CERT: CALCULATOR TO ESTIMATE READING TIME

CERT: Calculators/Chart to Estimate Reading Time for People with Albinism

Mai Shihah Abdullah, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak, Malaysia

Abstract

People with albinism (PWA) are stigmatized as legally blind, photophobia, slow learner, and low achiever individuals. The most prevalent factor contributing to their low achievement is derived from their reading speed which is slower compared to the normal individuals (NI). 50 of each normal individuals with 6/6 visual acuity and PWAs were chosen as respondents prior to eye screening using Snellen chart. They were asked to read unstructured texts written using font size 12 (tf12) and 14 (tf14). The same procedure was repeated by utilizing low visual aid (tf12w and tf14w) to assist their readings. Reading speed for all readings was recorded. Average reading speed for normal individuals was recorded at 112.93 words per minute (wpm) using tf12 and 117.48 wpm for tf14. Among PWAs, the reading speed for tf14w was 81.08 wpm and 66.77 wpm without. The reading speed for tf12w was 71.14 wpm and 58.29 wpm without. The findings in this study showed that if a PWA used tf12 without visual aid, an additional 95% of the time given to NI should be added. For tf12 and with visual aid, she/he needed an additional time of approximately 60%. If tf14 without visual aid is used, an increment of 77% should be provided. If interventions with both tf 14 and visual aid are given there should be an increase of 45%.Taking all (normal individual’s reading speed, degree of interventions given to PWAs) into account; CERT (Calculator/Chart to Estimate Reading Time) was invented to facilitate the calculation for the extra time allocation. This is recommended as one of the interventions to assist PWAs. CERT based on font size, 12 or 14 are also available in chart form to be used manually. CERT, a computer-aided tool is a paperless instrument, light adjusted as to ease reading for people with albinism, fast-result and user-friendly. CERT could be extended for other purposes.

Introduction

Albinism is a group of rare inherited disorders characterized by partial or total lack of melanin pigments in the skin, hair and/or eyes. The technical term for albinism is Ocular Cutaneous Albinism (OCA); the eye is affected, resulting in loss of melanin pigmentation in the iris and retina, and the skin and hair appear white at birth. There is another uncommon form, Ocular Albinism (OA), which involves the eyes. The skin and hair appear the same or just slightly lighter than that of other family members who do not have albinism. Both parents must have the defective gene to have a child who has OCA. When both parents are carriers but do not have OCA, there is a one in four chance the child will have OCA. We have two copies of a gene - one inherited from our father, and another from our mother. There is a gene to make melanin. As the defective melanin gene that carries the albinism trait is considered a recessive gene, having only one copy of it means the individual will not exhibit albinism. But the person will carry the albinism trait, which can be passed down to his or her offspring.

People with albinism (PWA) intelligences’ are within the normal range as the normal persons, although infants with albinism may seem a little slower at first because of the visual problems with which they later to cope. The lack of pigments in the eye has its associated problems. Among them are nystagmus (involuntary movement of the eyes, usually from side to side, up and down, or in a circular motion); photophobia (sensitivity to bright lights; because the iris and retina lack pigments, they are translucent and too much light gets in); and optic nerve problems that give rise to spatial problems. These problems contributed to their reading speed ability which is slower than the normal individuals.

Extra time should be considered to be awarded to these children for exams. It should be calculated based on the norm of reading time among PWAs in Malaysia. Therefore, this study is spearheading into estimating reading time for PWAs.

Literature Review

Studies by Mai Shihah and Julismah were carried out from 2005 to 2008, focused on the prevalence of albinism, public perception, and the academic and economic status of PWAs. The prevalence study shows an estimated 1,200 PWAs in the country; most of their parents are not PWAs. Many of them can be found in villages in Kelantan, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Sabah.

For PWAs in the 40 to 60 age group, only a few had Lower Secondary Certificate of Education as their highest academic qualification. Most were illiterate. Those between 30 and 39 years old fared better; some even had tertiary qualifications.

Most people with albinism can be considered legally blind. Their vision can be corrected with aids to, at best, 20/200. They are either short-sighted or long-sighted and this can be slightly corrected with tinted lenses for photophobia. For some, the nystagmus can be corrected with surgery. PWAs have a different perception of color and contrast and their central vision is not good. But for most their peripheral vision is good and this enables them to move around normally.

For reading, they can use magnifying glasses (for up close) and telescopes (for distance). In the west, there are bioptics glasses with small telescopes mounted on. These aids help PWAs with their schooling and careers.

In Malaysia, most of the PWA students are sent to a school for the blind despite to go to a normal school. Although they are visually impaired and low vision individuals but PWAs have some vision, so their sense of touch is not as developed as a blind person’s. The students found it very difficult to pick up Braille and could not fit in (Mai Shihah and Julismah, 2008). Both researchers also points out PWAs could use the buddy system. A student could be assigned to copy notes from the board and pass a carbon copy to the PWA student.

