Reading fluency and automaticity are essential components of the primary grade reading curriculum, yet little is known about Arabic language reading teachers’ perspectives on their role in assisting children in mastering these skills. The purpose of this study was to explore Arabic reading teachers’ perspectives of the challenges of low-level fluency among their primary grade students particularly in grades 1-3 as well as the presence and/or absence of automaticity, an inherent component of fluency. Situated in the Mafraq Governorate, in Amman, Jordan, this study examined teacher's perspectives and experiences with regards to potential mitigating factors that contributed to students’ challenges along with if there were statistically significant differences in the reasons behind low reading fluency among students of early primary grades. Through a quantitative research approach, data was collected from 153 teachers using a questionnaire with domains. Findings yielded that the most dominant challenges in Arabic reading fluency skills was the domain related to learners using reading resources and building automaticity with a mean of (3.36), followed by the next domain related to the learning environment with a mean of (3.09). This study contributes to an increased understanding of teachers’ perspectives regarding Arabic language reading fluency and automaticity. It highlights the complexities of students’ reading fluency in Arabic and underscores the importance of an evidence-based design and immersive reading programme. Salient recommendations include the development of an extensive tiered-based reading intervention programme focusing on Arabic language reading fluency-based approaches and student-centered activities that help students towards mastery and automaticity.

Authors:
Ibrahem Alamoush, Sharjah Education Academy, United Arab Emirates
Fatima Bailey, Sharjah Education Academy, United Arab Emirates

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Fatima Bailey is the Chair of Teacher Education at Sharjah Education Academy. She is avid researcher and recipient of the Gordon Allport Prize for Outstanding Papers on Intergroup Relations, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fatima-bailey-ed-d-93b496145/?originalSubdomain=ae

Ibrahem Alamoush is an assistant professor. He worked in university and institutes in Arab countries. Alamoush’s research is based on learning and teaching strategies in effective ways. Additional it is focused on reading and cognitive neuroscience.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-ibrahem-alamoush-46537261

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fatima-bailey-ed-d-93b496145/?originalSubdomain=ae

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fatima-Bailey

Additional website of interest
https://scholar.google.ae/citations?user=msWTPrgAAAAJ&hl=en

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