Reading Fluency as an Indicator of Reading Comprehension: A Systematic Review

This study is a systematic review that examined empirical research on the relationship between reading fluency and comprehension. The main goals of the review were to summarize recent findings about how fluency supports literacy development, identify effective instructional interventions for building fluency, and identify assessment practices that relate to reading achievement. Literature searches were conducted in Google Scholar, ERIC, ResearchGate, and other relevant educational databases using specified search terms related to reading fluency and comprehension. The inclusion criteria were that studies were peer reviewed, published in English, directly related to literacy knowledge, and published between 2015 and 2025. The screening and eligibility process followed procedures that were inspired by PRISMA, consisting of: identifying studies; removing duplicates; screening by title and abstract; reviewing full texts; and making final inclusion decisions. Eleven studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in the synthesis. The review identified three key themes in the findings: (1) the contribution of reading fluency to comprehension development; (2) instructional interventions and strategies to build fluency; and (3) assessment and monitoring practices related to reading achievement. The review found significant evidence that reading fluency contributes to comprehension by aiding automatic word recognition and decreasing the cognitive load required for reading. At the same time, however, the evidence suggests that there is a bidirectional relationship between fluency and comprehension, modified by vocabulary knowledge, language comprehension, the instructional context, and individual learner characteristics. The review also identified areas where there is a lack of research related to multilingual literacies and the long-term effects of fluency development interventions. The findings support a balanced literacy approach that emphasizes the importance of developing fluency, comprehension strategies, and frequent assessment.

Reading Comprehension, Reading Fluency, Literacy Development

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