Background and Purpose: COVID-19 pandemic has caused catastrophe to global health. To collectively break the chain of infection, the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MMoH) disseminates information about COVID-19 through its official websites. Since they are intended for the general public, this crucial information must be easy to comprehend. A textual analysis was conducted to assess the readability level of COVID-19 information by the MMoH. Methodology: Out of 661 materials related to COVID-19 from four MMoH’s websites, 14 texts were purposively selected for the analysis. The Formula Kebolehbacaan Khadijah Rohani (FKKR) and Sistem Kebolehbacaan Bahasa Melayu (SPIKE) were then employed to check their reading difficulty. Findings: It was found that most of the texts were written above the recommended level, 6th grade or year 6. The findings suggest that this information is readable to three-quarters (78.7%) of Malaysian adults aged 15 and above. However, the remaining 21.3% of the same population, which equals 5.3 million Malaysian adults, may not be able to comprehend this information due to their illiteracy or minimal education. SPIKE Dyslexia scores revealed that nine texts are categorised as difficult. This could impede those with reading difficulties to understand the COVID-19 information provided by this ministry. Contributions: These research findings are hoped to be useful for the improvement of health literacy among the general public by taking into account reading difficulty of health information. Keywords: COVID-19, health literacy, health seeking information, readability, readability formulae. Cite as: Ab Hamid, A. R., Hashim, M. F., Abu Hasan, N., & Mhd Azhan, N. (2020). Readability of Covid-19 information by the Malaysian Ministry of Health. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 5(2), 170-191. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss2pp170-191
The publication of religious books recently has been in line with the publication of books of other genres. It is because of the increase in the demands by the readers in addition to the design of the book covers which has been made up more interesting. Hence, this research was aimed to identify the influence of visual illustration and photography displayed on book covers which preferred by the readers. Sign theory by Peirce (1839) and Semiotic Analysis by Stokes (2003) were applied for the purpose of data analysis. A book published by Telaga Biru Sdn. Bhd. entitled Ikon Syabab by Umar Muhammad Noor (2014) has been made as to the research data focusing on the taxonomy aspect of its cover. The results showed that the proper use of pictures was undeniably able to attract the readers to buy the religious book currently in the market. This research also was predicted to be able to contribute to the national socio-economic interest, generate a rich cultural society and elevate the percentage of book publication in Malaysia.
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