Immediate repeated reading has positive effects on reading rate for English language learners: An eye-tracking study

Fluent and skillful reading in English requires efficient and automatic letter and word recognition. Dysfluent reading can affect motivation for reading in English language learners, thereby limiting access to a wealth of language input from written texts. Extensive research of repeated reading in first language (L1) settings has been shown to increase reading rate, while comparatively little research has been done on repeated reading in second language (L2) settings. The objective of this eye-tracking study was to accurately document early and late reading processes in an immediate repeated reading exercise to observe how repeated reading affects reading rate in adult English language learners. In our study, 30 students in an intensive English program in the United States read three short expository texts three times each. Eye-tracking showed significant increases in reading rate measures in both early and late reading processes. For example, average first fixation duration decreased from the first to the third reading and average late dwell time decreased from the first to third reading. Repeated reading is an exercise that should be considered by educators to help English language learners increase their immediate reading rate.