Gabb (2000) poses a very important question why learners face difficulties in moving into fluency stage although they have had basic decoding skills. She identifies a number of “barriers” which I believe the most important are limited vocabulary and lack of background knowledge (schematic knowledge). Orasanu (1986) states that “the knowledge a reader brings to a text is a principal determiner of how that text will be comprehended, and what may be learned and remembered” (p. 32). The key aspect to reading fluency is the expansion of vocabulary
through the use of word play, puzzles, etc. I believe that beginning readers can expand their vocabulary through phonics, which will at the end help them to become fluent, skillful readers of English texts. As Spencer and Hay (1998) put it: