operative in comprehending text until the child has acquired reasonable fluency (Adams,

1990; Hoover & Gough, 1990; Perfetti, 1985; Stanovich, 1991; Sticht & James, 1984;

Vellutino et al., 1991; Vellutino, Scanlon, & Tanzman, 1994).

Factors of reading dysfluency

 Why do some people fail to read fluently? There must be specific factors that affect

reading fluency. During the last two decades, many reading researchers have provided

evidence on factors related to reading fluency (Wolf, 1991; Wolf, Bowers, & Biddel,

2000). They suggested that there is evidence that impaired readers break down across the

continuum of processes. Through a thorough review of previous fluency literature, Meyer

and Felton (1999) provided a summary of the existing research on explanations of

dysfluency. Three major areas were identified within their review:

1. A breakdown takes place in the lower level processes. In Figure 2-3,(1) represents
 a breakdown in this lower level At this level, dysfluent reading results from
 deficits in phonological processing and /or orthographic processing systems that
 affect the timing and coordination of these systems. Researchers indicated that the
 largest contribution to slowed word-reading rate among dyslexic readers in the
 slowed speed of processing in perceptual stages (Farmer & Klein, 1995; Tallal,
 Miller, & Fitch, 1993).

2. In this level, a breakdown takes places when people make higher order semantic
 and phonological connections between words, meaning, and ideas.(2) represents a
 breakdown in connections to meaning processor. In this level, dysfluent reading is
 resulted from deficits that occur after perceptual identification has been completed.

3. This breakdown may involve the slowed retrieval of names, meaning, or both
 (German, 1992; Wolf et al., 2000).

4. A breakdown in syntactic processing can be the last factor of dysfluency.(3)
 represents the last level of breakdown. In this level, dysfluent readers may have
 deficits exhibited in a lack of prosody and rhythm in oral reading and a lack of
 sensitivity to prosodic cues.