Textbook-based L2 Oral Reading Fluency of Lower-level 8th Grade EFL Students and Its Association with L2 Reading Comprehension

Textbook-based L2 Oral Reading Fluency of Lower-level 8th Grade EFL Students and Its Association with L2 Reading Comprehension

The present investigation endeavors to assess the L2 oral reading fluency and comprehension abilities of Korean EFL middle school students in the context of the Korean national curriculum. Sixty-one eighth-grade students participated in the study, which involved oral reading and comprehension tests using second-year middle school English materials. Informal reading assessments were also conducted to evaluate the students' English word reading accuracy, automaticity, and prosody, and L2 oral reading fluency was determined from these measures. The results showed that only 30% of the students were capable of reading independently, while the remaining students encountered difficulties. A significant correlation was found between L2 oral reading fluency and L2 reading comprehension. The findings of this study provide valuable contributions to the field of Korean English education and hold implications for both L2 reading instruction and research.