E-Link Journal, Vol. 11, No.2,
December, 2024
P-ISSN:2085-1383; E-ISSN: 2621-4156
English Education Department, Universitas Islam Lamongan

Speed vs. Understanding: A Study of Student Readers
Sri Wulandari1*, Nursawalina2, Kristanti Yuntoro Putri3
Universitas Islam Kadiri, Kediri, Indonesia1,
Universitas Islam Kadiri, Kediri 2
Universitas Islam Kadiri, Kediri 3
sriwulandari@uniska-kediri.ac.id1*, nursawalina@gmail.com2, kristanti@uniska-kediri.ac.id 3

* is the Corresponding Author

Submitted:
Aug 3rd, 2024
Accepted:
Sept 2nd. 2024
Revised:
Nov 24th, 2024
Published:
Dec 31st, 2024

Abstract
Reading is essential for acquiring the English language, as it enhances learning in
both academic and practical contexts. Nonetheless, reading devoid of
comprehension renders the activity ineffective. A practical reader should utilize
strategies that harmonize pace and understanding to enhance the reading
experience. This study sought to ascertain the relationship between reading
speed and reading comprehension among fourth-semester students in the
English Education Study Program at Universitas Islam Kadiri. The study utilized a
correlation research method and applied a non-probability saturation sampling
technique, encompassing all students from Class A of the fourth semester. The
data collection tools were a reading speed assessment, quantifying the number
of words read per minute, and a multiple-choice comprehension evaluation,
gauging text understanding. The correlation between the two variables was
calculated using SPSS software. The results indicated no significant link between
students' reading speed and comprehension, with a p-value of 0.879 (p > 0.05).
The data indicate that accelerated reading does not inherently correlate with
improved comprehension for this sample. The study underscores the need for
educators to focus on teaching reading skills that support adequate
comprehension without losing speed, hence encouraging balanced literacy
development.
Keywords: Correlation, Reading Speed, Reading Comprehension

INTRODUCTION
Reading is one of four skills that are needed to learn the English language. Liu (2010) asserts
that numerous educators, textbook authors, and language assessment developers consider reading to
comprise various abilities and components. The learner acquired new knowledge and enhanced their
proficiency in their subjects through reading. Meanwhile, Liao (2011) states that reading encompasses
not just the ability to pronounce words correctly but also the comprehension of the book's overall
meaning. Reading is the capacity to identify and analyze words in sentences to comprehend the
information contained in the research.
Reading is also the most significant skill that Indonesian students should have, especially in
academic contexts, due to the function of English in Indonesia as a foreign language. Sometimes, when
students complete reading activities, they do not comprehend the texts they read. Therefore, students
must read via reading comprehension. According to Rasinski (2004), reading success depends on the
readers processing the text and interpreting it in a deeper meaning.
However, if it is only read without comprehending the passage, it wastes time and is useless.
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December, 2024
P-ISSN:2085-1383; E-ISSN: 2621-4156
English Education Department, Universitas Islam Lamongan