Studies on speed reading in Malaysia are very scarce. Mai Shihah Abdullah, Salahuddin Jusoh, Mohammad Harris Ayob and Siti Sarah Mahmod (2006) reported reading speed among the form four students (aged 16 years old), with good eye sight (6/6 or better) is at the range of 180 to 240 wpm. Zainora and Rokiah (2004) evaluated reading speed among low visual students and found out that it ranged between 70 to 136 wpm.

Although there are numerous intervention guidelines to help the PWAs but extra time allocation is implemented in Malaysia as low visual aids are still considered expensive items. Currently PWAs are only given an additional 30 minutes for each exam paper, compared to what is allocated for a Malaysian PWA who studied in England. She was given an extra 30 minutes for every hour of exam time, and rest time of 15 minutes in between.

Therefore, this study is carried to derive a formula to calculate extra time for PWAs.

Methodology

120 normal individuals and 50 PWAs were screened for their visual acuity using Snellen chart. Normal individuals with 6/6 visual acuity or better were chosen as respondents. Fifty PWAs and normal respondents each were tested for their reading speed using 30 words/66 syllables/88 alphabets text with various font size invented by Mai Shihah (2005). They were asked to read the unstructured text with font size 12 followed by font size 14 (Figure 1). Next, the same procedure was repeated and they were allowed to use their low visual aid. The reading time taken was converted into reading speed; syllables per minute (spm) and words per minute (wpm). Color blindness test was also carried out.

Figure 1 Reading speed test on one of the PWAs

Results and Discussions

None of the PWAs were found to be color-blind and their visual acuity is at the range of 9/60 and 36/60 with an average of 24/60 (Table 1).

Reading speed based on spm was found to be highly correlated to wpm (r= 0.98, p=.000). Therefore, wpm is used through out this paper.

The average reading speed among the normal individuals was recorded at 112.93 wpm (tf12) and 117.48 wpm (tf14). For the PWAs, the average reading speed was 71.14 wpm (tf12w) and 81.08 wpm (tf14w). Reading speed without the visual aid decreased at 58.29 wpm (tf12) and 66.77 wpm (tf14). It was clearly shown that PWAs’ reading speed determined in this study is much lower than data presented by Mai Shihah et al. (2006) (range of 180 to 240 wpm), but closer to data described by Zainora and Rokiah (2004) with the range of 70 to 136 wpm evaluated on low visual students.

Table 1

Visual acuity among PWAs

Visual acuity	Left eye	Right Eye	Average
9/60	5 (10%)	5 (10%)	24/60
18/60	7 (14%)	7 (14%)
24/60	28 (56%)	28 (56%)
36/60	10 (20%)	10 (20%)
Total	50	50

Reading speeds for PWAs were shown in Table 2. The best average reading speed among the PWAs were determined at 81.08 wpm (tf14w), followed with 71.14 wpm (tf12w). As expected, their reading speed was the slowest at 51.6% of NI reading speed when tf12 and no visual aids were used.

A sample to calculate an additional time for PWAs with 60 wpm compared to a normal individual with 150 wpm reading speed when text with 500 words, font size 12 and no visual aid is used:

A normal individual with 150 wpm reading ability requires (500 words /150 wpm x 60 s) = 200 s

A PWA requires: 200 s + (94.15% of 200 s) = 200 + 188.3 s = 388.3 s

The findings in this study showed that if a PWA used tf12 without visual aid, an additional time of 95% should be given. For tf12 and with visual aid, she/he needed an additional time of approximately 60%. If tf14 without visual aid is used, an increment of 77% should be provided. If interventions with both tf 14 and visual aid are given there should be an increase of 45% of the time given to the normal individuals.

Subsequently CERT (Calculator/Chart for Estimated Reading Time) as illustrated in Figure 1(a, b) a software invented by Mai Shihah (2009) to estimate the reading time by considering the additional time required by PWAs compared to the normal individuals.

Reading speed instrument (Mai Shihah, 2005) as featured in Figure 2 (a, b) is administered to determine the reading speed. It was developed using both Malay and English languages. In the intervening time, more languages are being added such as Semai, for the use of the Malaysian indigenous; Mandarin to be employed by the Malaysian Chinese and Tamil, to be utilized by the Malaysian Hindus.

