EXPLORING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING GUIDED READING APPROACH ON PROMOTING ARAB EIGHTH GRADERS’ ENGLISH READING FLUENCY
Abstract
This study aimed at exploring the effect of the guided reading approach on promoting reading fluency skills for middle school students. An explanatory mixed-method design was employed to achieve the purpose of this study. The quantitative phase of the study featured a pre and post-test after the implementation of a guided reading program for six weeks. The qualitative phase of the study featured by a collection of documents of evaluations which were conducted biweekly during the implementation of the program. These evaluative checklists were used to measure the students’ progress in reading fluency skills. The participants of this study were eighth-graders students who were selected conveniently and purposively (n = 27). Generally, the results collected from the pre-and post-test indicated that there is a significant difference between the pre and post-test in terms of reading fluency skills: word read, word correct per minute (WCPM), and accuracy in favor of the post-test results. The qualitative results revealed that the use of the guided reading program to promote reading fluency skills leads to incremental progress in the word read, word correct per minute (WCPM), and accuracy skills. The study discussed critical issues related to eighth-graders’ reading fluency skills including, promoting reading fluency skills, and it suggests some recommendations for teachers, curriculum designers, and proposes some implications for future research.