Therefore, a good reader should have a reading technique so that the reading process becomes more
effective. One of the techniques in reading that can help the reader is the reading speed technique.
Through the reading speed technique, the reading process will finish faster, and then the information
being sought will be found quickly.
According to Richard and Richard Schmidt (2010), everyone reads at a diversity of speeds,
sometimes quick and sometimes sluggish. Reading speed, or a rate of reading, is the pace at which a
person reads. The speed represents how many words may be read in a minute.
According to Noer (2012), there are five rates of reading speed: poor, average, good, excellent, and
unbelievable.
Reading speed has become one of people's needs because it will benefit them and make their
reading time more effective, especially for students. Reading speed helps students follow the learning
process well. They can get information from many sources. However, reading speed is not only about
reading faster but also about understanding the text's meaning. Therefore, good reading speed skills
should be balanced with reading comprehension skills.
Comprehension is the central part of the reading process. According to Miller, as mentioned
in Humaira (2017), comprehension is founded upon word recognition and association. It cannot
successfully take place unless the reader first is efficient in these two components of reading. Reading
cannot be separated from comprehension because the reading activity's objective or effect is to
comprehend what has been read. Reading comprehension is an interaction between the reader and
the text, as stated in Mukhlisyah and Fajarin (2024). So that way, when people talk about reading, it
might be instantly associated with comprehension or understanding. For instance, a reader who
understands what he has read can answer questions about it. It suggests that understanding something
is the primary purpose of reading.
According to Ryken, Wade-Woolley., and Deacon (2024), reading comprehension is making
meaning from text. The reader will analyze and understand what is described in the text. However, the
ability to comprehend text depends on the reader itself; if they have a low capacity to read, it can
affect their reading comprehension. According to Grabe and Stoller (2002), reading to search for simple
information is typical reading ability, and scanning and skimming the text is a method that may be used
to find a specific piece of information or a specific phrase.
Reading is a fundamental skill required for academic and professional success, needing speed
and comprehension. While strategies like skimming and scanning enable readers to find specific
material or important ideas swiftly, many individuals still struggle with slow reading due to limitations
in understanding. This issue sometimes needs word-by-word reading and frequent rereading, which
can impair time management, especially in jobs requiring responses to comprehension questions.
Previous research has studied the benefits of boosting reading speed and comprehension. However,
few have addressed the difficulty of balancing these skills to accomplish the twin aims of efficiency
and understanding. Addressing this gap, this study analyzes techniques to boost reading speed and
comprehension, concentrating on their combined impact on achieving practical reading goals. The
findings aim to inform educational approaches that promote balanced literacy development, giving
readers the capabilities needed for more successful learning and information processing.

METHOD
Correlational research was adopted in this study, which examined the connection between English
language learners' reading comprehension and speed. In statistical science, the term "correlation"
refers to a relationship between two or more variables, according to Sudjiono (2014). Researchers used
the bivariate correlation method, the relationship between two variables. The research was conducted
among 4th-semester English students in class A at Kadiri Islamic University. The research subjects are

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December, 2024
P-ISSN:2085-1383; E-ISSN: 2621-4156
English Education Department, Universitas Islam Lamongan

class A English students in semester 4th of the 2023 academic year, totaling 26 students. The
instruments used in this study are test instruments, including texts to measure student reading speed
and reading questions in the Student Assessment Test by Speed Reading for ESL Learners 3000 BNC by
Sonia Millet, which has 10 questions. Data processing is carried out in 2 stages: first, measuring the
student's reading speed scores and second, measuring the reading comprehension.
The researcher chose fourth-semester students because they had previously learned material
about reading in the first and second semesters. As Sugiyono (2013) states, the sampling technique
used in this study is Non-Probability Sampling. It is a sampling technique that does not provide equal
opportunities for each element or member of the population to be selected as a sample. The selected
category is saturated sampling. In addition, according to Sugiyono (2013), a saturated sample is used
when the population is relatively small, less than 30 people, or generalized with relatively small errors.
Based on this theoretical basis, it was decided to use all students in the 4th semester of class A English
Students at Universitas Islam Kadiri as samples. The total number was 26 students. The acquired data
was examined using classical linearity, normality, and hypothesis tests, all assessed using SPSS version
25.
RESULT
The study was conducted in two series: first, students were given a text and then asked to read
it. Measurement of the student's reading speed was carried out using a stopwatch. In the
measurement
of reading speed, students simultaneously read the text that has been given. Then, if the student
finished reading the text, he wrote down the time completed using the stopwatch. As
a result, each student would be aware of their reading pace. The ranking was based on reading speed,
or the words read per minute (WPM) to seconds read. The reading speed test score shows that the
students’ reading speed varied.
Table 1. A score of Reading Speed Test
WPM
97
102
113
114
117
120
121
122
123
125
137
140
141
145
146
154
158
168
171
173

Frequency
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

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Category
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
POOR
AVERAGE
AVERAGE
AVERAGE
AVERAGE
AVERAGE

E-Link Journal, Vol. 11, No.2,
December, 2024
P-ISSN:2085-1383; E-ISSN: 2621-4156
English Education Department, Universitas Islam Lamongan

