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The component skills underlying reading fluency in adolescent readers: a latent variable analysis

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Abstract

This study investigated the component skills underlying reading fluency in a heterogeneous sample of 527 eighth grade students. Based on a hypothetical measurement model and successive testing of nested models, structural equation modeling revealed that naming speed, decoding, and language were uniquely associated with reading fluency. These findings suggest that the ability to access and retrieve phonological information from long-term storage is the most important factor in explaining individual differences in reading fluency among adolescent readers. The ability to process meaning and decode novel words was smaller but reliable contributors to reading fluency in adolescent readers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, 2151 West Holcombe, 222 Texas Medical Center Annex, Houston, TX, 77204-5053, USA

    Amy Elizabeth Barth

  2. Speech-Language-Hearing: Sciences and Disorders, University of Kansas, 3001 Dole Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Hugh W. Catts

  3. Division of Developmental Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center, 7000 Fannin St., Suite 2577, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Jason L. Anthony

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  1. Amy Elizabeth Barth
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Barth, A.E., Catts, H.W. & Anthony, J.L. The component skills underlying reading fluency in adolescent readers: a latent variable analysis. Read Writ 22, 567–590 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-008-9125-y

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