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This study aims to examine the effect of speed reading techniques on second-grade students’ reading speed and reading comprehension levels. In today’s information age, improving reading skills is vital for academic and professional success. The study was conducted using a quasi-experimental design. The experimental group (20 students) was trained in speed reading techniques for 8 weeks, while the control group (20 students) received no intervention, continuing only with regular regular curriculum activities. The reading speed and comprehension levels of both groups were evaluated with pre-tests and post-tests using t-tests to analyze the data. The findings showed that the speed reading techniques training provided a significant increase in the reading speed of the students in the experimental group. In addition, significant improvements were also noted in the reading comprehension levels of these students. No similar improvement was observed in the performance of the students in the control group. The results of the study suggest that speed reading techniques can be an effective tool for improving reading skills, especially in early childhood. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the positive effects of speed reading techniques on second-grade students and emphasizes the need for more widespread integration of such techniques in educational systems. This study contributes to the limited body of research examining the effects of speed reading techniques on younger age groups, particularly second-grade students. Unlike previous studies focused on middle and high school levels, this research offers new insights into how speed reading techniques can be implemented in early childhood education. Future research should aim to examine in more detail the effects of speed reading techniques on other age groups and in different learning environments. Plain language summary This study looks at how speed reading techniques impact the reading speed and comprehension of second grade students. In today’s information age, improving reading skills is crucial for academic and professional success. The study used a quasi-experimental design with two groups: an experimental group of 20 students who were trained in speed reading techniques over a certain period, and a control group of 20 students who received no training. Both groups were tested on their reading speed and comprehension before and after the study. The results showed that students who received speed reading training significantly increased their reading speed and comprehension levels. There was no similar improvement in the control group. These findings suggest that speed reading techniques can effectively improve reading skills, especially in young children. In conclusion, this study highlights the positive effects of speed reading techniques on second grade students and underscores the need for integrating such techniques more widely in educational systems. Future research should explore the effects of speed reading techniques on different age groups and in various learning environments.

Although phonemic awareness is a well-known factor predicting early reading development, there is also evidence that Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) is an independent factor that contributes to early reading. The aim of this study is to examine phonemic awareness and RAN as predictors of reading speed, reading comprehension and spelling for children with reading difficulties. It also investigates a possible reciprocal relationship between RAN and reading skills, and the possibility of enhancing RAN by intervention. These issues are addressed by examining longitudinal data from a randomised reading intervention study carried out in Sweden for 9-year-old children with reading difficulties (N=112). The intervention comprised three main elements: training of phonics, reading comprehension strategies and reading speed. The analysis of the data was carried out using structural equation modelling. The results demonstrated that after controlling for autoregressive effects and non-verbal IQ, RAN predicts reading speed whereas phonemic awareness predicts reading comprehension and spelling. RAN was significantly enhanced by training and a reciprocal relationship between reading speed and RAN was found. These findings contribute to support the view that both phonemic awareness and RAN independently influence early phases of reading, and that both are possible to enhance by training.

We tested the effects of orthography on text reading by comparing reading measures in Arabic and Hebrew-speaking adults. The languages are typologically very similar, but use different orthographies. We measured naming speed of single letters, words and nonwords, and visual processing. Arabic-speakers also performed some of the tasks in Hebrew. We measured silent and oral reading speed of simpler and complex texts and their relationships with component abilities. Results show that Arabic-speakers read complex texts in Arabic more slowly than Hebrew-speakers read in Hebrew. Arabic-speakers read texts in Hebrew more slowly than in Arabic, even though they performed the letter naming and visual tasks equivalently in the two languages. For both groups, the best predictor of oral reading speed is speed of reading single words, with speed of letter naming adding to the prediction in Hebrew, but not in Arabic. No variable had a significant contribution to the prediction of speed of silent reading. The results suggest that even though lower level processes such as letter and word identification may be simpler to perform in Hebrew than in Arabic, higher level processes required to comprehend a complex text, are always faster in the first language of the participants. Both the characteristics of the text, its structural and semantic complexity, and the characteristics of the orthography play roles in the quality of reading. Relationships between the top-down and bottom-up components of reading are dynamic, and specific to orthographic factors and the sociolinguistic environment of the readers (e.g., the diglossia of Arabic).

This conceptual paper aims to concentrate on the transformational development of tools, machines, and software applications used to increase the speed of reading. There has been a need for modernization of the old-fashioned machines in the field of speed reading. Several practical steps have already been taken in the last three decades of the twentieth century, and several outdated speed-reading tools and various equipment types have already been replaced by quite a few speed-reading software programs and mobile applications. The earliest speed-reading tools are reading pacing machines, which work on various simple to advanced technological principles. Different types of machines are also used for tracking the movements of eyes in the form of saccades and fixations during reading. Subsequently, several speed-increasing software tools use the powerful text processing technique called the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP). Many of these tools have demonstrated significant productivity gains in the reading speed of learners. However, this transformational development has resulted in a multiplicity of speed-increasing function-specific software applications, there remains a need to choose the right combination of them, considering the diversity among learners and their goals. Though the distance covered in this journey of transformational development of tools, machines and software applications is quite encouraging, there is still room for improvements in terms of making the process of speed reading closer to natural reading.