179
207
235

1
1
2

AVERAGE
AVERAGE
AVERAGE

The table shows that the lowest speed is 97 WPM, and the highest is 235 WPM. This means that 17
students are categorized as poor readers, and the other 9 are in the average category.
After reading the text, they were asked to answer the questions according to the readings they had
read. Measurement of students' reading comprehension was carried out using questions. In measuring
reading comprehension, students simultaneously worked on the questions that had been given. The
ranking of reading comprehension was determined by dividing the total number of successfully
answered scores by the total number of questions; the results of the reading comprehension
assessment can be seen in a following table:
Table 2. Result of Reading Comprehension Assessment
SCORE
Frequency
Category
10
1
POOR
40
1
POOR
50
5
Fairly sufficient
60
6
Sufficient
70
8
Good
80
3
Good
90
1
Good
100
1
Good
The result shows that results for reading comprehension vary; for those with poor comprehension, it
is 2, sufficient is 5, sufficient is 6, and for those with good comprehension, it is 13. The results of reading
comprehension and speed tests were also subjected to normality and linearity tests to determine
whether they were regularly distributed. The criteria for decision-making are as follows: the alternative
hypothesis (Ha) is accepted when the significance value (p-value) exceeds the threshold of α = 0.05.
Conversely, the null hypothesis (H0) is accepted when the significance value (p-value) is smaller than
α = 0.05.
Table 2.3 Normality Test of Reading Speed and Reading Comprehension

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December, 2024
P-ISSN:2085-1383; E-ISSN: 2621-4156
English Education Department, Universitas Islam Lamongan

Based on the outcome of the normality test, it can be stated that Asym. Sig (2-tailed) is 0.188, and a =
> 0.05. So, Ha is accepted. The conclusion is that the data are regularly distributed. Meanwhile, test
linearity is used to analyze whether the relationship between independent and dependent variables is
linear.
The result of the computation is being done by SPSS as follows:
Table 2.4 Linearity Test of Reading Speed and Reading Comprehension

It might be claimed that if data is linear, it is significantly lower than 0.05. The analysis above
shows that the value of significance in linearity is 0.412 > 0.05. It signifies that the data of two variables
is not linear.
After measuring both tests' speed reading and reading comprehension, the data will be correlated
using product moment correlation accessed using IMB SPSS. The extent of the relationship between
reading comprehension and speed reading, as depicted in this table, will then be determined.

The correlation test aims to assess the degree and direction of the relationship between variables,
represented by the correlation coefficient (r). This study's correlation coefficient between reading
speed and comprehension was 0.879 (two-tailed), with a significance level of 0.879 > 0.05. As per the
threshold, a significance value larger than 0.05 leads to the acceptance of the null hypothesis (Ho) and
the rejection of the alternative hypothesis (Ha). Consequently, it was found that there is no substantial
positive link between students’ reading speed and their reading comprehension. Despite this, visible
trends in the data show that faster readers do not necessarily score higher in comprehension tests,
indicating that speed alone is insufficient to ensure understanding.
This conclusion underscores the need for educational interventions that balance reading fluency
with deeper comprehension. For example, educators could integrate activities such as timed reading
exercises followed by thorough comprehension questions or scaffolded instruction that gradually
improves reading speed while retaining attention on understanding. Additionally, teaching
metacognitive strategies like summarizing and forecasting could help kids enhance both skills
simultaneously.

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E-Link Journal, Vol. 11, No.2,
December, 2024
P-ISSN:2085-1383; E-ISSN: 2621-4156
English Education Department, Universitas Islam Lamongan

