Neil J. Anderson, professor of Linguistics and English Language at Brigham Young University, recently presented at the Reading Horizons distributor seminar in Salt Lake City, Utah. He shared some interesting information about how English Language Learners (ELLs) benefit from systematic phonics instruction. Two of the reasons he cited include the following:

1) reading fluency increases as students learn to decode words; and

2) oral reading improves when students can decode words correctly.

Reading fluency, as defined by Neil Anderson, is "reading at an appropriate rate with adequate comprehension" (Anderson, 2008, p. 3). This definition of reading fluency is important as teachers consider what an "appropriate reading rate" is for their students. Remember that reading at a quick pace (an "appropriate rate") without comprehending what is being read is not fluent reading. Additionally, reading super slowly and understanding everything being read ("adequate comprehension") likewise is not fluent reading. The balance between the two--reading rate and comprehension--is important to fluency.

So what constitutes an "appropriate rate"? During the presentation, Anderson referenced national averages for optimal silent and oral reading rates by grade level (Hasbrouck & Tindal, 2006). Since several distributors were interested in having access to this information, I thought I would include the information in this blog post below:

Silent Reading Rates

1st grade: 80 wpm

2nd grade: 115 wpm

3rd grade: 138 wpm

4th grade: 158 wpm

5th grade: 173 wpm

6th grade: 185 wpm

7th grade: 195 wpm

8th grade: 204 wpm

9th grade: 214 wpm

10th grade: 224 wpm

11th grade: 237 wpm

12th grade: 250 wpm

College or University: 280 wpm


Oral Reading Rates

1st grade: 53 wpm

2nd grade: 89 wpm

3rd grade: 107 wpm

4th grade: 123 wpm

5th grade: 139 wpm

6th grade: 150 wpm

7th grade: 150 wpm

8th grade: 151 wpm

Notice that oral reading rates beyond the 8th grade level are not listed. This is due to the fact that when we read aloud, we generally do not read faster than what we can read at an 8th grade reading level.

These silent and oral reading rates can be used as a guideline when discerning appropriate reading rates for students. Adjustments to these reading rates could be made to accommodate English Language Learners and students with reading difficulties.

References:

Anderson, N. J. (2008). Practical English language teaching: Reading. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hasbrouck, J., & Tindal, G. A. (2006). Oral reading fluency norms: A valuable assessment tool for teaching teachers. The Reading Teacher, 59, 636-644.

The poster session was a success!  This is my colleague, Amie Casper, and I posing with our poster at the TESOL Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 27, 2010. We presented on assessing reading rate and fluency using technology--a feature of the new Reading Horizons v5 software.

The topic generated quite a bit of interest!

Me presenting at TESOL on Decoding Strategies for Literacy Development--another topic of great interest.

This week I have been reviewing feedback from a member of our Curriculum Committee on a manual revision. Earlier today I emailed another member of the Curriculum Committee to get feedback on other materials. I was reminded of the fantastic people we have on our Curriculum Committee that support our vision and contribute to the development of new products and revisions of existing products based on their experience. The Curriculum Committee consists of a number of seasoned educators who advise us on curriculum changes to our software and direct instruction products. Our Curriculum Committee members are experienced users of Reading Horizons and Discover Intensive Phonics. Following are some quotes about our products and method from Curriculum Committee members.

From members of our Elementary Curriculum Committee:  

“I would recommend Reading Horizons to a professional peer because it is a research-based, high-quality program that helps children unlock the code to reading. It gives children the basic tools they need to be successful, lifelong readers. They learn to enjoy reading because the program makes reading an easy task.”

“As a result of using this phonics program daily, we see children using the phonetic skills they have been taught when they come to a word they don’t know. The testing on reading we have done at grade level has shown them higher than ever before. The children use their decoding skills to help them spell words. I rarely have more than three children who don’t get 100 percent on the spelling test. In using this program daily, the children’s printing skills and creative writing skills have improved greatly. As phonetic sounds are introduced with words, the children learn other meanings for words, and we use that in comprehension skills. Dictation of sentences has become a breeze because (the program teaches) punctuation along with the phonic skills. I have become an avid fan of Discover Intensive Phonics and would never go back to anything I taught before.”

