Article Review Building Fluency Through the Repeated Reading Method
ARTICLE REVIEW
Journal/magazine: English Teaching Forum Vol./No./Date: 49/3/2011
(available at: http://americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum)
Title of Article: Building Fluency through the Repeated Reading Method
Author: Joshua Cohen
Topic/Focus: Teaching methods
Date read: November 5, 2012
Key Words: repeated reading, fluency, speed, accuracy, comprehension, oral repeated reading, paired repeated reading, reader’s theatre
Summary:
This article is a helpful introduction and a kind of a manual to a method called Repeated Reading (RR) used in a classroom to improve speed, accuracy and comprehension of learners while reading texts. RR is a method where students read and then reread a text from two to four times, the text can be read silently or aloud according to teacher’s choice. The author (Joshua Cohen) uses the method himself and finds it very successful whether he used it with L1 or L2 learners. Firstly the author mentioned some information from the historical background of the RR method in practise. Then he described three techniques for using the method, which might be considered as the top ones: (1) Oral Repeated Reading, (2) Paired Repeated Reading and (3) Reader’s Theatre.
Oral Repeated Reading is the classic version of RR where students read and reread a short passage of a text for about four times. Cohen advises to set some “short-term goals” that should keep the learners motivated and focused and make the exercise more attractive for them. Then there are four steps which should be followed to get the most out of the exercise.
The Paired Repeated Reading technique is very similar to Oral Repeated Reading with the only exception that it is carried out in pairs. This fact adds to the method the possibility of self- and peer-assessment, which makes it a funny “challenge” for learners. Again, the author mentioned some ideas and suggestions about the process of the method to make it effective for learners as well as for the
Journal/magazine: English Teaching Forum Vol./No./Date: 49/3/2011
(available at: http://americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum)
Title of Article: Building Fluency through the Repeated Reading Method
Author: Joshua Cohen
Topic/Focus: Teaching methods
Date read: November 5, 2012
Key Words: repeated reading, fluency, speed, accuracy, comprehension, oral repeated reading, paired repeated reading, reader’s theatre
Summary:
This article is a helpful introduction and a kind of a manual to a method called Repeated Reading (RR) used in a classroom to improve speed, accuracy and comprehension of learners while reading texts. RR is a method where students read and then reread a text from two to four times, the text can be read silently or aloud according to teacher’s choice. The author (Joshua Cohen) uses the method himself and finds it very successful whether he used it with L1 or L2 learners. Firstly the author mentioned some information from the historical background of the RR method in practise. Then he described three techniques for using the method, which might be considered as the top ones: (1) Oral Repeated Reading, (2) Paired Repeated Reading and (3) Reader’s Theatre.
Oral Repeated Reading is the classic version of RR where students read and reread a short passage of a text for about four times. Cohen advises to set some “short-term goals” that should keep the learners motivated and focused and make the exercise more attractive for them. Then there are four steps which should be followed to get the most out of the exercise.
The Paired Repeated Reading technique is very similar to Oral Repeated Reading with the only exception that it is carried out in pairs. This fact adds to the method the possibility of self- and peer-assessment, which makes it a funny “challenge” for learners. Again, the author mentioned some ideas and suggestions about the process of the method to make it effective for learners as well as for the