DIAGNOSTIC SPELLING TEST – S

1 DIAGNOSTIC Reading Test for Nonwords (DiRT) Colenbrander, D., Kohnen, S., & Nickels, L. DIAGNOSTIC READING TEST for NONWORDS Materials 1 instruction sheet 1 scoring sheet 1 error analysis sheet 108 flashcards (105 test items, 2 practice items, 1 red card) Instructions Say, I am going to show you some made-up words. They are not real words but you can still read them. I want you to read them out loud to me. Do your best to read every word. We ll do a practice word first. Are you ready? If child indicates they are ready, say Okay, read this word, and administer the first practice item.

2 Corrective feedback may be given for the practice items and prompting should be used where necessary (see below). If the child reads the first practice item correctly on the first try, begin administering the test, saying Now I m going to get you to read some more made-up words. This time I won t tell you how you went, but I still want you to do your best to read every word. If you need a break from reading, you can hold up this red card (give child red card). But you can only use the red card twice, so make sure you really need a break before you use it.

3 Okay, here s the first word . If the child needs prompting to read the first practice item correctly, administer the second practice item. If the child reads the second practice item correctly (with or without prompting), administer the test as above. If the child is unable to read the practice items correctly even with prompting, administer the first five items of the test. If the child is unable to read any GPCs correctly in the first five items, discontinue testing. Prompting: If the child does not respond for more than 5 seconds, point to the word and ask the child What do you think this word is?

4 If the child still does not respond, move on to the next item. If you can't understand the child's response, prompt them (before they read the next item) to try and read the nonwords as clearly as they can. Ask them to re-read the item you couldn't understand at the end of the test. If the child reads the nonwords as if they were real words (for example, reads zair as hair ), or appears to be guessing, say Remember these are not real words, but you can still read them. Try to read the next one. If the child sounds out the nonwords but does not blend the sounds to form a word, say Try to join the sounds together to form a word.

5 Feedback: No corrective feedback should be given during test items. Stopping Rule: Unless children are unable to read any GPCs correctly in the practice items and first five testing items (see above), there is no stopping rule and DIAGNOSTIC Reading Test for Nonwords (DiRT) Colenbrander, D., Kohnen, S., & Nickels, L. all items must be administered. However, testing may be carried out over two or three shorter sessions where necessary. If a child seems fatigued or is losing concentration, remind them they can use their red card. If a child uses their red card very early in the test or at a time that seems inappropriate, ask Are you sure you want to use your red card now?

6 Remember you can only use it twice. When the child uses their red card, they can be given a break of up to five minutes, or testing can be resumed at another time. Of course, the child can also be given breaks at your discretion (for example if they seem fatigued or are having difficulty concentrating). Scoring Transcribe the child s responses in the spaces provided on the scoring sheet. The child s response is considered correct if it matches the pronunciation printed on the scoring sheet. The child should not be penalised for variations in pronunciation due to speech impediments or regional accent variation, but other deviations from the pronunciation guide should be considered incorrect.

7 Tick or circle the SPELLING -sound correspondences (grapheme-phoneme correspondences, or GPCs) that the child read correctly. If all GPCs in a word are read correctly, place a tick in the Accuracy column. Insertions and Omissions If a child inserts a letter into a nonword (for example, reading plar as splar ), record the letter that was inserted in the Addition column. Give credit for any GPC rules that are read correctly but mark the nonword as incorrect. If unsure whether or not a child knows a rule, check whether they read the rule correctly in other contexts. If a child omits a letter (for example, naint read as nait ), mark the nonword as incorrect and do not give credit for the omitted rule.

8 When deciding whether or not to give credit for the rules in the nonword that were not omitted, check whether they were read correctly in other contexts. Lexicalisation If a child reads a nonword as a real word (for example, leng read as length), mark the nonword as incorrect. When deciding whether or not to give credit for the rules in the nonword that were read correctly, check whether they were read correctly in other contexts. If a child makes frequent lexicalisation errors, it may indicate that the child has difficulties using the sublexical route to reading.

9 Error Analysis The error analysis sheet contains a list of all the GPCs. Beside each GPC are the numbers of the items containing the GPC. Circle the GPCs that the child read incorrectly and write down the child s response. If a child makes more than one error on a particular GPC, we suggest that rule be treated. DIAGNOSTIC Reading Test for Nonwords (DiRT) Colenbrander, D., Kohnen, S., & Nickels, L. SCORING SHEET Participant: Date: Examiner: School Year: Age: Comments: Tick as appropriate No. Pronun-ciation IPA Item Rhymes with Response Initial GPC Initial GPC Cluster Medial GPC Final GPC Final GPC Cluster Addition Accuracy (whole item)

10 1 m g mig pig m i g 2 k m coom room c oo m 3 w b wib nib w i b 4 h s hass mass h a ss 5 t tay day t ay 6 o t ort short or t 7 eg jeg beg j e g 8 b k bock rock b o ck 9 ze zair hair z air 10 le leng n/a l e ng 11 krek creck deck c r e ck 12 s n sanch ranch s a n ch 13 r radge badge r a dge 14 bl m bloam roam b l oa m 15 ks thax tracks th a x 16 z k zake rake z k 17 ve vair hair v air 18 f p phape cape ph p 19 splo k splawk walk s p l aw k 20 z zay day z ay 21 g garge large g ar ge 22 j b yurb herb y ur b 23 n l nulch mulch n u l ch 24 stri b streab Glebe s t r ea b 25 pri m preme stream p r m 26 n nt naint taint n ai n t 27 do n doign join d oi gn 28 ni b knebe Glebe kn b 29 ke m cairm n/a c air m 30 gi d gead bead g ea d 31 h g hirg berg h ir g 32 fi m pheem steam ph ee m 33 dw t dwert squirt d w er t 34 g d gud mud g u d 35 ri v wreve leave wr v 36 di ks deeks speaks