Reading comprehension is an undeniably important skill in foreign language learning. This is shown to be influenced by the learners reading fluency of the EFL learners. This study aimed to confirm this relationship among typical and struggling EFL readers . To do so, a mixed methods approach was used. The quantitative study was a correlational study that measured the relationship between these two variables . Accordingly, 36 intermediate-level sophomore students selected via purposive sampling participated in this study. They took a researcher-made test of reading comprehension and their fluency in reading an English text was measured . A Spearman correlation test was conducted and the results showed that the correlation between the variables was significant and direct. Further analysis showed that the difference between the reading fluency of struggling readers and typical readers was significant. In the next stage of the research, a qualitative study was conducted. The volunteering learners participated in a think-aloud task. Their protocols were prepared . The analysis of the protocols showed that some strategies were common to both reader types and some specific to each type. However, the results indicated that the typical readers used many more strategies than the struggling readers. The present study has a number of implications for EFL teachers who intend to help struggling readers enrich their strategic repertoire in order to improve their reading fluency and reading comprehension ability.
