Term
Summer 2026
Capstone
Thesis
Degree Name
MAESL
Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair
Julia Reimer
Abstract
Wentzell, M. (2026). The Use of Assisted Repeated Reading to Increase Fluency and Comprehension Among Adolescent English Language Learners
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of audio-assisted repeated reading on fluency and comprehension among adolescent English learners and gauge their opinions on the intervention and its impact on their reading ability. Areas of exploration within the literature review included the evolution of fluency research, the relationship between fluency, prosody, and comprehension, and fluency within the context of English learners. Additionally, the literature review encompassed the strategy of repeated reading with and without audio-assistance and its use amongst English learners. The participants included six English learners of varying ability levels and varying time in the United States in a ninth grade English class over the course of six weeks. Participants engaged in weekly readings and a mid-week corrective feedback session. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected through a mixed methods approach. Weekly pre- and post-test fluency measures collected included reading rate, errors, accuracy, automaticity, and prosody while also collecting comprehension data. Additionally, participants were surveyed using questionnaires related to their opinions about assisted repeated reading and its effect on their overall reading ability. The findings included an overall increase in the majority of the categories for a majority of the participants. Automaticity – words correct per minute – increased for all participants supporting prior research related to audio-assisted repeated reading’s effectiveness to help participants become better decoders. Furthermore, prosody – reading with expression, phrasing, smoothness, and pace – scores grew steadily among all participants. However, clear connections and correlations between fluency, prosody, and comprehension were not as evident. Research needs to continue to look at whether or not prosody is a link between fluency and reading comprehension among adolescent English learners and if so to what extent and in what way. Finally, study limitations and this study’s impact on the researcher are discussed.
Research Methodology
Action Research, Mixed Methods
Keywords
ESL/ ELLs, Literacy, Reading, Oral Reading Fluency
Recommended Citation
Wentzell, Matthew J., "The Use Of Assisted Repeated Reading To Increase Fluency And Comprehension Among Adolescent English Language Learners" (2026). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations. 4649.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/4649
dc_type
text
dc_publisher
DigitalCommons@Hamline
dc_format
application/pdf
dc_source
School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations