Background
In this study the
researcher studied whether or not there was a correlation between an individual’s
reading speed and their reading comprehension. The paper was written for a
thesis at a University in Indonesia where students study English as a second
language. With this study, the author sought to better gauge how students were
progressing in their language skills.
The author
reviewed his University’s English program and identified the types of reading
skills students were being taught. Skimming and scanning reading skills were
heavily emphasized as important to language comprehension and fluency. The
author states in the beginning of the paper the importance of speed reading in
the development of language skills because of the increased ability to consume
more information and language familiarity in a shorter amount of time.
Method
The author tested
24 students in their fourth semester in the University’s English department.
All participants in the study had completed two of the schools English reading
courses. The participants were all asked to read a paper and take a comprehension
test following. Reading speed was tracked by setting time limits on the
readings and tracking how many words a participant was able to read.
After the tests,
the author then compared individual participants’ reading speeds with their
scores. The author tested the distribution of the test scores and reading
scores to see if it was within normal range or if a significant correlation
existed. The results were corrected for potential errors and tested to see if
the relationship held statistical significance.
Conclusion
The author found
from the study that the scores and reading speed of the students fit a normal
distribution and relationships between an individual participant’s reading
speed was not significantly correlated with their reading comprehension.
Critique
The sample size
that the author used was very small and the method of testing was limited in
its capability in providing accurate results.
The author should have created a better way to measure reading speed as
the method used cannot provide enough accuracy as it is not fully verifiable.
The results however are somewhat interesting in that if reading speed and
comprehension are not correlated (whether positively or negatively) then this
could imply that readers could reasonably increase their reading speed and
therefore their ability to consume more information in a shorter span of time
without significant loss in comprehension. However the results of the testing
is significantly limited as none of the participants were being tested in their
primary language.
Datunsolang A.
(2014) The correlation between students’ reading speed and students’ reading
comprehension (Thesis). State University
of Gorontalo, Gorontalo, Indonesia. Retrieved from: kim.ung.ac.id/index.php/KIMFSB/article/download/3272/3248
Posts
Knowing that everyone functions differently in everything conceivable, and even in something like reading, how, or even can, this be transferred to a practical application? A practical application being an analytical team?
ReplyDeleteFrom your question Ruark, and from the two studies I did this past week, I think in the form of application with analytic teams it comes to efficiency and time. First what must be defined is the focus area? This will then specialize the knowledge needed. In the form of analytic teams you pull from your entire workforce on who has specialized knowledge in the area of concern, and pull them into the team. The reason behind this is those with an already established knowledge base can provide more accurate forecasting and skim reading results than making people learn a subject they know nothing about. Thus allowing time to be saved if time is the pressure, which it usually is in business for time is money. Studies have proven that the larger the lexicon someone has and the more knowledge they have on a particular topic, the faster they can consume knowledge while maintaining comprehension in that particular area of study.
DeleteInteresting study conducted here. I like the premise of comparing words per minute to comprehension of material to see if any correlation exists. It seems odd that they would use a secondary language group as the test subjects. Did the authors mention why they chose to do it that way instead of just testing speed reading with the subjects primary language? I feel like students in the process of learning a second language don't have the fluidity to read and comprehend at a rate that would allow for increased speed. I remember taking Spanish classes and would feel overwhelmed when having to listen to or read text in Spanish under time constraints. I know I had to slow way down. If I were then told to read even faster, I'm confident my retention of subject matter would drop to almost zero.
ReplyDelete