The Impact of Integrating Audiobooks as an Authentic Material on Developing Students’ Oral Reading Fluency

Abstract

The present study investigated the impact of using audiobooks as an authentic material on developing students’ oral reading fluency. It is, then, hypothesized that if audiobooks are integrated as an authentic material in teaching reading, learners’ oral reading fluency will improve. In order to test this hypothesis, an experimental study was conducted with sixteen second year students of English at Mohammed Seddik Ben Yahia University. Furthermore, a quantitative method was used in the analysis of the gathered data. Results from a five-session audiobooks assisted reading have demonstrated that the students had levels of oral reading fluency that vary between good and average. The experimental group scores have improved significantly after the treatment to above the pre-test score levels, in terms of accuracy, reading speed, prosody, reading comprehension, and word recognition. On the basis of the findings, it is recommended to include more oral reading practices in order to help students improve their fluency.