UNIT 3: READABILITY INDEX MEASUREMENT

WHAT IS READABILITY?

1. The feature of plain language that makes it easy to read, 2. Describes the ease with which a document can be read.

HOW TO MEASURE READABILITY?

By using Mathematical formulas. The formulas were designed:- 1. to assess the suitability of books for students at particular grade levels or ages. 2. Formulas provide an objective measure of text difficulty that can be reported as a level. 3. It is interpreted to mean that a reader must be reading at that level in order to understand the text.

The readability formulas are 80 percent accurate. They give a good rough estimate of the difficulty of a text.

FEATURES THAT AFFECT READABILITY

Readers: Prior Knowledge Reading skill (literacy) Interest Motivation

Text: Content Style Design Organization

BENEFITS OF READABILITY 1. Comprehension (understanding) 2. Retention (memory) 3. Reading Speed 4. Persistence (reading more of the text)

READABILITY FORMULA Rudolf Flesch Flesch Reading Ease Formula is considered as one of the oldest and most accurate readability formulas. The Flesch Reading Ease Formula is a simple approach to assess the grade-level of the reader. It’s also one of the few accurate measures around that we can rely on without too much scrutiny. This formula is best used on school text.

RE = 206.835 – (1.015 x ASL) – (84.6 x ASW)  RE = Readability Ease  ASL = Average Sentence Length (the number of words divided by the number of sentences)  ASW = Average number of syllables per word (the number of syllables divided by the number of words) 

http://www. readabilityformulas http://www.readabilityformulas.com/flesch-reading-ease-readability-formula.php Scores: 90-100 : Very Easy  80-89 : Easy  70-79 : Fairly Easy  60-69 : Standard  50-59 : Fairly Difficult  30-49 : Difficult  0-29 : Very Difficult /Confusing