A survey conducted individually with 50 retired adult readers (10 males and 40 females), who are middle or upper-middle class former professionals, was made in central New Jersey to determine their reading choices and to compare personal factors of sex, physical condition, and social activity with the number of books read in a six month period. Of…

This study examined the relationships between the reading achievement of college students, the readability of the textbooks they used, and college achievement. Measures included reading-grade levels from the Nelson-Denny Reading Test, functional reading levels as measured by cloze scores, Dale-Chall readability estimates for textbooks used by the…

Investigated within-sentence contextual constraints in a sentence-completion task completed by 408 students from grade 6. (AA)

Managed texts are written and designed by a team of writers and researchers under the direction and control of a publishing house. How these books got started, what needs they meet, their advantages and disadvantages, and the consequences they are having on college text publishing are addressed. (JMD)

New editions of selected college textbooks have been found to be more difficult than former ones, and experiments show that students learn less effectively from the new editions. Guidelines are offered for choosing textbooks, such as writing style, conceptual density, and the utility of readability analyses. (Editor/LBH)

Analyzes instructional materials according to five criteria: readability, concept load, background information, organization, and format and style. (MB)

Investigates the readability of four authentic German texts by high school students at five levels of German language instruction and analyzes six kinds of student comprehension: word recognition, phonemic/graphemic, syntactic feature, intratextual perception, metacognition, and prior knowledge. (MSE)

Tests empirically the model of second-language reading proficiency promoted by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Reader developmental levels are not consistent with the ACTFL hierarchy of text types and reading skills. Graphs compare hypothesized and obtainable results. (LMO)

Reviews 16 successful, college-level anthropology textbooks, examining content, clarity, readability, audience level, scholarship, and focus. Advocates greater coverage of topics such as applied anthropology and suggests attention be given to alternatives to the standard cultural institutions of marriage, religion, etc. States that the scientific…

A 15-item story problem test was written at three readability levels (below grade 4, grades 4-6, above grade 6) by two methods (vocabulary control and sentence control). Six test forms were administered to 1158 children in grades 3-6. Readability level had no effect on problem difficulty. (Author/MNS)

Surveyed business communication educators and found widespread confusion about the existence and nature of Plain English laws. Concludes that legally compelling business to use plain language in consumer documents may be futile. (PD)

Presents the Reading Estimate Program, which follows the same procedure as the Raygor Estimate for determining readability. (CRH)

To increase student success in technical content area reading, the reading abilities of l,027 students and the readability levels of ll0 textbooks were evaluated at a California community college. Results indicated a significant portion of students were reading more than two years below the level of currently used texts. (Author/BS)

Presents (1) a computer program which combines three readability formulas; (2) an investigation on the comparability of A-level physics grades; and (3) a study in specialized work experience. (JN)