In this article, Charlie Taylor offers a commentary on Yang et al.'s 2021 "Reading in a Foreign Language" article, "Text Difficulty in Extensive Reading: Reading Comprehension and Reading Motivation." In their study, Yang et al. analyzed the effects of text difficulty on the reading comprehension and motivation of high school…

Objective: Issues regarding the readability of self-report assessment instruments, methods for establishing the reading ability level of respondents, and guidelines for development of scales designed for marginal readers have been inconsistently addressed in the literature. A recent study by McHugh and Behar (2009) provided new findings relevant…

In his commentary on our previously published article "Readability of Self-Report Measures of Depression and Anxiety," J. Schinka (2012) argued for the importance of considering readability of patient materials and highlighted limitations of existing methodologies for this assessment. Schinka's commentary articulately described the weaknesses of…

The Dale-Chall Readability Formula and the Fry Readability Graph were used to analyze passages of Plato's "Parmenides," a notoriously difficult literary piece. The readability levels of the text ranged from fourth to eighth grade (Dale-Chall) and from sixth to tenth grade (Fry), indicating the limitations of the readability tests. (DF)

Readability formulas may detract from textbook quality. They overlook text and reader characteristics that affect comprehension. Moreover, average "readability levels" ignore wide variations within texts and between scales. The shortened sentences and simplified vocabulary used to conform texts to formulas sacrifice precision and connectedness,…

Reviews the factors to be considered in evaluating abstracts. Types of abstracts, content, length, writing style, comprehensive criteria for abstracts, readability, readability testing, compatibility with ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standards, and informativeness are among the topics covered. (12 references) (KRN)

The use of readability formulas is spreading into the courts and legislatures as one objective measure to protect the basic rights of citizens. Court cases and legislation involving the readability of Federal Government forms and correspondence, materials concerning criminal rights, consumer product labeling, ballot measures, and warranties and…

Discusses the definition of readability, the history of readability formulas, writing adult materials to a desired readability level, matching readability levels of material to the reader's skill level, and uses of these concepts in adult education. (CT)

Identifies major philosophical, methodological, and pedagogical issues in the controversy over the legitimacy and methodology of using statistical measures to assess the readability of documents. Explores the implications of the controversy for using numerical readability measures to assess written documents. Examines the pedagogical implications…

Examines readability formulas and examples of their misuse. Analyzes an essay by George Orwell which was given a grade 10 readability level by one formula and discusses characteristics of Orwell's style that refute the accuracy of formula rating. (HTH)

Suggests that readability formulas are methodologically flawed and inappropriate measures of the readability of materials written for adults. Argues that the cloze procedure is preferable because it assesses the readability of material by its intended audience. Notes that possible users of the cloze procedure include school systems, government…

Following a brief discussion of two facets of written material readability--reading ease and human interest--two reasons why written instructional material may be so difficult to read are considered: use of technical vocabulary and abstract language. Suggestions to make written instructional materials more readable are provided. (MBR)

"Writeability" is concerned with helping writers and editors produce materials on easier readability levels. A major input of most readability formulas is vocabulary difficulty. One way to increase readability is to use simple vocabulary or shorter words since word frequency studies show that more common words are shorter. The other…

Argues that health educators must learn to predict readability levels of textbooks to be sure that they are challenging and understandable to the student. Concludes that this can be accomplished through the use of readability formulas. (FL)

Discussion of the notion of readability focuses on predicting readability with computerized readability formulas. Semantic and syntactic factors are discussed, the development of readability formulas is described, and five commercially available computer readability formulas are reviewed, including the Readability Estimator, Readability Formulas,…