Two studies investigated the relationships between readability, prior knowledge, and interest in the material being read. In the first study, 169 college freshmen read cloze passages of materials from the Nelson-Denny Reading Tests, then one week later read the whole passages and completed the related multiple choice questions. A control group…

The present study examined the unique contributions of readers' goal and text structure on comprehension. In Experiment 1, participants read procedural and descriptive passages to perform the procedures, summarize the passages, or to answer questions. The perform goal showed highest comprehension, with no difference due to text type. In Experiment…

This paper assesses the effectiveness of readability indices, standard cloze procedure, and the matching cloze procedure as determinants of the readability of supplementary English materials for elementary ESL students in a Pacific Island context. A review of readability indices and the standard cloze procedure indicated that neither procedure is…