hops. Chris hops? Chris hops!) are increase student’s ability to quickly adapt to discussed. It may help students to point out Slash Marks changes. Discussion can focus on the that the printed words convey the fact that For older or better readers, teachers differences between “jumped over the someone named Chris is engaged in the can mark the phrasal boundaries with bushes” and “leaped over the hedge.” physical activity of hopping but that the slashes for short passages. Eventually, the “Leaped” is a somewhat more interesting intonational patterns get their cue from the slashes are used only at the beginning of image so students might give it more stress punctuation mark. The meaning extracted long passages and then students are asked during oral reading. They could then from an encounter with a punctuation to continue, “phrase reading” even after replace it with “bounded over the mark is dependent upon a reader’s prior the marks stop. Marking phrases can be shrubbery” and discuss if this paraphrase experiences or background knowledge in done together with students or those on changes the meaning and practice reading order to project an appropriate intonational pattern onto the printed text. Figure 3. The Chunking Machine Keeping the text static while changing the punctuation marks helps students to attend to prosodic patterns.

Phrasing and Chunking Text Students who read word-for-word may benefit initially from practicing phrasing with the alphabet rather than words since letters do not tax the meaning system. The letters are grouped, an arc is drawn underneath, and students recite the alphabet in chunks (e.g., ABC DE FGH IJK LM NOP QRS TU VW XYZ). Once students understand the concept of phrasing, it is recommended that teachers help students chunk text into syntactic (noun phrases, verb phrases, prepositional phrases) or meaning units until they are proficient themselves. Text can be formatted for the student or the student may write the phrases on an erasable sheet. There are no hard and fast rules for chunking but syntactic units are most commonly used. continued on page 20

Perspectives, Spring 2004, The International Dyslexia Association [ 19 ] The Importance of Automaticity and Fluency For Efficient Reading Comprehension continued from page 19 it. Because texts in different content areas Scooping stress in conjunction with speed and tend to contain slightly different syntactic The incorporation of a multisensory accuracy are considered primary. The patterns, diverse reading of undemanding component of scooping under syntactic following is a suggested progression for materials in different subjects and genres chunks may benefit some students as they repeated readings of a paragraph that can be valuable during activities for read at the text level, where the incorporates systematic work at the phrase improving fluency and comprehension. appropriate application of intonation and and sentence levels:

1. Student reads the paragraph (after discussion of the content) orally (perhaps tape-recorded for comparison).

2. Student reads selected phrases from the paragraph while scooping under them with the finger or a pencil. in the tree on the lawn

3. Student reads selected sentences from the paragraph individually while scooping phrases (with spaces between the phrases). 1. Meg told Jim her kite was stuck in a tree.

4. Student reads the paragraph while scooping sentences within the passage (with spaces between the phrases). Meg told Jim her kite was stuck in a tree. Jim ran

on the lawn to get his bike. He rode his bike to find a ladder. Jim used the ladder to get the kite.

5. Student reads the paragraph as a whole without scooping and without spaces.

6. This reading is compared to the first reading in terms of fluency (accuracy, speed, and rhythm). In the beginning, timing a student as he or she reads connected text may not be as important as monitoring that he or she is applying prosodic features and chunking the text into syntactic units. Timing may be incorporated once rhythm has been clearly established.