DISCUSSION
This section discusses the results related to the correlation between Reading Speed (X) and
Reading Comprehension (Y). As presented in the correlation table, the findings show a correlation
coefficient of -0.31 and a significance value (p-value) of 0.879 (two-tailed). Since 0.879 > 0.05, the null
hypothesis (Ho) is accepted, and the alternative hypothesis (Ha) is rejected. This indicates no significant
correlation between students’ reading speed and comprehension.
These findings are consistent with previous research by Saputra (2019), which reported no
significant correlation between these variables. Saputra’s study found a correlation coefficient (r) of
0.015 with a p-value above 0.05 based on a sample size of 41 students (r-table = 0.3008). Both studies
suggest that reading speed and comprehension may function independently rather than in a directly
proportional relationship.
By addressing these gaps and integrating tailored instructional methods, educators can help
students achieve a balanced development of reading skills, ultimately enhancing their academic and
real-life literacy.
Therefore, this research is in line with the result from previous research by Saputra (2019), which
stated that there was no significant correlation between students’ reading speed and reading
comprehension with r = 0,015 in two-tailed testing at 0,05 of the significant level of 41 samples (rtable) = 0,3008. It means that Ha accepted and Ho rejected, and it could be said that the correlation
was not significant.
This is also supported by Mustarihah (2018), which stated that the hypothesis ro was lower than
rt (0.16 < 1.701 and 0.16 < 2.467). The result of the hypothesis of this research was that the alternative
hypothesis (Ha) was rejected, and the null hypothesis (Ho) was accepted.
The result of this research further strengthens that reading speed is not a guarantee of
understanding a text; as expressed by Kurniawan and Wulandari (2018), reading is defined as a
complex interaction between text and reader, which is shaped by the reader’s prior knowledge,
attitude, experience, and language community which is socially and culturally situated. Then, it can be
concluded that instead of reading speed, reading comprehension depends more on the reader’s ability
to understand it, which is influenced by his background knowledge.
The results emphasize the need for balanced instructional strategies addressing reading speed
and comprehension. Educators can incorporate methods such as (1) Guided Practice by combining
timed reading exercises with post-reading comprehension tasks to encourage both fluency and
understanding; (2) Metacognitive Strategies by teaching students to use summarizing, predicting, and
questioning techniques to enhance comprehension while reading at an optimal pace; (3) differentiated
Instruction; by tailoring activities to individual needs by identifying students who struggle with speed
or comprehension and providing targeted support; and (4) Integrated Skill Development: Use
interactive reading activities, such as group discussions or critical analysis tasks, to help students
connect ideas in the text while maintaining focus on fluency.
Several limitations in the study’s design may have influenced the results. First, multiple-choice
comprehension tests might not fully capture the depth of students’ understanding. Future research
could incorporate a broader range of assessments, such as open-ended questions or verbal
explanations, to provide a more comprehensive measure of comprehension. Second, the study was
conducted with a limited sample size from a single institution, which may restrict the generalizability
of the findings. Expanding the sample to include participants from diverse educational backgrounds
could yield more robust results. Lastly, this study did not control factors such as text difficulty, reader

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December, 2024
P-ISSN:2085-1383; E-ISSN: 2621-4156
English Education Department, Universitas Islam Lamongan

motivation, and prior knowledge, which could have impacted the outcomes. Future investigations
should consider these variables to understand better the complex relationship between reading speed
and comprehension.
CONCLUSION
Based on the results, it is proven that students’ reading speed does not correlate with their
reading comprehension. The null hypothesis (Ho) is accepted, while the alternative hypothesis (Ha)
is rejected. This research aimed to explore the correlation between students' reading speed and
comprehension, but as demonstrated, there is no relationship between the variables. These findings
indicate that students' ability to understand texts and answer basic comprehension questions is not
influenced by their reading speed. Instead, factors such as students’ background knowledge and the
text's difficulty level are more likely to affect both reading and comprehension outcomes.
Focus on fostering reading comprehension through scaffolded practices that address individual
challenges. Integrating reading strategies with background knowledge activation can support
students struggling with complex texts.
Meanwhile, future researchers are suggested to Investigate other variables, such as text
complexity, reader motivation, or cognitive processing, that might mediate the relationship between
reading speed and comprehension. Employing diverse comprehension measures and more
prominent, more varied samples would provide a more comprehensive understanding of these
factors.
By implementing these recommendations, educators and researchers can contribute to more
effective literacy practices and insights that benefit diverse learners.
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December, 2024
P-ISSN:2085-1383; E-ISSN: 2621-4156
English Education Department, Universitas Islam Lamongan

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