Pages: 25-45

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the effect of a digital fluency-building tool called AceReader on the ‎development of reading fluency and comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. To this ‎end, 60 male students of Mellat Language Institute in Rasht, Iran were randomly selected via ‎administration of a Preliminary English Test. Then, the selected participants were randomly ‎assigned to the experimental and control groups. Pretest of reading comprehension was ‎administered to the experimental and the control groups to assess their knowledge of reading ‎competence (in terms of comprehension and fluency) before the treatment. Next, the treatment ‎started and experimental group was exposed to teaching with AceReader and control group was ‎exposed to the traditional methods of teaching reading comprehension. Finally, posttest of reading ‎comprehension was administered to participants of both groups at the end of treatment to assess ‎possible difference of performance of the experimental and control groups. The collected data were ‎then processed through statistical analysis of t-test. Findings revealed that, (a) speed reading ‎practice via doing intensive reading activities had produced any statistically significant effect on the ‎development of reading fluency and comprehension among Iranian EFL learners, (b) using ‎AceReader, a digital fluency-building tool, had produced any statistically significant effect on the ‎development of reading fluency and comprehension among participants, and (c) there is a ‎statistically significant difference between the effects of reading via intensive reading activities and ‎using the digital fluency-building tool on the development of L2 reading fluency and ‎comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. This study can be used by language teachers, syllabus ‎designers, curriculum developers, and language learners‎‎.