This discussion focused on navigating the layers of text complexity to determine the embedded text supports provided by authors. Quantitative dimensions of the texts were examined, such as word count, number of sentences, sentence length, unique words, most used words and phrases, sentence variety, Flesch-Kincaid grade levels, and Flesch-Kincaid…

Text complexity has received increased attention due to the CCSS, which call for students to comprehend increasingly more complex texts as they progress through grades. Quantitative text complexity (or readability) indices are based on text attributes (e.g., sentence lengths, and lexical, syntactic, & semantic difficulty), quantified by…

A reduced relative-main clause ambiguity occurs in sentences that begin with reduced relative clauses, as in "The hangman executed by the government was convicted of treason." This ambiguity has often been the focus of research designed to investigate the processes by which syntactic structures are built during sentence comprehension.…

Considers how New Zealand has seen a need for providing readily understandable business and government documents. Reports a psycholinguistic study testing the level of consumer comprehension of bank contracts, and the effect of using plain English to rewrite them. Finds that the most effective means of enhancing comprehension was that which…