Innovation in Language Learning

 Speaking modules are included in such exams as the General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) and Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), two generally required examinations for college students as well as employees in Taiwan. However, students here tend to find speaking more difficult than other skills, such as reading, writing, or listening. To address this issue, the present study recruited repeated reading (RR) to boost subjects’ oral reading ability and overall oral skills in the EFL environment of Taiwan and to verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the method. By promoting oral reading speed and automaticity, RR proved to be an effective technique to enhance oral reading and thus speaking fluency. Thirty college students from Chinese Culture University in Taiwan participated in this study. They had eight 30-minute instructions during the intervention period. The materials were passages chosen from 60 second science. SPSS 11.0 was adopted to do the quantitative analysis (paired sample t-test, effect size, regression analysis). The results indicated that there was a significant improvement in oral reading speed after the intervention (140-220 words correct per minute). Responses from post-test questionnaires indicated a high acceptability of RR among subject groups. Accordingly, RR appears to be a highly promising technique for automaticity development, speed training, and fluency in oral teaching.