1990, and Burgess 2002 in Ruivo 2006 are building vocabulary, developing oral language, ... developing phonological skills, beginning to make connections between
their world and the text. Moreover, Cohen 2010 stated that the function of reading aloud is as a scaffold for struggling readers by providing the students with short-term,
achievable mini-goals such as speed, accuracy, and comprehension. By reading aloud, the students know how to read fluently and understand the meaning of the text
by the role model. So that, hopefully they can gain the reading proficiency in oral reading activity.
d. Reading Fluency
A proficient reading goal is identified by oral reading fluency. Reading fluency can be a parameter of a good reader
and a poor reader. “Differences in reading fluency not only distinguish good readers from poor, but a lack of reading
fluency is also a reliable predictor of reading comprehension problems” Stanovich, 1991 in Hudson, Lane and Pullen 2005. In the other words, reading fluency can be
a difference between readers with high comprehension and less comprehension. Goldstein 1999 citing the Becoming a Nation of Readers, states that Readers must
be able to decode words quickly and accurately so that this process can coordinate fluidly with the process of constructing the meaning of the text Anderson,Hiebert,
Scott Wilkinson, 1985. It means that reading comprehension can be reached when the readers are able to read and decode the words correctly and effortlessly. Fluency
is important because it connects between word recognition and comprehension.
The reading fluency is to read accurately, rapidly, appropriately and easily. In Goldstein 1999, Lipson and Lang said that fluency is frequently defined as accurate,
effortless and rapid reading. In addition, the National Reading Pannel 2000 defines fluency as the ability to read text quickly, accurately and with proper expression.
Reading fluency determines reading proficiency as well as comprehension of reading. There are three aspects of reading fluency according to Hudson, Lane and
Pullen 2005. They are accuracy, rate and prosody. The explanation of the aspects is as follows:
i. Accuracy
One of the reading fluency aspects is accuracy of reading. The definition of accuracy in the third edition of Cambridge dictionary is “the ability to do
something without making mistakes ”. So reading accuracy in simple words
means the ability to read without making mistakes. Hudson, Lane and Pullen 2005: 703 said that word-reading accuracy refers to the reading ability to
recognize or to decode words correctly. Reading accuracy needs psychomotoric skill in pronuncing sound of words, strong understanding of the alphabetic
principle, the ability to blend sounds together Ehri McCormick, 1998. Accuracy practice is intended to establish some correctness in the production of
new items immediately after they are presented Davies, 2002: 36 It is important to gain accuracy in reading because the uttering words are
processing at the same time inside the brain. Lack of word-reading accuracy has
harmful influences on reading comprehension and fluency Hudson, Lane and Pullen : 2005. Poor accuracy causes negative effects because it leads to
misinterpretation in mind. As cited in Rasinski 2004:3, Informal Reading Inventories IRIs have used decoding word accuracy as one of their key standard
for marking reading achievement for decades Johnson, Kress, Pikulski, 1987; Pikulski, 1990. So, reading proficiency is also measured by the accuracy of
pronuncing every single word.
ii. Rate
Reading rate means the speed when a person reads written text in a certain time, habitually in a minute. Reading speed is generally calculated by the
number of words read per minute. Rakulski 2005 verifies that the rate of reading, often expressed in terms of words per minute. Reading rate is usually
determined by the purpose of reading for comprehension, learning, memorization, etc. The speed itself should not too slow or too fast in order to
help the listener understanding the meaning. Reading rate has a relationship with reading proficiency related to
comprehension. Again according to Hudson, Lane and Pullen 2005: 704, reading rate involves both word-level automaticity and the fluidity in the same
time as a reader moves through connected text. So when the readers speak words quickly, it helps them gaining the meaning from what they read. It is because
there are always automatic words recognition activities in every reading action. Tenenbaum and Wolking 1989: 83 find that the combination of high oral
reading rate with inflection can increase both the accuracy and speed of intraverbal responding comprehension. It can be concluded that quick reading
rate can be as a consideration of good reading proficiency because of constructing a proper interpretation in cognitive device.
iii. Prosody
Prosody refers to the expressiveness when a reader reads. It is the intonation, rhythm and emphasis given to words and sentences while reading
orally. “Prosodic features are variations in pitch intonation, stress patterns
syllable prominence, and duration length of time that contribute to expressive reading of a text
” Allington, 1983; Dowhower, 1991; Schreiber, 1980, 1991 in Hudson, lane and Pullen 2005. Similarly, Jun 2007 said that prosody means a
grouping of words in an utterance by considering tone, stress, length and pitch accent. Prosody can be defined as giving expression in reading activity to deliver
meaning sufficiently. Prosody is a key component in reading fluency and in obtaining the
comprehension. The oral readers should understand the meaning and express it by well prosodic reading. Prosodic reading provides evidence that the reader
understands what is being read Kuhn Stahl, 2000 in Hudson, lane and Pullen 2005. Moreover, Schreiber suggested that fluent readers use the morphemic,
syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic to organize the text into meaningful phrases
and read with correct prosody. The text can be more meaningful with the correct
prosody e.
Principles of Teaching Reading
Providing knowledge and practice in teaching must be based on the rules. Harmer 1998: 70: 71 formulates several principles in teaching reading related to
reading proficiency. The first is to think that “reading is not a passive skill”. Although reading is a receptive skill, it does not mean that it is a passive skill. It is because the
readers not only passively receive but also actively comprehend the text. Moreover, reading aloud goes by actively producing voice as fluent as possible. The second is
students need to be engaged with what they are reading. Students should be connected with the materials they are reading. When the readers are not interested in
the texts or the lesson, they will not learn maximally. When the readers find the text interesting, they will get high motivation to read. Next principle is to match the task
to the topic. Teachers are expected to choose good reading tasks which can be interactive for the learners. Furthermore, good teachers exploit reading texts to the
full. Teachers should integrate the reading texts into more interesting and engaging class sequences, using topic for discussion and further tasks for the study and later
activities. f.
Instructional Methods of Reading Fluency
Fluency instruction is part of a comprehensive reading programs that emphasizes in research-based practices. So, it is important to realize the action into
instructional methods. The instructional methods which the teachers should prepare are as follows: The first is being model fluent oral reading Rasinski, 2003. Teachers
need to act reading aloud with repeated reading method in order to be the model of fluent reading. It is because the most fluent reader avaliable in the class is the teacher.
The second is to provide students with sufficient materials at their independent reading level. Materials should be interesting and proper to the general course grid
Allington, 2000. Another step is to offer many chances for using repeated readings of progressively more difficult text Rasinski, 2003. Teachers need to make the
scaffolding by running the the easiest text in the beginning and make it more complex progression. The last is to present oral support and modeling for readers Rasinski,
2003. Teachers have necessities in providing perfect modeling of reading fluency to the teacher. It is because in Indonesian education puts English as a foreign language,
so the local teachers find it hard to be as similar as possible to the native reader. The real problem sometimes is the students may not know what fluent reading should be
like One of the methods for improving reading fluency is auditory modeling.
According to Goldstein 1999, solutions to apply fluency instruction in the classroom includes repeated reading, auditorymodeling, direct instruction, text
segmenting, supported reading, and use of easyreading materials. Dowhower 1991 says, Auditory or oral modeling may be the most powerful of all techniques
inencouraging prosodic reading. The method of auditory modeling can be applied in several ways such as providing native speaker and making taped prosodic rendering
of the text the students will read. It is believed that modeling shows the reader where to pause, which words to stress and which parts to lenghten. In running auditory
modeling as media, teachers need to get the model with the recent technology in education.
3. Educational Technology
