Young adults with dyslexia and their ability to identify stressed syllables within a poetry task

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to compare the abilities of young adults with and without a dyslexia diagnosis to accurately identify lexical stress in the context of poetry, including nursery rhymes. Review of the literature displays phonological deficits and oral reading deficits prolonging into adulthood for people with a childhood dyslexia status. Thirty-eight young adults completed the task, 15 of whom reported a history of dyslexia. Materials for stress marking included nursery rhymes like “Mary, Mary quite contrary” and “Little Jack Horner”, as well as portions of the poems “The Princess” by Alfred Lord Tennyson and “Country Music” by Michael Robbins. Overall accuracy for the task was 72.2% accuracy, indicating that it was generally difficult for all participants. Although the task was not a statistically significant predictor of dyslexia status, a stepwise regression indicated that oral reading fluency was significantly related to participant’s performance. Oral language was also implicated via participants’ scores on the CELF-5 Word Definitions task. Sensitivity to lexical stress may help understand oral reading fluency and the abilities of adults with dyslexia.