Table 2

Reading speeds Comparisons and Conversions

Font size	Visual aid	Average Reading speed for NI	Average Reading speed for PWAs	Reading Time difference /word (NI and PWAs)	PWAs Reading speed ability	Estimated Reading time for PWA
12	without	112.93 wpm (0.53 s / word)	58.29 wpm (1.029 s / word)	1.029 – 0.53 s = 0.499 s (94.15% extra time )	51.6% of NI reading speed	(time required for NI’s at X speed reading + 94.15% extra reading time)
	with	-	71.14 (0.84 s / word)	0.84 – 0.53 s = 0.31 s (58.49% extra time)	62.99% of NI reading speed	(time required for NI’s at X speed reading + 58.49% of extra reading time)
14	without	117.48 (0.51 s /word)	66.77 (0.899 s / word)	0.899 – 0.51 s = 0.389 s (76.27% extra time)	56.84% of NI reading speed	(time required for NI’s at X speed reading + 76.27% of extra reading time)
	with	-	81.08 (0.74 s / word)	0.74 – 0.51 s = 0.23 (45.09% extra time)	69.02% of NI reading speed	(time required for NI’s at X speed reading + 45.09% of extra reading time)

a b

Figure 1 (a, b) Introduction to CERT

a b

Figure 2 (a, b) Reading Speed Instrument (Mai Shihah, 2005)

Then time taken in the reading test is keyed in the provided calculator (Figure 3) to compute the estimated reading time versus the number of words used in the text.

Figure 3 Estimated Reading Time Calculators

CERT based on font size, 12 or 14 are also available in chart form to be operated manually (Figure 4).

Figure 4 Estimated Reading Time Chart

Students could be evaluated on their understanding based on their reading speed by using the comprehension test provided. The sample test is as shown in Figure 5 (a, b, and c).

a b

Figure 5 (a and b) Comprehension Text and Estimated Reading Speed

c

Figure 5 (c) Comprehension Test and Score

Besides the PWAs, CERT is also recommended to be extended its usage in other areas. Currently in Malaysia, both Mathematics and Science subjects are taught in English, which is a foreign and a second language to Malays, third to Malaysian Chinese and Indians. It is recommended estimation for additional reading time for students to attempt questions in English could be done easily by using CERT. CERT is also currently used to estimate reading time for the Malaysian Orang Asli (indigenous) to compare the time span between texts read in their language to Malays language as well as in English. Besides, it is also thought to be an alternative intervention to assist other special need children.

A 90 s allocation time to prepare one objective question has long been a gold standard for teachers in Malaysia regardless the number of words used. CERT could be recommended to aid pre service teachers to estimate a more realistic time provision for paper set in the examinations based on word count and the student’s reading speed ability. CERT would certainly bring the future classroom into today’s classroom when every child is tailored to his/her personal needs.

Conclusion

Reading time for PWAs is found to be far longer than what is thought before. Reading estimation for the PWAs is calculated based on the font size and utilization of the visual aid for reading could easily be done facilitated by a software namely CERT. It is a new tool to be utilized by teachers and school administrators to allocate extra time for PWAs each child during examinations. The thirty minutes policy is obsolete and not applicable anymore.

References

Mai Shihah Abdullah and Julismah Jani (2004). Prevalens dan profil akademik penghidap albinisme di Malaysia. Prosiding Seminar Pendidikan Khas (Jilid 2): 338 -353. Fakulti Pendidikan, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi.

Mai Shihah Abdullah and Julismah Jani (2005). Albinism in Malaysia. A paper presented at Albinism World Alliance Conference. Edinburgh. United Kingdom.

Mai Shihah Abdullah, Julismah Jani, Cham Jia Li and Chow Poh Kheng (2005). Albinisme: Tanggapan masyarakat Malaysia dan profil sosio-ekonomi. Prosiding Seminar Pendidikan JPPG 2005: 688 – 697. Universiti Sains Malaysia. Pulau Pinang.

Mai Shihah Abdullah, Salahuddin Jusoh, Mohammad Harris Ayob and Siti Sarah Mahmod. (2006). Pencapaian akademik: hubungan status penglihatan dan kebolehan bacaan pantas pelajar. A paper presented at 2^nd International UPI – UPSI Conference, Bandong, Indonesia.

Mai Shihah Abdullah and Julismah Jani (2008). Allergy and reading speed among people with albinism. A paper presented at 2^nd Albinism Fellowship of Australia Conference. Adelaide, Australia.

Mai Shihah Abdullah (2009). CERT: Calculator/Chart for estimated reading time. An invention exhibited at 8^th Malaysian invention and innovation awards 2009. Kuala Lumpur.

Zainora Mohamed and Rokiah Omar (2004). Prestasi Membaca dan hubungkait dengan penglihatan di kalangan pelajar sekolah pendidikan khas (masalah penglihatan). Prosiding Seminar Kebangsaan Pendidikan Khas Kejayaan Kanak-kanak Berkeperluan Khas: Perkongsian Bersama: (Jilid 1). Bangi: Fakulti Pendidikan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.