INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE AND TEXT DIFFICULTY DETERMINANTS OF READING FLUENCY AND EXPRESSIVENESS

The present research investigated the role of word identification skil ls, text phrasing, and two individual difference variables (auditory a nalysis and digit naming speed) on the oral reading fluency and expres siveness of poor and average Grade 5 readers (mean age = 10.8 years). The children's oral reading and text parsing performance was measured on text of varying difficulty. Poor readers were less fluent and expre ssive than average readers across all levels of text difficulty. Clear group differences on ratings of fluency and expressiveness remained e ven when the performance of poor readers on the easiest text (on which they also received word identification practice) was compared with th at of average readers on the most difficult text. Parsing contributed to fluency in average but not poor readers. Nam ing speed for digits w as the greatest unique contributor to ratings of fluency among the ind ividual difference factors examined. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.