Recent updates from the MOTIf team
Updated norms for DISTi and DISTn - Fri 30th May 2014
New PDFs and updated norms for the DISTi and DISTn.
Test of Everyday Reading Comprehension (TERC) - our third automated test - Thu 13th Feb 2014
Today we are proud to announce the launch the Test of Everyday Reading Comprehension. This can now be run online or from the supplied PDFs.
Read more on the TERC homepage.
The Letter Position Test (LetPos) - Wed 12th Feb 2014
Today we are delighted to launch the Letter Position Test (LetPos).
Editable Itemised Results & Pronunciations (CC2) - Fri 4th Oct 2013
Today we released three new features which we hope will help you manage your CC2 results: editable itemised results, pronunciation notes and skipped words.
Editable itemised results
You can now amend the CC2 itemised results - in case you logged the wrong result during the test. The results summary page will instantly show the updated raw and z-scores. See the new EDIT button above the list of words in the itemised results page.
The DISTi will be updated soon to enable this feature.
Pronunciation notes
You can now enter the subject's actual pronunciation of each word next. This can be done after the CC2 test has been completed by editing the itemised results.
We hope to update the DiSTi soon with a similar feature, to allow you to record the subject's spellings.
Skipped test words
CC2 itemised results now show all words in the test, including words which were skipped by the stopping rules or if the test was abandoned mid-way. Previously only answered words were shown, which sometimes looked a little confusing.
Technical Upgrades Complete - Sat 7th Sep 2013
We have just finished a couple of months of technical upgrades, security enhancements and bug fixes. You may not have noticed any changes, but this should keep us running smoothly into the future.
Diagnostic Spelling Test for Irregular Words (DiSTi) - our second automated test - Fri 12th Jul 2013
Today we are proud to announce the launch of the Diagnostic Spelling Test for Irregular Words (DiSTi). This can be run online or from the supplied PDFs.
Test of Orthographic Choice (TOC) - Thu 11th Jul 2013
Today we are pleased to launch the Test of Orthographic Choice (TOC).
TERC & DiSTs PDF Updates - Tue 13th Nov 2012
Today we made some small updates to the TERC & DiSTs.
LeST Errata Update - Wed 1st Aug 2012
Today we updated the PDFs for the LeST to correct a minor error.
Audio Preview for CC2 Words & General Update - Mon 21st Nov 2011
Today we released an update to MOTIf.
- One new feature: an audio player to preview words in CC2.
- One important bug fixed: IE8 had problems with key assignment.
- A general technology refresh to keep us working in updated web browsers.
Letter Sound Test (LeST) - Sat 17th Sep 2011
Today we are pleased to announce the launch of the Letter Sound Test (LeST).
Diagnostic Reading Test for Nonwords (DiRT) - Thu 18th Nov 2010
Today we are pleased to announce our latest test: the Diagnostic Reading Test for Nonwords (DiRT).
Letter Identification Test (LIDT) - Wed 10th Nov 2010
We are pleased to announce the release of the Letter Identification Test (LIDT). This is the first of a set of new tests we will be launching over the coming months.
Australian norms for the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) - Sat 1st Jan 2000
The TOWRE was developed and normed in the US by Torgesen, Wagner and Rashotte (1999). Here we present norms for Australian primary school children.
Introducing the Macquarie Cognition Clinic for Reading - Sat 1st Jan 2000
We’re very excited to announce that the researchers behind the tests on MOTIf have now launched a brand new initiative - the Macquarie Cognition Clinic for Reading. The clinic is designed to help children with reading and spelling difficulties, and those who support them.
The Macquarie Cognition Clinic for Reading is a not-for-profit organisation that has been created to provide research-based assessments and intervention for children with reading and spelling difficulties.
The clinic also provides professional development workshops for teachers and clinicians supporting children with poor reading and spelling.
You can find out more about the clinic here: mq.edu.au/reading-clinic
The Letter Sound Test (LEST) can now be run online - Sat 1st Jan 2000
We are pleased to announce that the Letter Sound Test (LEST) has now been automated, and can be run online on the MOTIf website.
If you do not yet have access to this test, please go to Your Account and tick the box next to the LEST, under "Requesting Access".
