Validation of the Norwegian International Reading Speed Texts (IReST) in adult readers with normal vision

Dan A. Nachtnebel; Helle K. Falkenberg

doi:10.15626/sjovs.v17i1.4102

Authors

Dan A. Nachtnebel
Helle K. Falkenberg https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7532-442X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15626/sjovs.v17i1.4102

Keywords:

reading speed, paragraph reading, reading performance, sentences, text reading, reading test

Abstract

There is a lack of standardised reading tests in Norwegian suitable for adults and persons with visual impairment (VI). The International Reading Speed Texts (IReST) measure reading performance of longer paragraphs. The aim of this project was to translate and validate the IReST in Norwegian. Each of the German, English and Swedish IReST were translated into Norwegian. The translations were matched for length, linguistic difficulty, and structure, and piloted in five adults. Reading speed was assessed in 25 readers (41 years, SD = 10) with normal vision and the readings were recorded. Reading speeds were analysed for variability between texts and participants. There were no statistically significant differences between the ten texts (135 words, 765 characters [SD=18], word variation index 91.8% [SD = 0.9%]). Reading speed in adult readers was 204 (SD=31) words/min. There was no difference across texts for any of the participants (p>0.05). Reading speed variance was 77.4% between subjects and 22.6% between texts. The Norwegian IReST is standardised and comparable to the international IReST tests. Reading speed falls within normative values in adult readers. The Norwegian IReST will be a valuable tool in assessing reading in clinical health care, rehabilitation and educational practice of adult and visually impaired readers and in reading research.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Altpeter, E., Marx, T., Nguyen, N., Naumann, A., & Trauzettel-Klosinski, S. (2015). Measurement of reading speed with standardized texts: A comparison of single sentences and paragraphs. Albrecht von Graæes Archiv für Ophthalmologie, 253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-015-3065-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-015-3065-4

Anderson, J. (1983). Lix and Rix: Variations on a Little-known Readability Index. Journal of Reading, 26(6), 490–496. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40031755

Björnsson, C. H. (1983). Readability of newspapers in 11 languages. Reading Research Quarterly, 18(4), 480–497. https://doi.org/10.2307/747382 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/747382

Brussee, T., van Nispen, R. M. A., & van Rens, G. H. M. B. (2014). Measurement properties of continuous text reading performance tests. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 34(6), 636–657. https://doi.org/10.1111/opo.12158 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/opo.12158

Carver, R. P. (1992). Reading rate: Theory, research, and practical implications. Journal of Reading, 36(2), 84–95.

Chung, S. T. L., Legge, G. E., Pelli, D. G., & Yu, C. (2019). Visual factors in reading. Vision Research, 161, 60–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2019.06.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2019.06.002

Elliott, D. B., Trukolo-Ilic, M., Strong, J. G., Pace, R., Plotkin, A., & Bevers, P. (1997). Demographic characteristics of the vision-disabled elderly. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 38 (12), 2566–75.

Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A. G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behaviour Research Methods, 39(2), 175–91. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03193146 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193146

Gibson, E. (1998). Linguistic complexity: Locality of syntactic dependencies. Cognition, 68 (1), 1–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(98)00034-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(98)00034-1

Gibson, E. (2000). The dependency locality theory: A distance-based theory of linguistic complexity. In Image, language, brain: Papers from the first mind articulation project symposium (pp. 94–126). DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/3654.003.0008

Gleni, A., Ktistakis, E., Tsilimbaris, M. K., Simos, P., Trauzettel-Klosinski, S., & Plainis, S. (2019). Assessing variability in reading performance with the New Greek Standardized Reading Speed Texts (IReST). Optometry and Vision Science, 96 (10), 761–767. https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000001434 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000001434

Hahn, G. A., Penka, D., Gehrlich, C., Messias, A., Weismann, M., Hyvärinen, L., Leinonen, M., Feely, M., Rubin, G., Dauxerre, C., Vital-Durand, F., Featherston, S., Dietz, K., & Trauzettel-Klosinski, S. (2006). New standardised texts for assessing reading performance in four European languages. The British Journal of Ophthalmology, 90 (4), 480–484. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo.2005.087379 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo.2005.087379

Hazel, C. A., Petre, K. L., Armstrong, R. A., Benson, M. T., & Frost, N. A. (2000). Visual function and subjective quality of life compared in subjects with acquired macular disease. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 41(6), 1309–1315.

Kaiser, P. K. (2009). Prospective evaluation of visual acuity assessment: A comparison of snellen versus etdrs charts in clinical practice (an AOS thesis). Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society, 14.

