Word Reading Fluency as a Serial Naming Task

Abstract

Word list reading fluency is theoretically expected to depend on single word reading speed. Yet the correlation between the two diminishes with increasing fluency, while fluency remains strongly correlated to serial digit naming. We hypothesized that multielement sequence processing is an important component of fluency. We used confirmatory factor analyses with serial and discrete naming tasks with matched items, including digits, dice, objects, number words, and words, performed by about one hundred Greek children in each of Grades 1, 3, and 5. Separable serial and discrete factors emerged across grades, consistent with distinct skill dimensions. Loadings were greater for serial than discrete, suggesting that discrete processing does not fully determine serial processing. Average serial performance differed more than discrete between grades, consistent with improvement beyond single-item speed. Serial word reading aligned increasingly with the serial factor at higher grades. Thus, word reading fluency is gradually dominated by skill in simultaneously processing multiple successive items through different stages (termed "cascading"), beyond automatization of individual words.

Stability of Deficits in Reading Fluency and/or Spelling

“…We have argued elsewhere (e.g., Bakos, Landerl, Bartling, Schulte-Körne, & Moll, 2018;Moll & Landerl, 2009), that children with RD store and use orthographic representations during reading, but are slow in processing their phonological form. Thus, reading fluency deficits may result from slow visual-verbal access (Lervåg & Hulme, 2009) and inefficient sequential processing (Jones, Obregón, Kelly, & Branigan, 2008;Protopapas, Katopodi, Altani, & Georgiou, 2018;van Den Boer, Georgiou, & de Jong, 2016). This interpretation is supported by strong associations between (deficits in) reading fluency and RAN (Araújo & Faísca, 2019;Araújo, Reis, Petersson, & Faísca, 2015;Kirby, Georgiou, Martinussen, & Parrila, 2010).…”

From individual word recognition to word list and text reading fluency.

“…So far, very limited information is available regarding the nature and role of multiitem processing in word list and text reading fluency. Although some studies have shown that serial naming contributes unique variance to word list reading fluency beyond one's ability to recognize individual words (Protopapas et al, 2013(Protopapas et al, , 2018Zoccolotti et al, 2013), only one study has included (oral) text reading as a measure of reading fluency (Zoccolotti et al, 2014), possibly limiting the applicability of the findings to more realistic reading situations. Furthermore, most previous studies have been conducted in orthographically transparent languages (Greek and Italian).…”

“…Therefore, our results suggest that variance in reading multiword sequences-either in lists or in text-is co-determined by a component skill of multi-item processing, as long as individual word recognition has become sufficiently proficient to allow uninterrupted sequential processing of adjacent items. This component skill concerning the ability to simultaneously deal with more than one item at different processing stages has been termed cascading and has been proposed to constitute a distinct domain of individual differences impacting the development of reading fluency (Protopapas et al, 2013(Protopapas et al, , 2018.…”

From Individual Word Recognition to Word List and Text Reading Fluency

“…Therefore, accurate and fast word recognition are two necessary building blocks before more advanced skills specific to reading fluency can develop (e.g., Ehri, 1997;2005;Perfetti, 1985;Wolf & Katzir-Cohen, 2001). However, word recognition is not enough: As noted above, serial word reading diverges from discrete word reading during the upper elementary grades, and begins to align more closely with serial digit naming Protopapas et al, 2013Protopapas et al, , 2018. This suggests that fluent reading of multiple words (as in word-lists or sentences) is not fully determined by individual word recognition.…”

“…However, recent studies have suggested that in the upper elementary grades, word list reading fluency has more in common with rapidly naming a series of highly familiar symbols, such as digits, than with one's ability to accurately and rapidly read individually presented words or name individually presented symbols (e.g., de Jong, 2011;Georgiou, Parrila, Cui, & Papadopoulos, 2013;Protopapas, Katopodi, Altani, & Georgiou, 2018;Protopapas, Altani, & Georgiou, 2013;van den Boer, Georgiou, & de Jong, 2016;Zoccolotti et al, 2013). More specifically, Protopapas and colleagues (2013; 2018) used word reading tasks, in which words were presented individually (one-by-one) vs. simultaneously (in lists) and found that individual differences in the speed with which children in Grades 5 or 6 read aloud individually presented words contributed modestly to individual differences in word list reading fluency.…”