Research Paper: The Impact of Word Regularity on the Reading of Normal and Aphasic Gilak-Persian Adults

Background: Various factors influence the natural processing of words. The present studysought to investigate the effect of the regularity variable on the reading of words.Objectives: The participants in the study were 50 normal and 5 aphasic people (of Broca,transcortical motor and conduction aphasia types) who were selected through conveniencesampling method.Materials & Methods: It was a quantitative study with quasi-experimental design. In thisresearch, reading aloud subtest of the test 53 of the Psycholinguistic Assessment of LanguageProcessing in Aphasia (PALPA) battery of tests was nativized and used. First, the mean andstandard deviation was computed for the test scores of the two groups of participants (i.e. normaland aphasics). Regarding the aphasics’ data, after verifying their normality of distribution byKolmogorov-Smirnov Test, paired samples t-test was used to compare the mean scores on theresults of the test on regular and exception words.Results: Since normal subjects scored a perfect grade (SD=0), it was found that the regularityvariable had no effect on the reading process in these individuals. Based on the results of pairedsamples t-test in the aphasic subjects (P=0.25), it was found that the regularity variable in theseindividuals has no effect on their reading process, too.Conclusion: The evidence from the present study shows that the word regularity has noimpact on the reading of words in both normal and aphasic adults. The theoretical and clinicalimplications of the findings would be discussed.

Keywords:

Aphasia , Reading , Language