The Mediating Role of Text Reading Fluency in Reading Comprehension in English and Kiswahili: Evidence from Multilingual Contexts in Kenya

Abstract The present study examined the mediating role of text reading fluency in reading comprehension in English and Kiswahili utilizing longitudinal data from 628 first- and second-grade children from multilingual contexts in Kenya. We employed path analysis to explore the mediating role of text reading fluency on decoding and reading comprehension in English and Kiswahili. The results demonstrated that decoding and text reading fluency bridges the gap between word recognition skills and reading comprehension in English and Kiswahili. Over time, as children improve their reading skills, the direct influence of decoding on reading comprehension diminishes; hence, text reading fluency explains the unique variance in reading comprehension. The present findings highlight the importance of text reading fluency in the developmental phases of reading comprehension among multilingual children learning to read across multiple languages.