To get started, go to the LEST homepage and click Run Online. All results will be stored in Your Test Log amongst the other online test sessions.
Tip: You can re-test children on multiple online tests by re-selecting their names from the dropdown menu. This saves you having to enter their details again.
New look MOTIf - Sat 1st Jan 2000
We have made a few "cosmetic" changes to MOTIf.
We have a new homepage, and we have added an About Us page that explains (1) who develops and manages the MOTIf site, and (2) the lead authors of each test.
General (non-test) pages on the site have been made responsive so that they adjust layouts to suit different devices. This functionality will be applied to the test pages in due course.
Please note that no changes have been made to the tests or to the online running of the tests. The functionality remains the same.
MISTAKE IN NORMS FOR DiSTi - Sat 1st Jan 2000
Dear Users of the DiSTi (spelling of irregular words test)
A MOTIf user has alerted us to a mistake in the norms table for the DiSTi. The percentile column in the Grade 4 data was incorrect in the PDF which was available for download until 17/08/2016. However, the grey marking for average ranges as well as the z-scores were accurate. We have gone over the norms to check whether there were any other problems. We are confident that the problem only affected the table in the MOTIf PDF version, and only for the Grade 4 data. The norms used when running the test online were correct and all other grade norms were correct as well.
We have now made available the updated PDF with the correct norms.
Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions you may have (saskia.kohnen@mq.edu.au).
As the test author, I apologise for the trouble this may have caused.
Saskia Kohnen
The Diagnostic Spelling Test -Sounds (DiSTs) can now be run online - Sat 1st Jan 2000
We are pleased to announce that the Diagnostic Spelling Test -Sounds (DiSTs) has now been automated, and can be run online on the MOTIf website.
If you do not yet have access to this test, please go to Your Account and tick the box next to the DiSTs, under "Requesting Access".
To get started, go to the DiSTs homepage and click Run Online. All results will be stored in Your Test Log amongst the other online test sessions.
Tip: You can re-test children on multiple online tests by re-selecting their names from the dropdown menu. This saves you having to enter their details again.
Technical Enhancements to Test-Session Pages - Sat 1st Jan 2000
We have just completed a technical rework of the test-session pages (which had not been converted to the "responsive" format in the previous redesign).
Now the test-session pages including the practise dialogs, score summaries and itemised results can be viewed more easiliy on smaller sized screens such as tablets.
EasyRead: An app to increase spacing within and between words - Sat 1st Jan 2000
We are pleased to announce the availability of EasyRead. This app can be downloaded for free from the Chrome webstore.
After the publication of our research on the efficacy of Dyslexie font (Marinus et al., 2016) we received many requests from parents and practitioners on how to change the settings in word processing programs like MS Word to mimic the spacing settings of Dyslexie font. In response to this we developed EasyRead, which applies Dyslexie letter-spacing and word-spacing settings to arbitrary web pages in order to improve readability. Although the app does not work on MS Word, it can be used in conjunction with online text-processing programs like Google docs.
All welcome: Reading and Spelling Development, Disorders and Remediation Conference - Sat 1st Jan 2000
Please join us on 13 - 15 April at Macquarie University - Sydney, for the Reading and Spelling Development, Disorders and Remediation Conference!
The MOTIf team are excited to share the details of the Reading and Spelling Development, Disorders and Remediation Conference to be hosted by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders.
The conference aims to bring together leading researchers from around the world to discuss reading and spelling development, disorders and remediation for both practice and research. The conference will therefore have two parts, one day focused on practice for teachers, clinicians and parents and two days focused on research for an academic audience.
For more information, and to register, please visit:
New Test on Grammatical Processing - Sat 1st Jan 2000
The Battery for Assessment of Plural Processing in Aphasia (Frequency) (BAPPA-F) and the Battery for Assessment of Plural Processing in Aphasia (Regularity) (BAPPA-R) is now available online.
The Battery for Assessment of Plural Processing in Aphasia (Frequency) (BAPPA-F) and the Battery for Assessment of Plural Processing in Aphasia (Regularity) (BAPPA-R) is now available online.
Both batteries assess the ability of people with aphasia to produce plurals, and the effects of frequency and regularity on this ability. While the norms are based on healthy adults, it might also be a suitable test to use it as a screening tool for children with grammatical deficits.