Measuring Reading Fluency

Developing reading fluency in a first language (L1) is a topic that has received a considerable amount of attention. Developing reading fluency in a second language (L2), however, has received relatively little attention (Grabe, 2009). Anderson (2008) defines reading fluency as “reading at an appropriate rate with adequate comprehension.” For adult ESL learners, Anderson suggests a minimum rate of 200 words‐per‐minute (wpm) with at least 70% comprehension. Previous articles written on L2 reading fluency have focused primarily on reading rate development. This article seeks to combine rate development and comprehension development to effectively foster L2 reading fluency.