Fluency and comprehension of expository texts in Turkish students in grades four through eight

Abstract

The present study attempted to extend knowledge of the role of reading fluency in contributing to reading comprehension of expository texts among Turkish students in grades four through eight. One hundred students at each grade level were administered assessments of two measures of reading fluency, word recognition automaticity and prosody, and silent reading comprehension. Word recognition automaticity was found to be a significant predictor of comprehension at all grade levels tested. Prosody predicted comprehension at all grades levels as well except for grades 4 and 5. Regression analyses at each grade level indicates that, except for grades 4 and 5, word recognition automaticity and prosody together contribute to the prediction of reading comprehension. The magnitude of fluency's prediction of comprehension ranged from approximately a quarter to a third of the variance in comprehension. The results are discussed in terms of policy and instructional changes that may be considered in reading instruction for Turkish students.