The article examines the available means of determining the readability of written materials and reviews the empirical evidence that indicates consideration of syntactic complexity in determining readability. Problems with readability formulas are pointed out. Guidelines for using readability formulas that take syntactic complexity into account…

The paper describes considerations in determining the comprehensibility of instructional materials for use with mentally retarded students. (CL)

Shows problems in the communication process between preparers and users of financial reports. Uses test techniques from linguistics and pedagogy (here, the cloze technique) to investigate two Swedish financial reports' understandability. Finds important parts of the reports were not understood by small investors. (PA)

Finds that in the areas of readability, interest level, and thoroughness, the news in community daily newspapers was not significantly better than that produced by students. (RS)

Notes the readability level of many high school chemistry textbooks is far above students' reading levels. Conducts two separate studies, making every effort to keep the two classes as similar as possible in all aspects except text. Finds strong evidence that changing the chemistry textbook resulted in an increase in student achievement. Suggests…

Investigates gerontological research literature to discover what is known about age deficiencies in cognitive processes which might adversely influence instructional text processing. Maintains that, on the basis of findings, tentative guidelines could be given on designing such manuals. Proposes follow-up research to gather more knowledge on the…

Compares the influence of text difficulty on the growth of poor readers' reading ability over 18 weeks of 1-to-1 tutoring. Significant differences favored tutored children. Between approaches, the only significant difference was oral reading fluency, which favored students who read material at their reading level. Students who began with lower…

Reviews recent articles focusing on the controversy surrounding the appropriateness of readability formulas for technical writing. Suggests that further research should be conducted to study empirically how readability as a concept might be used to aid the technical writer since readability formulas are shaping computerized editing programs. (KEH)

Discusses appropriate reading material selection in light of content area reading instruction. Presents some ideas for determining the difficulty level of textbooks and other materials. Concludes that teaching reading in the content areas is one way to focus on the process of reading as an instrument to develop cognitive skills and thought…

Investigates children's reading interests, the extent to which their parents are aware of these interests, and the ability of parents and children to select books at appropriate reading levels. (RAE)

The study found that revising basal reader stories to improve text coherence resulted in improved comprehension for hearing impaired readers. Findings suggest that current efforts to control readability through stringent syntactic guidelines may result in texts that are more difficult, rather than less difficult, for hearing impaired readers to…

Describes a project to train Veterans Administration subject-matter specialists to develop letters that convey the information veterans need in a format and language they can understand. Presents a case study of the effectiveness of a new version of a letter. Finds that the new letter added value by greatly reducing the need for veterans to call…

Responds to an article in this same issue (which commented on these authors' 1993 article in the same journal). Suggests cultural context as another possible factor that may have caused results in the various studies under discussion to be different. (SR)

Tests the relationship between corporation performance and the readability of annual reports. Shows that annual reports of good performers were easier to read than those of poor performers--good performers used strong writing, unlike poor performers but did not use significantly more jargon or modifiers. (SR)

Reports on the evaluation of readability levels of 16 public speaking textbooks and 7 skills-oriented interpersonal communication textbooks. Finds sizable differences among public speaking textbooks. Advocates using readability data in the process of textbook selection and suggests how to do so. (SR)