VietTESOL International Convention 2026

This study investigates the impact of structured speed-reading instruction on reading fluency and discourse-level comprehension among 60 Grade 12 ethnic minority students at a Vietnamese boarding school. Employing a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design, the 12-week intervention integrated skimming, scanning, chunking, and timed reading into regular English lessons for the experimental group (n=30), while the control group (n=30) received conventional instruction. Data were collected via a text-reconstruction task measuring discourse processing, a reading rate assessment (words per minute; Cronbach’s α = .82), and a student questionnaire. Results revealed the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the posttest, t(58) = 3.21, p = .002, d = 0.83. Comprehension scores increased by 18% in the experimental group versus 7% in the control group. Additionally, the experimental group’s reading rate improved by an average of 21 words per minute, with minimal gains observed in the control group. Questionnaire responses indicated heightened student confidence and perceived processing efficiency under time constraints. Integrating strategy-based speed-reading into EFL curricula effectively enhances both reading rate and discourse-level performance in time-limited assessment environments.

Keywords: speed reading; reading fluency; discourse-level comprehension; EFL ethnic minority students; quasi-experimental design