Transformational Development of Speed-Reading Technology: Tools, Machines and Software Applications Salahud Din Abdul-Rab Center for Foundation and Continuing Education, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia; Department of English, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia Samsiah Abdul-Hamid Center for Foundation and Continuing Education, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia Raihana Romly Center for Foundation and Continuing Education, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia Usman Shah Toti Department of English, College of Education, Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Center for Foundation and Continuing Education, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia Arif Widaa Ali Mohamed Department of English, College of Education, Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abstract—This conceptual paper aims to concentrate on the transformational development of tools, machines, and software applications used to increase the speed of reading. There has been a need for modernization of the old-fashioned machines in the field of speed reading. Several practical steps have already been taken in the last three decades of the twentieth century, and several outdated speed-reading tools and various equipment types have already been replaced by quite a few speed-reading software programs and mobile applications. The earliest speed-reading tools are reading pacing machines, which work on various simple to advanced technological principles. Different types of machines are also used for tracking the movements of eyes in the form of saccades and fixations during reading. Subsequently, several speed-increasing software tools use the powerful text processing technique called the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP). Many of these tools have demonstrated significant productivity gains in the reading speed of learners. However, this transformational development has resulted in a multiplicity of speed-increasing function-specific software applications, there remains a need to choose the right combination of them, considering the diversity among learners and their goals. Though the distance covered in this journey of transformational development of tools, machines and software applications is quite encouraging, there is still room for improvements in terms of making the process of speed reading closer to natural reading. Index Terms—speed reading, software, applications, reading comprehension, reading speed I. INTRODUCTION The research in the field of speed reading started as early as the beginning of the 20th century. Stone and Colvin (1920) trained 45 students for 35 hours in study skills, with an increase of 74 per cent in their reading speed. Two years later, Stone (1922) again recorded an average increase of 35 to 108 per cent in his undergraduates' reading speed who received full training of 35 hours, focusing exclusively on their reading speed. Lauer (1936), while making a further breakthrough in the field of speed reading, concluded that his sample of 355 undergraduates could increase their normal reading speed from an average of 248 words per minute to a higher level of 325.5 words per minute. It amounts to a 35 per cent increase, and that too after only 20 speed increasing training sessions. However, all these research studies focus on the speed of reading alone, and the tools used for this increase were not given primary attention. II. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The main focus of all speed-reading studies has been on the results, either the increased speed or the enhanced comprehension. The tools and machines used to increase reading speed have never been given primary focus of attention. In order to fill this gap in the speed-reading literature, the present study aims:  To track the transformational development of the tools and machines used for increasing the speed of reading. ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 1452-1463, June 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1306.14 © 2023 ACADEMY PUBLICATION