Conclusions
Reading practice with accompanying compressed speech as a pacer resulted in a significantly greater increase in reading rate without an accompanying loss in comprehension for the experimental group when compared with the control group. Scores on the delayed posttest seemed to indicate that the increase in reading rate was more than temporary.
The significant increase in reading rate was accomplished with only 10 practice sessions. The number of sessions in earlier studies using pacers ranged from 16 (Marvel, 1959) to 50 (Wilson & Leavell, 1956). The present study suggests that a smaller number of sessions using compressed speech as a pacer can be effective in increasing reading rate.
Since there was no significant difference between gain scores for the experimental and control groups for listening, this study provided no evidence to support the use of practice with compressed speech to improve listening ability. It might be noted however that the training sessions consisted of reading short storieswhile listening to the compressed speech. Thus, subjects did not receive practice in which listening to compressed speech was the sole activity. It is perhaps for this reason that the experimental group did not improve more in listening than did the control group.
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This article is based in part on Thameśs masteŕs thesis which was completed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
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Thames, K.H., Rossiter, C.M. The effects of reading practice with compressed speech on reading rate and listening comprehension. ECTJ 20, 35–42 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02768387
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02768387