rate/speed, and word recognition rate/proficiency. During the last two decades, research

on reading fluency was actively undertaken, and many reading researchers suggested

definitions of reading fluency. Through a thorough review of previous fluency literature,

Wolf and Katzir-Cohen (1999) proposed their own working definition:

 In its beginning, reading fluency is the product of the initial development of
 accuracy and the subsequent development of automaticity in underlying sublecxical
 processes, lexical processes, and their integration in single-word reading and
 connected text. These include perceptual, phonological, orthographic, and
 morphological processes at the letter, letter-pattern, and word levels, as well as
 semantic and syntactic processes at the word level and connected-text level. After it
 is fully developed, reading fluency refers to a level of accuracy and rate where
 decoding is relatively effortless; where oral reading is smooth and accurate with
 correct prosody; and where attention can be allocated to comprehension. (Wolf &
 Katzir-Cohen, 2001, p. 219)

 Wolf and Katzir-Cohen (2001) looked at fluency not so much as an outcome but as

a developmental process that is shaped and influenced by all the linguistic systems that

give us knowledge about words.

Component

 Three major types of processes have been recognized as prominent in the

development of fluency: orthographic, phonological, and semantic. Interestingly, Adams

(1990) added emphasis to morphological and syntactic knowledge systems. For example,

Adams proposed that both orthographic and semantic information are necessary for

learning morphological knowledge and that both patterns and roots (e.g., Latin and Greek

roots) make up many words. Researchers emphasize the connections that link

orthographic, semantic, phonological, and morphological systems. In other words,

reading fluency involves every process and subskill involved in reading. Consequently,

language comprehension processes and higher-level processes affecting language

comprehension (the application of world knowledge, reasoning, etc.) do not become fully