Reviews the literature critical of readability formulas as used in second-language reading contexts. It is suggested that such formulas not be used as guides to text production/adaptation or as measures of the difficulty of naturally occurring texts. (Author/CB)

The matching of students with language learning disabilities and dyslexia to appropriate reading materials is discussed, and formal and informal methods are presented for determining reading levels for accuracy, fluency, and comprehension instruction and practice. The Spache Readability Formula, the New Dale-Challe Readability Formula, and…

Examines the practical side of readablility in the United Kingdom as well as some theoretical considerations focused on research on text difficulty, microcomputer prediction of difficulty, validity of cloze procedure, and the effect when students rewrite textbook prose. (HOD)

This article emphasizes the importance of providing students with materials on the appropriate level of challenge. Major readability formulas and leveling systems that might be used to assess the difficulty level of materials are reviewed. It recommends using both objective and subjective factors when estimating readability levels. (Contains…

This article discusses how text variables interact with reader, strategy, and task variables to affect readability, including text coherence, text organization, signaling, and text structure. It considers how classic readability formulas, in concert with consideration of text, text reader, and strategy variables, can be used to match texts to…

Readability formulas applied to materials for hearing-impaired students do not account for important factors in reader-writer-text interaction. Factors include the reader's purpose, cultural background, and extent of background knowledge; writers' assumptions about readers; the text's structure, content, and cohesion; and the role of…

The problems arising from treating word and sentence complexity as the direct causes of difficulty in comprehension are surveyed in this paper from the perspective of readability formulas. The basic choices and assumptions made in the development and use of readability formulas are discussed in relation to the larger question of text…

The purpose of this paper is to make classroom teachers on all educational levels aware of the limitations of readability formulas and the factors affecting readability that are not accounted for by the readability formulas. delineated in discussions of readability formula assumptions, problems, and limitations. Some of the specific factors that…

This article explores the relationships between vocabulary knowledge and text readability. It discusses how procedures used by readability formulas to assess the vocabulary factor can over- or underestimate text difficulty by counting syllables rather than assessing what the reader knows about the words in a text. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)