TEXT DIFFICULTY: A COMPARISON OF READABILITY FORMULAE AND EXPERTS’ JUDGMENT
METİN ZORLUĞU: OKUNURLULUK FORMÜLLERİNİN VE UZMAN DEĞERLENDİRMESİNİN KARŞILAŞTIRMASI

Author : Sermin GÜLERER
Number of pages : 129-142

Abstract

Teachers of English, librarians, researchers have been interested in finding the right text for the right reader for many years. In teaching Second Language (L2), text writers often try to fulfil the demand by simplifying the texts for the readers. The emerged term “readability” can be defined as “the ease of reading words and sentences” (Hargis, et al. 1998). The aim of this research was to compare the ways to find the right text for the right reader: traditional readability formulae (Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level), Coh-Metrix Second Language (L2) Reading Index, which is a readability formula based on psycholinguistic and cognitive models of reading’, and teachers’ estimation of grade levels by using leveled texts in a web site. In order to do this, a selection of texts from a corpus of intuitively simplified texts was used (N30). Coh-Metrix Readability levels, Flesch Reading Ease, and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Levels of the texts were calculated via Coh-Metrix Web Tool. Three teachers of English were asked to decide the levels of the texts. When the relationship between Coh-metrix Readability Level, traditional formulae and the texts levels in the website was analysed via SPSS, it was found that there was weak negative correlation between Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and the texts levels in the website (-,39). Additionally, there was weak negative correlation between the texts levels in the website and Flesch Reading Ease scores(-,41). However, there was moderate negative correlation between Coh-metrix Readability levels and the texts levels in the website (-63), where Teacher1 and Coh-metrix Readability levels had very strong positive correlation (,95). It was identified that readability formulae can help L2 teachers when they select texts for their students for teaching and assessment purposes.

Keywords

Readability, Coh-metrix, Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

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