Readability formulas: An analysis into reading index of prose forms

Abstract

Text comprehension will suffer if the readability level is not accessible to the students. Readability formulas predict text complexity, assisting in appropriate text selection that complements students’ reading abilities to improve their language development. Therefore, the study aims to find out the reading index of the prose forms in the literature component catered to lower secondary school students ages 13 and 14 years old in Form One (seventh grade) and Form Two (eighth grade) classrooms in Malaysia. The reading index is measured by using four readability formulas which are Dale-Chall, Fog, SMOG, and Flesch-Kincaid that focuses on the words, sentences, syllables, and polysyllable words. These formulas are used to predict the level of difficulty of the prose forms. The reading index calculated from these readability formulas reveals the grade level of the prose forms. The grade level indicates the best age for reading and understanding the prose forms. Two prose forms were chosen as samples in the study. A passage is chosen from each prose form to be uploaded using the online tool. The indices obtained from the readability formulas predicted that both of the prose forms were below students’ reading age. The study implicates reading index must be taken into consideration in literary texts selection because it is an indicator of the years of education that an individual requires to comprehend the literary text clearly. Suitable reading material at students’ age level can enhance literature learning and teaching in the ESL classroom.

Tingkat Keterbacaan Bahan Ajar Flexible Learning Berbasis Kolaboratif Saintifik

“…Tingkat keterbacaan bagi pembaca tergantung pada tingkat kesulitan atau kemudahan suatu teks bacaan pada jenjang tertentu. Menurut Gopal et al (2021), ada beberapa faktor yang dapat menentukan tingkat keterbacaan suatu wacana, meliputi: 1) jumlah kalimat dalam wacana; 2) jumlah suku kata dalam wacana; dan 3) tata bahasa yang digunakan. Jika dilihat dari segi kemudahan dan kecepatan dalam mengukur, formula Grafik Fry cukup efektif digunakan untuk mengukur keterbacaan teks dalam buku ajar yang dikembangkan.…”

Analysing the Readability Level of the Short Stories Used in the IEEL Course

“…The results of the previous study showed the use of these readability formulas has the advantage of providing a solid figure on the text difficulty. Therefore, teaching and learning practices can be designed in a way that is appropriate to student's level of language ability, interests, prior knowledge, and cultural background to engage them during literature lessons (Gopal et al, 2021).…”

“…Those three short stories were retyped and from Microsoft Word, the researchers found the total words. Furthermore, according to (Gopal et al, 2021), there were three components that should be collected to conduct a readability level test and study of literary works using Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, those components were the words total, the sentences total, and the syllables total. Therefore, after gaining the total words from Microsoft Word, the researchers used https://www.textfixer.com/tools/ online-sentence-counter.php as a tool to find out the sentences total from three short stories.…”

“…According to (Rahmatika, 2018), readability is concerned with the problem of matching between reader and text. A high readability level indicates that the content is difficult, while a low readability level indicates that the content is easy to read (Gopal et al, 2021). Readability level can be measured using metrics to estimate a 'level' and/or a readability score in the number of syllables in a sentence or the diversity of words in a short story.…”

Text difficulty vs text readability: Students� voices

“…Reading is an essential skill and it can give a great impact on students' achievement. Different studies have been conducted in relation to the reading skill, focusing on different aspects, such as the correlation between students' reading anxiety and their reading comprehension (Mardianti et al, 2021(Mardianti et al, ), 2021, critical reading discourse to enhance critical thinking skills (Sari & Prasetyo, 2021), an analysis into reading index of prose forms (Gopal et al, 2021), the correlation between students' receptive vocabulary and their reading comprehension (Hartono & Prima, 2021), washback of the performance-based test of reading (Wiyaka, 2020), learners' reading learning in web-based instruction setting (Supriyono, 2018), and students' reading motivation and writing achievement (Ilahiyah et al, 2019).…”