SUSTAINED SILENT READING AND READING RATE GAINS OF FEMALE PAKISTANI EFL LEARNERS IN A RURAL HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL

Reading speed has long been recognized in scholarly literature as an essential component of reading fluency and successful reading. A variety of instructional techniques and activities are used to improve reading speed of learners. Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) is one such way that encourages the development of reading fluency and reading speed. This study investigated the impact of SSR on reading speed of female Pakistani EFL learners. A nine-week long SSR program was designed with 10 minutes timed-reading activity to improve students’ reading rate. Using random sampling procedures, fifty female students were selected to participate in the study. After the pre-test, twenty five students were kept in treatment group and twenty five in control group. Results of the study show that the experimental group’s average reading speed considerably increased from 115.60 wpm to 347.60 wpm after the intervention which indicates positive impact of SSR on reading speed of the participants. Statistically significant differences were found in reading rate gains between the two groups. Interestingly, a slight increase was also noted in the reading speed of students in the control group. The findings of the study indicate that SSR is a very effective instructional technique in developing EFL learners’ reading rate. Keywords: Reading rate, Fluency, Sustained Silent Reading, Reading fluency, EFL learners, Pakistan