Selection of Malay Language Reading Material Based on Readability Factors

Abstract

In this paper the author discuss the methods that can applied to select reading material that is appropriate to the reading ability of students. The old assumption that books or materials that written for a certain level is appropriate for all students in that particular level, needs to be changed. This is because students who isin a certain level have different reading abilities. Therefore, this paper will introduce the understanding of readability factors as one way of selecting appropriate reading material for students. The level of readability for reading materialsare influenced by a variety of factors, including the reader, environment and reading material. This article focuses on reading material factors such as clear font size and style, illustration and colour, vocabulary and sentence structure. Further, this article will present text difficulty analysis through the analysis of vocabularies. This paper conclude that vocabulary factor should not be overlooked and teachers must understand this because reading materials can be difficult when vocabulary that appear in the reading material does not fit to the level of the reader.