Abstract
Improving reading fluency in English is a challenging task for English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students. It is particularly hard for those whose first languages are linguistically distant from English, for example, Korea, Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian languages. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether digitally reformatted text scaffolds the development of English reading fluency in an EFL context. Visual-syntactic text formatting (VSTF) technology was used to reformat block-formatted English text into one with sentence structures highlighted. A total of 63 eighth graders (middle school students in Korea) read reformatted texts, while the control (n = 32) read their block-formatted textbook for 15 weeks. The analysis results of pre- and posttests indicated that reformatted texts could scaffold EFL students who learned to improve English reading fluency. However, reformatted texts did not positively affect reading speed, presumably because of different levels of vocabulary used in pre and posttests. We also found evidence that VSTF reformation can be used as syntactic enhancement which makes it easier for EFL students to take in English syntactic information as input. All in all, our findings suggest an effective instructional practice for EFL teachers with a focus on reading fluency.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ashby, J. (2006). Prosody in skilled silent reading: Evidence from eye movements. Journal of Research in Reading, 29(3), 318–333.
Benjamin, R. G., & Schwanenflugel, P. J. (2010). Text complexity and oral reading prosody in young readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(4), 388–404.
Bernhardt, E. B. (2000). Second language reading as a case study of reading scholarship in the 20th century. In M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 3, pp. 791–811). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Chiswick, B. R., Lee, Y. L., & Miller, P. W. (2005). Family matters: The role of the family in immigrants’ destination language acquisition. Journal of Population Economics, 18(4), 631–647.
Clahsen, H., & Felser, C. (2006). Grammatical processing in language learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27(1), 3–42.
Cromer, W. (1970). The difference model: A new explanation for some reading difficulties. Journal of Educational Psychology, 61, 471–483.
Cutler, W. (2002). Triple your reading speed (4th ed.). New York: Peterson’s.
Frenck-Mestre, C., & Pynte, J. (1997). Syntactic ambiguity resolution while reading in second and native languages. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology A, 50(1), 119–148.
Friederici, A. D., Opitz, B., & von Cramon, Y. (2000). Segregating semantic and syntactic aspects of processing in the human brain: An fMRI investigation of different word types. Cerebral Cortex, 10(7), 698–705.
Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Hosp, M. K., & Jenkins, J. R. (2001). Oral reading fluency as an indicator of reading competence: A theoretical, empirical, and historical analysis. Scientific Studies of Reading, 5(3), 239–256. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532799XSSR0503.
Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Grabe, W. (2010). Fluency in reading—Thirty-five years later. Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(1), 71.
Graesser, A. C., McNamara, D. S., Louwerse, M. M., & Cai, Z. (2004). Coh-Metrix: Analysis of text on cohesion and language. Behavior Research Methods, 36(2), 193–202.
Hatcher, L. (2013). Advanced statistics in research: Reading, understanding, and writing up data analysis results. Saginaw: ShadowFinch Media LLC.
Hoover, W. A., & Gough, P. B. (1990). The simple view of reading. Reading and Writing, 2(2), 127–160.
Jandreau, S. M., & Bever, T. G. (1992). Phrase-spaced formats improve comprehension in average readers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(2), 143.
Jenkins, J. R., Fuchs, L. S., Van Den Broek, P., Espin, C., & Deno, S. L. (2003). Sources of individual differences in reading comprehension and reading fluency. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(4), 719.
Kame’enui, E., & Simmons, D. (2001). Introduction to this special issue: The DNA of reading fluency. Scientific Studies of Reading, 5, 203–210.
Klauda, S. L., & Guthrie, J. T. (2008). Relationships of three components of reading fluency to reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(2), 310–321. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.100.2.310.
Kuhn, M., & Stahl, S. (2003). Fluency: A review of developmental and remedial practices. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 3–21.
Lee, Su-hyang. (2012). A literature review on reading fluency. Korean Journal of Speech Sciences, 4(4), 129–138.
LeVasseur, V. M., Macaruso, P., Palumbo, L. C., & Shankweiler, D. (2006). Syntactically cued text facilitates oral reading fluency in develo** readers. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27, 423–445.
Miller, J., & Schwanenflugel, P. J. (2006). Prosody of syntactically complex sentences in the oral reading of young children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(4), 839.
Nation, I. S., & Macalister, J. (2009). Language curriculum design. London: Routledge.
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00–4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Neddenriep, C. E., Fritz, A. M., & Carrier, M. E. (2011). Assessing for generalized improvements in reading comprehension by intervening to improve reading fluency. Psychology in the Schools, 48(1), 14–27.
Oh, R., Park, Y., & Lee, H. (2016). The effects of syntactically visualized text reading on English reading comprehension of middle school students in Korea. Language Research, 12(52), 581–610.
Park, Y. (2017). The effects of syntactic enhancement for L2 readers with low working memory. Modern English Education, 18(4), 47–66.
Park, Y. (2018). Syntactic enhancement: Bootstrap** for second language reading. Journal of Cognitive Science, 18(4), 473–509.
Park, Y., & Warschauer, M. (2016). Syntactic enhancement and second language literacy: An experimental study. Language Learning & Technology, 20(3), 180–199.
Park, Y., Warschauer, M., & Oak, M. (2013). Syntactic scaffolding on literacy development in EFL contexts. Paper presented at 2013 international conference of the Korea Association of Teachers of English, Seoul, Korea.
Saito, Y., Garza, T. J., & Horwitz, E. K. (1999). Foreign language reading anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 83(2), 202–218.
Segalowitz, S. J., Segalowitz, N. S., & Wood, A. G. (1998). Assessing the development of automaticity in second language word recognition. Applied Psycholinguistics, 19, 53–67.
Smith, M. S. (1993). Input enhancement in instructed SLA. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15(2), 165–179.
VanPatten, B. (2004). Processing instruction. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Walker, R. (2001). U.S. Patent No. 6,279,017. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Walker, S., Schloss, P., Fletcher, C. R., Vogel, C. A., & Walker, R. (2005). Visual-syntactic text formatting: A new method to enhance online reading. Reading Online, 8(6), 1096–1232.
Zutell, J., & Rasinski, T. V. (1991). Training teachers to attend to their students’ oral reading fluency. Theory Into Practice, 30(3), 211–217.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Park, Y., Oh, R. The Effects of Syntactic Enhancement on EFL Reading Fluency for Secondary School Students. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 27, 325–333 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-018-0389-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-018-0389-y