Text Structures Affect Reading Speed

The objective of this study was to investigate how the text structures affect reading speed among the same participants. Two types of text structures were used. The first text structure (TS1) had a total of 84 words that is formed by 14 separate sentences with 6 words in each sentence (3-words per line). The second text structure (TS2) was written as a 100-words passage with 10 continuous sentences. The average words in TS2 were 3 to 15 words per sentence. The sentences were constructed in the Malay language and words were selected from the Malay textbook under The Malaysia Ministry of Education (MMOE). Twenty-five participants were asked to read aloud both text structures at random. Time to complete both texts was measured with a stopwatch and recorded using audiotape. The error was noted in the recording sheet to check if there were any omission, repetition, addition or misreading of words. Reading speed was calculated as words per minute (wpm). Mean reading speed in for TS1 was found to be faster than TS2 (t=10.61, p 0.01). In conclusion, text structures might affect reading speed among Malay-native speakers. Therefore, it is important to consider text structure in designing the reading material for evaluation and monitoring the reading and vision for rehabilitation.