Role of oral reading in the development of reading ability: A review

Abstract

The present study is a review of research about the difference between oral and silent reading. A considerable amount of research has reported that adult readers have only minor differences in their comprehension scores between oral and silent reading. On the other hand, oral reading seems to produce superior comprehension by young readers who have poor reading performance, because during oral reading, they tend to perform articulatory movements to produce phonological representations and use this kinesth-etic feedback for comprehension. In addition, during oral reading, they seem to utilize auditory information from the written content to facilitate reading comprehension. When children's reading ability is developing, it is considered essential for the achievement of effective reading activity that children internalize the process of producing phonological representations and control their eye movements. Finally, instructional methods for making the shift from oral to silent reading and further developments in reading ability are discussed.