Developing Anticipatory Set Summary References As noted above, in addition to Effective reading comprehension Adams, M.J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and repeated readings and other sorts of requires not only accurate reading skills but learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT. speeded practice, it has been suggested also automatic and fluent reading ability. Chall, J. (1996). Learning to read: The great debate that fluency is enhanced by being able to Many struggling readers have difficulty (Third Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill. anticipate what is to come in the text, moving to a level of automaticity and Chall, J. (1983). Stages of reading development. which in turn enhances comprehension. New York: McGraw-Hill. fluency that allows them to easily Wood et al. (2001) suggest that in addition Bell, N. (1997). Seeing stars. San Luis Obispo, CA: to activities that involve developing comprehend what they are reading. We Gander Educational Publishing. automaticity, helping children to predict have discussed the underlying processes Clark-Edmands, S. (1998). Specialized program what is coming next is important. “Setting involved in developing fluent reading as individualizing reading excellence (SPIRE). the stage” through activation of prior well as suggested some techniques for Kennebunk, ME: Progress Learning, Inc. knowledge and reviewing what will be improving fluency. Research in the area of Fischer, P.E. (1994). Concept phonics. Farmington, happening in the story can be instrumental developing accurate decoding has ME: Oxton House. in helping students predict text content. consistently indicated that a systematic Frith, U. (1985). Beneath the surface of develop- Summarizing the story and discussing the code based approach is important for mental dyslexia. In Paterson, K.E., Marshall, characters or previewing the pictures to get teaching beginning reading skills. The best J.C., and Coltheart, M. (Eds.), Surface dyslexia: neuropsychological and cognitive ideas of what the story may be about may techniques for developing fluency, however, serve the purpose of improving anticipatory studies of phonological reading. Hillsdale, NJ: have not yet been clearly established. The Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. set and thus enhance fluency. Other suggestions here are based on clinical Gillingham, A., and Stillman, B.W. (1997). Remedial commonly used strategies such as reviewing experience and more systematic research is training for children with specific disability in the vocabulary and comprehension questions needed to determine which methods or reading, spelling, and penmanship. Cambridge, before reading the passage may also be their components will be the most efficient. MA: Educators Publishing Service. helpful in this regard. (See the J and J Language Readers, Greene and Woods, 1993 for examples of these kinds of activities.) continued on page 21

[ 20 ] Perspectives, Spring 2004, The International Dyslexia Association The Importance of Automaticity and Fluency For Efficient Reading Comprehension continued from page 20

Greene, J.F., and Woods, J.F. (1993). J and J language Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., and Griffin, P. (1998). Additional Resources readers. Longmont, CO: Sopris West. Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Carreker, S. (1999). Teaching reading: Accurate de- Lyon, G.R. (1995). Towards a definition of dyslexia. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. coding and fluency. In J.R.Birsh (Ed.), Multi- Annals of Dyslexia, 45:3-27. Steere, A., Peck, C., and Kahn, L. (1988). Solving sensory teaching of basic language skills. (2000). Teaching children to language difficulties. Cambridge, MA: Educators Baltimore, MD: P.H. Brookes. read: An evidence-based assessment of the Publishing Service. Honig, B., Diamond, L., and Gutlohn, L. (2000). scientific research on reading and its Raines, B.J. (1980). Alphabetic phonics. Cambridge, Teaching reading: Sourcebook for kinder- implications for reading instruction. US MA: Educators Publishing Service. garten through eighth grade. Novato, CA: Department of Health and Human Services, Torgesen, J.K., Rashotte, C.A., and Alexander, A.W. Arena Press. National Institute of Child Health and Human (2001). Principles of fluency instruction in Development, NIH Pub. No. 00-4754. reading: Relationships with established empirical ______Pearson, P.D. and Johnson, D.D. (1978). Teaching outcomes. In M. Wolf (Ed.), Dyslexia, fluency, Reprinted from the Winter, 2002 issue. Reading Comprehension. New York: Holt, and the brain. Timonium, MD: York Press. Rinehart, and Winston. Wood, F.B., Flowers, L., and Grigorenko, E. (2001). Sanders, M. (2001). Understanding dyslexia and the On the functional neuroanatomy of fluency or reading process: A guide for educators and why walking is just as important to reading as parents. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and talking is. In M. Wolf (Ed.), Dyslexia, fluency, Bacon. and the brain. Timonium, MD: York Press.

IDA 55th Annual Conference November 3-6, 2004 • Philadelphia, PA

ATTENTION EXHIBITORS AND ADVERTISERS! IDA is now accepting applications for advertisers and exhibitors for our Philadelphia Conference. Space for full, half, or quarter page ads are available in the printed program, which will consist of nearly 100 pages, and has a circulation of approximately 30,000. The exhibit hall will be located in the Philadelphia Convention Center, which is the site of the conference and where all sessions will be held. More than 100 exhibitors will be present and booths will go very quickly. The Exhibit Grand Opening is Wednesday evening, November 3 and exhibits close on Saturday afternoon. We expect our Philadelphia Conference will draw approximately 3,000 participants from the fields of education, psychology, speech/language pathology, research, etc. For on advertising and exhibiting, please contact Margaret Palmer or Diane Nies in the IDA Conference Department at [email protected], [email protected], or (410) 296-0232, ext. 134 or ext. 135. Please also visit our web site at www.interdys.org. See you in Philadelphia!

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