Effect of Alterations in Prose Style on the Readability of College Texts

Abstract

AbstractThe effects of altering prose style on the readability of college textbook material were examined. Two 1000-word science passages were rewritten to create seven stylistically simpler versions—by substituting frequently occurring for infrequently occurring nontechnical vocabulary, by shortening the average sentence length, by restructuring sentences, and by combining these factors. High school seniors read the passages, each passage altered by one of the above methods. Their responses to the text were assessed by five measures of text difficulty. Readability, as measured in this study, was unaffected by the alterations. Consideration of patterns of scores suggests that readability may be changed only when significant sources of difficulty, such as concept familiarity, are addressed. Perhaps, then, because the essential content was unchanged in the present adaptations, the readability was unaffected.