Assessing Variability in Reading Performance with the New Greek Standardized Reading Speed Texts (IReST)

Abstract

SIGNIFICANCE This article evaluates the standardized Greek version of the International Reading Speed Texts (IReST) set, which enriches interlanguage comparisons and international clinical studies of reading performance. Moreover, it investigates how specific textual and subject-related characteristics modulate the variability of reading speed across texts and readers. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to develop a standardized Greek version of the IReST set and investigate how specific textual and subject-related factors modulate the variability of reading speed across texts and readers. METHODS The English IReST texts were translated to Greek and matched for length, content, and linguistic difficulty. The Greek IReSTs were presented at a distance of 40 cm and size of 1 M to assess reading speeds of 25 normally sighted native speakers (age range, 18 to 35 years). The participants read the texts aloud while reading time was measured by stopwatch. Reading performance included measurement of reading speed in three units of analysis. Reading efficiency was assessed using a word-level oral reading task. Statistical analysis included evaluation of subject- and text-related variability, as well as correlations between reading speed and specific textual and subject-related factors. RESULTS The average reading speed between texts was 208 ± 24 words/min, 450 ± 24 syllables/min, and 1049 ± 105 characters/min. Differences between readers accounted for the 76.6%, whereas differences across texts accounted for the 23.4% of the total variability of reading speed. Word length (in syllables per word) and median word frequency showed a statistically significant contribution to the variability of reading speed (r = 0.95 and 0.70, respectively). Reading speed was also statistically correlated with word reading efficiency (r = 0.68). CONCLUSIONS The addition of the Greek version in the IReST language pack is expected to be a valuable tool for clinical practice and research, enriching interlanguage comparisons and international studies of reading performance.

Comparing Reading Speeds for Reading Standardized Single Sentences and Paragraphs in Patients with Maculopathy

“…All 10 paragraphs have the same length, difficulty, and linguistic complexity [12]. The same rules (same content, length, difficulty, and linguistic complexity) were applied to the additional 19 languages to make the texts comparable among languages for international studies [8,13]. Therefore, the findings based on the German texts used here are not limited to this language alone.…”

Efficacy οf Wet Age-related Macular Degeneration Treatment οn Reading: A Pilot Study Using Eye-movement Analysis

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“…Silent reading performance was evaluated with three reading cards, each displaying a passage of approximately 140 words, with a print size of 0.4 logMAR (at 40-cm distance), similar to the International Reading Speed Texts reading passages. 32,38 The cards were developed to assess reading behavior in Greek and had similar average word frequency and word length. Participants were instructed to read the text silently at a comfortable pace to understand the meaning of the passages and answer five simple multiple-choice questions.…”

“…7 Finally, functional reading was not assessed using formally standardized passages, such as the International Reading Speed Texts, which are now available in Greek. 38…”

Effectiveness of anti-VEGF treatment in wet Age-related Macular Degeneration; an evaluation of silent reading performance with eye movement analysis

“…Microperimetry 34 and functional tests which consider the AMD patients' slow information transfer rate 25 , may provide complementary indices of macular visual function and progression of the disease. Finally, functional reading was not assessed using formally standardized passages, such as IReST, which are now available in Greek 35 .…”