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DEVELOPMENT OF A “QUASIWORDS” TEST FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF READING DIFFICULTIES IN ADULTS WITH DYSLEXIA

Pedagogy and Education , UDC: 378.14+376.3 DOI: 10.24412/2076-9121-2026-1-22-37

Authors

  • Kiseleva Natalia Yu. PhD in Pedagogy, Associate Professor
  • Lapina Daria A.

Annotation

Quasiwords and quasitexts are artificially created language constructs used in psycholinguistic and pedagogical research. Foreign diagnostic tools for identifying dyslexia in adults traditionally include tasks with quasiwords (e.g., the TOWRE, GORT, DAST, TLPP tests, and the Alouette dyslexia screening). The inclusion of quasiword processing tasks in diagnostic toolkits is relevant due to their capacity to create ideal experimental conditions by eliminating word guessing. For a project studying the written language characteristics of Russian-speaking adults, we developed the “quasiwords” test, which comprises two subtests. This article details the linguistic features of the test’s lexical material. The initial pilot of this diagnostic tool took place in 2024–2025 at the Center for Adults with Dyslexia at Moscow City University. Participants included respondents with typical psychoverbal development (TD; n = 23; M = 25.5 years) and individuals with developmental dyslexia (DD; n = 7; M = 29.1 years). Results from the first subtest analysis showed a significant difference in reading speed and accuracy between the TD and DD groups; however, the typology of errors did not differ between the two groups. Analysis of the scores from the second subtest indicates that performance depends more on the participants’ linguistic abilities than on dyslexia-related reading difficulties. The “quasiwords” test demonstrates its value for identifying specific features of word perception and decoding during reading, which will further expand the understanding of profiles of Russian-speaking adults with developmental dyslexia and help outline pathways for correcting reading difficulties.
Tags:
developmental dyslexia , diagnostic tool development , pseudowords , quasitext , reading characteristics

How to link insert

Kiseleva, N. Y. & Lapina, D. A. (2026). DEVELOPMENT OF A “QUASIWORDS” TEST FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF READING DIFFICULTIES IN ADULTS WITH DYSLEXIA Bulletin of the Moscow City Pedagogical University. Series "Pedagogy and Psychology", 20 (1), 22. https://doi.org/10.24412/2076-9121-2026-1-22-37
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