Kaltenegger, K., Kuester, S., Altpeter-Ott, E., Eschweiler, G. W., Cordey, A., Ivanov, I. V., Martus, P., Knipp, C., & Trauzettel-Klosinski, S. (2019). Effects of home reading training on reading and quality of life in AMD — a randomized and controlled study. Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, 257 (7), 1499–1512. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-019-04328-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-019-04328-9

Kang, H. (2021). Sample size determination and power analysis using the G*Power software. Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions, 18, 17. https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2021.18.17 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2021.18.17

Lamoureux, E. L., Pallant, J. F., Pesudovs, K., Rees, G., Hassell, J. B., & Keeffe, J. E. (2007). The effectiveness of low-vision rehabilitation on participation in daily living and quality of life. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 48(4), 1476–82. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.06-0610 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.06-0610

Legge, G. E., Ross, J. A., Isenberg, L. M., & LaMay, J. M. (1992). Psychophysics of reading. Clinical predictors of low-vision reading speed. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 33(3), 677–687.

Legge, G. E. (2006). Psychophysics of reading in normal and low vision. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781482269482

Legge, G. E. (2016). Reading digital with low vision. Visible Language, 50(2), 102–125.

Lovie–Kitchin, J. (2011). Reading with low vision: The impact of research on clinical management. Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 94(2), 121–132. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1444-0938.2010.00565.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1444-0938.2010.00565.x

Messias, A., Cruz, e. A. A. V., Schallenmüller, S. J., & Trauzettel-Klosinski, S. (2008). Textos padronizados em Português (BR) para medida da velocidade de leitura: Comparação com quatro idiomas europeus. Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia, 71(4), 553–558. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0004-27492008000400016 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0004-27492008000400016

Mitzner, T. L., & Rogers, W. A. (2006). Reading in the dark: Effects of age and contrast on reading speed and comprehension. Human Factors, 48(2), 229–240. https://doi.org/10.1518/001872006777724372 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1518/001872006777724372

Morrice, E., Hughes, J., Stark, Z., Wittich, W., & Johnson, A. (2020). Validation of the International Reading Speed Texts in a Canadian sample. Optometry and Vision Science, 97(7), 509–517. https://doi.org/10.1097/opx.0000000000001538 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000001538

Morrice, E., Soldano, V., Addona, C., Murphy, C. E., & Johnson, A. P. (2021). Validation of the International Reading Speed Texts in a sample of older (60+) Canadian adults. Optometry and Vision Science, 98(8), 971–975. https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000001746 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000001746

Nachtnebel, D. A. (2023). Oversettelse og pilotering av lesetesten IReST [Master’s thesis, University of South-Eastern Norway]. https://openarchive.usn.no/usn- xmlui/handle/11250/2835867

Nachtnebel, D. A., & Falkenberg, H. K. (2023). Validation of the Norwegian International Reading Speed Texts (IReST) in a sample of adult readers with normal and low vision. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 64(8), 2802–2802.

Nordtømme, C. K. (2023). Lesbarhets-kalkulator (LIKS). Retrieved December 1, 2023, from https://skriftlig.no/liks/

Precision Vision. (2021). IReST - International Reading Speed Texts - In Multiple Languages. Retrieved December 1, 2023, from https://precision-vision.com/products/visual-acuity-reading-charts/reading-charts/hand-held-reading-charts/irest-international-reading-speed-texts-in-multiple-languages/

Radner, W. (2017). Reading charts in ophthalmology. Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, 255(8), 1465–1482. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-017-3659-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-017-3659-0

Rolle, T., Dallorto, L., Cafasso, R., Mazzocca, R., Curto, D., & Nuzzi, R. (2019). Reading ability in primary open-angle glaucoma: Evaluation with Radner Reading Charts. Optometry and Vision Science, 96(1), 55–61. https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000001319 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000001319

Rubin, G. S. (2013). Measuring reading performance. Vision Research, 90, 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2013.02.015 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visres.2013.02.015

Trauzettel-Klosinski, S., & Dietz, K. (2012). Standardized assessment of reading performance: The new International Reading Speed Texts IReST. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 53(9), 5452. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.11-8284 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.11-8284

Wang, R., Zeng, L., Zhang, X., Mondal, S., & Zhao, Y. (2023). Understanding how low vision people read using eye tracking. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’23). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581213 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581213

World Medical Association. (2013). World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. JAMA, 310(20), 2191–2194. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.281053 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.281053