Abstract
Reading proficiency, i.e., successfully integrating early word-based information and utilizing this information in later processes of sentence and text comprehension, and its assessment is subject to extensive research. However, screening tests for German adults across the life span are basically non-existent. Therefore, the present article introduces a standardized computerized sentence-based screening measure for German adult readers to assess reading proficiency including norm data from 2,148 participants covering an age range from 16 to 88 years. The test was developed in accordance with the children’s version of the Salzburger LeseScreening (SLS, Wimmer and Mayringer, 2014). The SLS-Berlin has a high reliability and can easily be implemented in any research setting using German language. We present a detailed description of the test and report the distribution of SLS-Berlin scores for the norm sample as well as for two subsamples of younger (below 60 years) and older adults (60 and older). For all three samples, we conducted regression analyses to investigate the relationship between sentence characteristics and SLS-Berlin scores. In a second validation study, SLS-Berlin scores were compared with two (pseudo)word reading tests, a test measuring attention and processing speed and eye-movements recorded during expository text reading. Our results confirm the SLS-Berlin’s sensitivity to capture early word decoding and later text related comprehension processes. The test distinguished very well between skilled and less skilled readers and also within less skilled readers and is therefore a powerful and efficient screening test for German adults to assess interindividual levels of reading proficiency.
Highlights
Reading and comprehending written words and texts is an essential skill for an active and selfdetermined participation in everyday life
The most common standardized screening procedures applied in reading research and educational settings focus mainly at the first two levels, i.e., reading abilities of participants are assessed via tests, which are based on recognizing words/naming letter strings [e.g., SLRT-II (Moll and Landerl, 2010), TOWRE (Torgesen et al, 2012)] or on answering comprehension questions related to text passages [e.g., Nelson-Denny Reading Test (Brown et al, 1993), ELFE-II (Lenhard et al, 2018)]
The aim of the present paper is to introduce a standardized computerized sentence-based screening measure for German adult readers, which can be implemented in any research setting in German orthography and which provides norms for reading proficiency based on 2,148 participants
Summary
Reading and comprehending written words and texts is an essential skill for an active and selfdetermined participation in everyday life. Successful reading includes basic decoding skills, often investigated by means of single word recognition (e.g., Jacobs and Grainger, 1994; Ziegler et al, 2001) It relies on higher cognitive processes such as integration of syntax and general. The importance for investigating reading abilities with words, sentences and texts is reflected in the number of well-established and broadly used tests that exist for English-speaking research participants These existing tests cover all three levels and offer norm data for the whole life span (e.g., Woodcock-Johnson IV: Tests of Cognitive Abilities, Nelson-Denny Reading Test). When it comes to German-speaking participants, there is an apparent lack of comparable screening measures, especially when considering younger and older adults. The aim of the present paper is to introduce a standardized computerized sentence-based screening measure for German adult readers (ages: 16–88 years), which can be implemented in any research setting in German orthography and which provides norms for reading proficiency based on 2,148 participants
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