From a member of our ESL/ESOL Curriculum Committee:  

“Discover Intensive Phonics’ unique, systematic method integrates a manageable set of word attack principles with an engaging, interactive software product that accommodates visual, audio, and kinesthetic learning styles. Reading Horizons’ Discover Intensive Phonics is the benchmark product in the field of ESL literacy development.”

From members of our Intermediate/Adult Curriculum Committee:

“The strength of this program is that it empowers people to read. It gives them skills and confidence (when they) successfully complete reading lessons. It’s very thorough and comprehensive with instructions and follow-through in the lessons. (When you are) a teacher, you know when something works; this works!”

“Not only has Reading Horizons proved successful across the range of reading levels, it also is effective with students whose reading difficulties stem from a variety of sources: lack of experience due to inadequate elementary education, intellectual deficits, and learning disabilities. The experience of making sense of language through systematically proving words (applying the phonetic rules) brings a sense of excitement and hope which encourages the sustained effort needed to be successful.”

For more information about the members of our Curriculum Committee, click here.

The other day I had the opportunity to participate in an online training to discuss the role phonics plays in the ESOL/ELL classroom. Following are a few of my thoughts regarding the implications of phonics for ESOL students/ELLs learning to read and speak English:

1) How many times do our ESL students/ELLs ask, “Teacher, how do you say this word?” We tell our students how to say the word, but we don’t often know why we say it that way. We can help our ESOL students/ELLs develop autonomy by teaching them strategies to help them pronounce words on their own. This approach better prepares them for “real-life” experiences that occur outside the classroom (where their teacher isn't available).

2) Incorporating phonics instruction in the ESOL/ELL classroom provides focused training on the sounds of the English language. Such training provides an opportunity to analyze and dissect the English language in new ways. With this focused and conscious practice, pronunciation improves.

3) When ESL students learn the meaning of the word along with the sound of the word simultaneously, it “sticks” better. Students are able to remember the word more effectively when they associate the meaning and the sound with the written word.

4) Who couldn't use a little help with their spelling? Phonics instruction helps ESOL students'/ELLs' improve their spelling since encoding (putting sounds together) is an integral part of explicit phonics instruction.

5) ESL students’ confidence increases when they are empowered with skills that help them successfully read and pronounce and spell English independently.  I saw this first hand. One of my students who I had taught in a previous semester approached me one day in the hallway of the school and was very excited to report that he could decode and pronounce vocabulary better than his friend who was in a higher-level English class who had not had phonics training. His confidence empowered him. To witness this first-hand helps me realize that although this was simply anecdotal feedback, the effects of teaching phonics to ESOL students/ELLs is not only effective, but powerful.

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I recently ran into a former colleague of mine who shares similar interests in teaching, culture, international travel, and contributing to education in developing countries. She currently serves as a board member for a non-profit organization that sends college-age students to teach English in developing countries, including Guatemala, Ecuador, Fiji, and Uganda. Additionally, the organization has plans to send students to India within the next year. Since I went to India last year to train volunteers in phonics and to institute an English literacy program at a school for children from leprosy colonies, she was interested in knowing whether their organization would be a good fit for such training. To qualify as a good fit for their program, the training needs to be both time- and cost-efficient, as well as produce a positive experience for the volunteers receiving the training. 

I was grateful to be able to share a free online training resource that Reading Horizons offers that I have used to train volunteers preparing to teach English and literacy skills abroad. The Online Workshop reviews fundamental phonics strategies to explicitly teach spelling, decoding, and letter-sound correspondence which are important components of English literacy. An added benefit to using this teaching method with ESOL students is that these skills sharpen students' pronunciation.

I have shared this free resource with not only individuals who are teaching English abroad, but I've even shared it with family members and friends who have expressed interest in learning how to teach literacy to their native English-speaking children, friends, grandchildren, and neighbors. It is a great resource for individuals learning to read in their first language (English), as well as those who are non-native English speakers learning to read and understand English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

The Online Workshop is a FREE resource that teaches skills that empower. Reading Horizons as a company is determined to make a difference in the world. That's why this resource is offered at no cost. With the potential these reading strategies have to help people improve their lives, I don't know why everyone wouldn't want to use it. To access the Online Workshop and to share the link with friends, go to www.phonicstraining.com.

Want to learn more about Reading Horizons's involvement in India? To read my blog post about my visit to India last year, click here. To read my blog post that addresses literacy needs in India, click here. To read my blog post about how Reading Horizons has helped develop English literacy in India, click here.