Students’ reading speed in the English Department at a Saudi University is low, which, in turn, slows down their general proficiency in English. This research aims to show how and to what degree using a reading speed increasing software (the ‘7 Speed Reading’ program) could be a decisive factor in upgrading the reading speed of EFL-major students of KKU while maintaining their former level of comprehension. This study uses a pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental design. The study sample comprised two groups (a control group and a test group), each consisting of 30 students from the third year of the EFL undergraduate program. The methodology incorporates comprehension tests to analyse the sample for reading speed and comprehension toward the study’s start. Training in increasing reading speed was extended to the test group students using the ‘7 Speed Reading’ software. Towards the end of the training, both the groups were tested again for reading speed and comprehension. The study illustrated essential outcomes in the form of increased reading speed and better comprehension.

The use of various learning apps in school settings is growing and thus producing an increasing amount of usage generated data. However, this usage generated data has only to a very little extend been used for monitoring and promoting learning progress. We test if application usage generated data from a reading app holds potential for measuring reading ability, reading speed progress and for pointing out features in a school setting that promotes learning. We analyze new data from three different sources: (1) Usage generated data from a widely used reading app, (2) Data from a national reading ability test, and (3) Register data on student background and family characteristics. First, we find that reading app generated data to some degree tells the same story about reading ability as does the formal national reading ability test. Second, we find that the reading app data has the potential to monitor reading speed progress. Finally, we tested several models including machine learning models. Two of these were able to identify variables associated with reading speed progress with some degree of success and to point at certain conditions that promotes reading speed progress. We discuss the results and avenues for further research are presented.

Aim: To evaluate if functionally relevant deficits in reading performance exist in children with essential microstrabismic amblyopia by comparing the monocular and binocular reading performance with the reading performance of normal sighted children with full visual acuity in both eyes. Methods: The reading performance of 40 children (mean age 11.6 (SD 1.4) years) was evaluated monocularly and binocularly in randomised order, using standardised reading charts for the simultaneous determination of reading acuity and speed. 20 of the tested children were under treatment for unilateral microstrabismic amblyopia (visual acuity in the amblyopic eyes: logMAR 0.19 (0.15); fellow eyes −0.1 (0.07)); the others were normal sighted controls (visual acuity in the right eyes −0.04 (0.15); left eyes −0.08 (0.07)). Results: In respect of the binocular maximum reading speed (MRS), significant differences were found between the children with microstrabismic amblyopia and the normal controls (p = 0.03): whereas the controls achieved a binocular MRS of 200.4 (11) wpm (words per minute), the children with unilateral amblyopia achieved only a binocular MRS of 172.9 (43.9) wpm. No significant differences between the two groups were found in respect of the binocular logMAR visual acuity and reading acuity (p>0.05). For the monocular reading performance, significant impairment was found in the amblyopic eyes, whereas no significant differences were found between the sound fellow eyes of the amblyopic children and the control group. Conclusion: In binocular MRS, significant differences could be found between children with microstrabismic amblyopia and normal controls. This result indicates the presence of a functionally relevant reading impairment, even though the binocular visual acuity and reading acuity were both comparable with the control group.

Alphabetic orthographies differ in the transparency of their letter-sound mappings, with English orthography being less transparent than other alphabetic scripts. The outlier status of English has led scientists to question the generality of findings based on English-language studies. We investigated the role of phonological awareness, memory, vocabulary, rapid naming, and nonverbal intelligence in reading performance across five languages lying at differing positions along a transparency continuum (Finnish, Hungarian, Dutch, Portuguese, and French). Results from a sample of 1,265 children in Grade 2 showed that phonological awareness was the main factor associated with reading performance in each language. However, its impact was modulated by the transparency of the orthography, being stronger in less transparent orthographies. The influence of rapid naming was rather weak and limited to reading and decoding speed. Most predictors of reading performance were relatively universal across these alphabetic languages, although their precise weight varied systematically as a function of script transparency.

Current theoretical interpretations of naming speed and the research literature on its relation to reading are reviewed in this article. The authors examine naming speed's effects across languages and the shape of its relationship to reading. Also considered is the double-deficit hypothesis, by which students with both slow naming speed and low phonological awareness are hypothesized to be most at-risk for reading disability. Finally, the instructional literature regarding attempts to improve naming speed and use of naming speed as a predictor of response to intervention is reviewed. The authors conclude that naming speed is uniquely associated with a range of reading tasks across orthographies, and that early identification would be improved by the inclusion of naming speed measures. The poor response to instruction of students who have slow naming speed should be considered when designing interventions. Further work is required to specify the theoretical nature of naming speed and to determine how to help students with slow naming speed.