Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Apr;90(4):480-4.
doi: 10.1136/bjo.2005.087379.

New standardised texts for assessing reading performance in four European languages

G A Hahn  1 , D Penka, C Gehrlich, A Messias, M Weismann, L Hyvärinen, M Leinonen, M Feely, G Rubin, C Dauxerre, F Vital-Durand, S Featherston, K Dietz, S Trauzettel-Klosinski
Affiliations

New standardised texts for assessing reading performance in four European languages

G A Hahn et al. Br J Ophthalmol. 2006 Apr.

Abstract

Aims: To develop standardised texts for assessing reading speed during repeated measurements and across languages for normal subjects and low vision patients.

Methods: 10 texts were designed by linguistic experts in English, Finnish, French, and German. The texts were at the level of a sixth grade reading material (reading ages 10-12 years) and were matched for length (830 (plus or minus 2) characters) and syntactic complexity, according to the syntactic prediction locality theory of Gibson. 100 normally sighted native speaking volunteers aged 18-35 years (25 per language) read each text aloud in randomised order. The newly designed text battery was then applied to test the reading performance of 100 normally sighted native speaking volunteers aged 60-85 years (25 per language).

Results: Reading speed was not significantly different with at least seven texts in all four languages. The maximum reading speed difference between texts, in the same language was 6.8% (Finnish). Average reading speeds (SD) in characters per minute are, for the young observer group: English 1234 (147), Finnish 1263 (142), French 1214 (152), German 1126 (105). The group of older readers showed statistically significant lower average reading speeds: English 951 (97), Finnish 1014 (179), French 1131 (160), German 934 (117).

Conclusion: The authors have developed a set of standardised, homogeneous, and comparable texts in four European languages (English, Finnish, French, German). These texts will be a valuable tool for measuring reading speed in international studies in the field of reading and low vision research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no commercial interests.

References

    1. Aulhom E. Fixation width and fixation frequency of the contours presented in reading. Pflügers Arch Physiol 1953257318–328. - PubMed
    1. McConkie G W, Rayner K. The span of the effective stimulus during a fixation in reading. Percept Psychophys 197517578–586.
    1. Rayner K, Well A D, Pollatsek A. The availability of useful information to the right of fixation in reading. Percept Psychophys 198231537–550. - PubMed
    1. Trauzettel‐Klosinski S. The significance of the central visual field for reading ability and the value of perimetry for its assessment. In: Wall M, Heijl A, eds. Perimetry update. Amsterdam, New York: Kugler, 1997417–426.
    1. Trauzettel‐Klosinski S, Laubengaier C, Sadowski B.et al The significance of visual acuity and magnification need for the reading ability of low vision patients. Z Prakt Augenheilkd 200021529–533.

Publication types