Presentation of text in picturebooks is an under-investigated field that requires consideration in order to support readers and those selecting books for readers. A unique form of picturebook is the bilingual picturebook which presents a story in two languages. The complexities of language readability and legibility are increased in these books,…

Introduction: Easy Read health documents prepared for people with intellectual disabilities are often generated from Standard Texts. Language in Easy Read versions is typically assumed to be simpler. However, simplification of language may have unintended consequences. This study aimed to explore the differences in language used between Easy Read…

Reading is regarded as one of the basic learning processes that provides multiple skills and abilities for daily life. The study reported on here arose from evidence of reading comprehension difficulties of middle school students in Colombia, and from reflection on the didactic strategies used for the promotion and teaching of reading. The purpose…

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to review readability formulae and offer a critique, based on a comparison of the grading of a variety of texts given by six well-known formulae. Methodology: A total of 64 texts in English were selected either by or for native English speaking children aged between six and 11 years. Each text was assessed…

Are the books preferred and most enjoyed by children harder than other books they read? Are non-fiction books read and understood at the same level of difficulty as fiction books? The Accelerated Reader software offers computerized comprehension quizzes of real books individually chosen by children, giving children (and teachers, librarians, and…

Extensive reading (ER) has become a common feature of many English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) programs. There is evidence that reading large amounts of easy, interesting material may improve foreign language skills, most notably in vocabulary, reading rates, and overall proficiency. However, teacher evaluation of extensive reading…

This is a conceptual paper, based on several semesters of collaboration in which the American author interacted with students in the Taiwanese author's EFL classes in Taiwan. The best native language users are typically those who read extensively, especially reading for pleasure in their youth. This gives them a large vocabulary and an intuitive…

This booklet describes and discusses a method for determining the readability level of prose passages in reading materials for children. The method discussed in the booklet assigns a value to each noun in selected passages on the basis of its frequency level on standard word-frequency charts, correlated in a number of studies with independent…

Forty-two experienced teachers rated a set of reading passages by the SEER and the Rauding procedures. Findings indicated that the two procedures resulted in significantly different ratings, that teaching experience did not affect the rating, and that the SEER ratings agreed substantially with readability formula estimates of the same passages.…

Finding the right fit between students' reading ability and textbooks is very important for comprehension. Readability studies aim to analyse texts to find the right fit between students and texts. In this literature review, readability studies are classified under quantitative, qualitative and combined quantitative-qualitative readability…

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)

Uses measures of readability and syntactic complexity to verify that U.S. teen books are easier for young people reading English as a Second Language than British ones. (SR)

This article suggests the following ways of making material easier for adults to read: using layout and print size to make meaning clear; making audio recordings and simplified versions of printed matter; and increasing the relevance of the content to the reader. Intended for teachers of adults in reading programs, the study also contains a…