t such a slow rate that the reader is unable to hold enough detail in short-term memory to permit decoding of the overall message of the text. In this context it should be noted that different reading purposes require different reading speeds, and though the development of adequate reading speed should receive a high priority in our learning programs, we should also recall, as Nuttall (1982) does that reading speed without comprehension is worthless. Therefore, our current study seeks to locate the twin issues of reading speed and reading comprehension within the framework of a comparison of intensive and extensive classroom reading procedures.
             The use of measuring speed reading dates back to the time of the writings of Michael West in the 1950s, and it was in the 1960s that interest in reading speed gained momentum through the writings of Fry (1963) and De Leeuw & De Leeuw (1965). Fry claimed that good readers achieve a speed of 350 words per minute, fair readers 250 words, and slow readers reach 150 words per minute. De Leeuw cited 230-250 words per minute as an average initial speed for the general public. These early insights led to growth in the development of speed reading courses, and to the belief that individuals requiring to read faster could be trained to do so through the use of paper-based techniques, and also by way of technological aids such as metronomes, and projectors or reading machines. Maddox (1963:85) criticized the use of such machines claiming that mechanical devices are "in no way superior to the method of timed practice", and Bright & McGregor (1970:96) wrote in similar definition that it is "the gimmick that stimulates interest and not the practice itself". Databased evaluations of reading speed courses were offered by Hill (1981), and Richard (1982). Hill examined a course in 'rapid' or 'effective' reading with advanced students at the university of Leuven in Belgium. Using the program developed by De Leuw ...