Adapting textual resources for low-literacy learners

Readability

Adjusting text

for low-literacy readersGina Bennett for COTR International

What is readability?

● the ease with which text can be read and understood

● especially important for low-literacy students!● Readability is not the same as legibility which is a

measure of how easily individual letters or characters can be distinguished from each other.

Gina Bennett for COTR International

What factors affect readability?

Four main variables:● content● style● format● organization. Content and style are the most important.


Content and readability

● If the content is familiar, the reader can read text at a higher level.

● Content that is unfamiliar to the reader must be written at a more basic level to be readable.

● When introducing new content to the reader, start with familiar ideas and show how the new information fits with the old.


Style and readability

Style includes:● average sentence length● number of different hard words● number of personal pronouns*● percentage of unique words.


“Plain” or “Clear” Language

You can make your writing more readable by:• Using language that is simple, direct, and familiar.• Omitting needless words.• Using sentence structures that are unambiguous.• Organizing material in a logical way.


How can you tell if a passage of text is too difficult for your audience?

• One quick & easy way to get a ‘ballpark’ idea of how easy a piece of text is to read is to use a ‘readability formula’

• There are many different readability formulas designed to check reading ease of a piece of text.

• The Fernández-Huerta formula is designed to check reading ease of Spanish text.

• Note that this will give you only a rough estimate of the readability of your text!


Try it!

If you have access to the internet, follow these steps to estimate the level of readability of your text:

1. Locate a piece of text on the internet – something with mostly words, 2 or 3 paragraphs, (without much numerals, formulas, or lists)

2. Copy the text3. Go to this website:

http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/index.php 4. Paste the text in the space provided5. Choose from the Method drop-down list ‘Flesch-Kincaid (English)’6. Click on ‘Calculate score’7. Note the result


http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/index.php

If you can’t access the internet…

Follow these steps:1. Locate a piece of text – something with mostly words, 2 or 3 paragraphs,

(without much numerals, formulas, or lists)2. Mark the beginning & end of your selection & count EVERY word in the

selection, even very short words.3. Now count how many sentences are in the selection. If the selection ends

in the middle of a sentence, estimate the fraction of the sentence included (e.g. 4.5 sentences)

4. Count how many syllables are in the selection.5. Use this formula to estimate: 207 – (total words/total sentences) – 85

(total syllables/total words)6. Note the result.


Readability calculations: general guidelines

● In general, the higher the score, the easier the text is to read.

● a score of 100 would be ‘extremely easy’ while a score of 0 would be ‘extremely difficult’ for English-speaking readers

● a score of 60 to 70 is considered the “normal range,” requiring an eighth grade level

● a score of 75 means the text is “fairly easy”, requiring approximately a fifth-grade level

● A score of less than 30 would probably require the equivalent of a university degree to be readily understood.


How can low readability score be improved?

● Easiest way is to shorten the sentences. Break each longer sentence into 2 (or more) shorter sentences.

● use simpler, shorter words wherever possible.

● But make sure that your changes do not change the meaning significantly.


What level should you aim for?

● reading for enjoyment: texts are ~ 2 grade levels lower than reader’s actual reading level.

● When writing something important that you NEED people to read, write it at least 2 levels lower than your reader CAN read.

● If introducing new material, complex ideas, new vocabulary, drop the reading level (unfamiliar vocabulary pushes down the readability score).


What is the reading level of your students?

How can you determine reading level?1. determine last successfully completed grade

in school2. test to determine current grade level3. survey reading materials used within

learner’s community (posters, magazines, manuals, graffiti)


Format and readability: reading is work!

● It takes work to read! ● the close-ness of one word to another

matters● Justification (full- vs. left-aligned) matters

-- especially for weak, less-experienced readers.


Visual cues help readability

● use left-aligned justification● use upper- & lower-case letters (NOT all

upper-case)● use shorter lines of text (<10 words per

line)● add ‘white space’ (bulleted lists, etc.)● add RELEVANT images


Readability and organization

● Use shorter chapters (but not too many headings & sub-headings & sub-sub-headings etc., which actually decrease readability).


Learning to read or reading to learn?

● texts to help people learn to read are different from those designed as ‘textbooks’ or manuals

● when teaching someone to read (or read better) mix easy & more difficult pieces of text.


Education

Adapting textual resources for low-literacy learners