Text Difficulty Research Articles

Textual form features for text readability assessment

Abstract Text readability assessment aims to automatically evaluate the degree of reading difficulty of a given text for a specific group of readers. Most of the previous studies considered it as a classification task and explored a wide range of linguistic features to express the readability of a text from different aspects, such as semantic-based and syntactic-based features. Intuitively, when the external form of a text becomes more complex, individuals will experience more reading difficulties. Based on this motivation, our research attempts to separate the textual external form from the text and investigate its efficiency in determining readability. Specifically, in this paper, we introduce a new concept, namely textual form complexity, to provide a novel insight into text readability. The main idea is that the readability of a text can be measured by the degree to which it is challenging for readers to overcome the distractions of external textual form and obtain the text’s core semantics. To this end, we propose a set of textual form features to express the complexity of the outer form of a text and characterize its readability. Findings show that the proposed external textual form features can be used as effective evaluation indexes to indicate the readability of text. It brings a new perspective to the existing research and provides a new complement to the existing rich features.

Text difficulty and oral reading prosody in Taiwanese children

Text difficulty and oral reading prosody in Taiwanese children

Text-based and memory-based metrics of cognitive coupling.

The present study was an investigation of the relation between cognitive coupling, a correlation between text difficulty and reading time, and other measures of mind wandering during reading. To measure cognitive coupling, we manipulated the text difficulty of individual sentences. Because mind wandering may shift attention away from the text, we predicted a cognitive coupling interaction, that is, that the effect of difficulty on processing time should be less when readers are off task. We also manipulated the consistency of a target sentence's content with a prior information. Analogous to the text-based cognitive coupling, we predicted an interaction of consistency with task focus: The impact of this consistency should be less noticeable when readers are off task. The results demonstrated the predicted text-based cognitive-coupling effect: There was less of an effect of text difficulty when readers reported being off task. However, there was no such interaction between consistency and task focus. We conclude that the consistency effect may depend on the relatively automatic activation of prior information rather than requiring consciously retrieving related information from memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Study on Sentence Difficulty of the Chinese Components

In recent years, reading comprehension has gradually become a proficiency indicator of interest in lexical and grammar. As sentences are the basic units of discourse structure, sentence difficulty is often applied to the study of text difficulty. Although there have been a number of studies on sentence difficulty, the lack of consistency in the indicators chosen or the discussion of specific grammatical issues have limited the research on sentence difficulty. Therefore, this study adopts a corpus-based approach, using a corpus as an objective and scientific data source. The study utilizes the Digital Platform for Chinese Grammar and the 8000 Chinese Words as important reference sources. Additionally, the CRIE 3.0 is employed to validate the texts and establish sentence difficulty indicators. However, due to the incomplete development of certain indicators in the "Chinese Grammar Digital Platform", the study refers to the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education and Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi to establish comprehensive sentence structure and sentence component difficulty indicators. Subsequently, the established difficulty indicators are validated by conducting comparative analyses using corpora as the basis. Native speaker corpora are used as benchmarks, while Mandarin learner corpora are used for comparison, and then validate objectively through the machine learning model. These validation aims to examine the validity and reliability of the selected indicators and establish a calculation method involving " level of grammar * point distribution ratio of grammar " to determine the difficulty indicators for Chinese sentences, Additionally, expert reliability is accessed to ensure the credibility of indicators.

Evaluating EFL textbooks for vocational high schools in Indonesia: A corpus-informed and lexile-based model

Even though textbooks play an integral role in EFL teaching and learning processes, evaluation of English textbooks for vocational high schools in the Indonesian context and their relevancy to the targeted proficiency was still rare. This study identified text difficulty levels and English vocabulary profiles of a set of digital English coursebooks for vocational high schools in Indonesia. It also analyzed how text difficulty levels and vocabulary profiles correspond with the targeted proficiency level of vocational high school graduates. A corpus-informed and Lexile-based model was employed as the design of this research. Lexile framework was employed to measure text difficulty, while corpus information was utilized to determine the vocabulary profiles of the selected textbooks. Three tools were used to analyze the data quantitatively, namely Lexile Text Analyzer® Professional, LancsBox, and English Vocabulary Profile in Text Inspector. This study found that the approximate text difficulty of reading passages in the coursebooks for grades 10 and 12 is slightly higher than the expected language proficiency level for vocational high school graduates. On the other hand, the approximate text difficulty of reading passages in the coursebook for grade 11 is slightly lower. However, in terms of vocabulary profiles, the three books emphasize the target vocabulary at the expected level (B1), as suggested by the Directorate of Vocational High School Development. In addition to those findings, it is important that teachers consider other factors outside the scope of this research, such as learners’ proficiency levels and interests or other qualitative data about the books, to determine whether the coursebooks are appropriate for their classes.

How do speech language pathologists use the Schwarz et al. (2015) rubric for read-aloud storybook selection?

ABSTRACT Reading storybooks aloud to prereaders helps them develop oral language skills; but educators struggle to select appropriate storybooks for read alouds. To better understand this selection process, we evaluated how experienced speech language pathologists (SLPs) apply the storybook selection rubric in Schwarz et al.'s (2015). A read-aloud storybook selection system for prereaders at the preschool language level: A pilot study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58(4), 1273-1291. doi:10.1044/2015_JSLHR-L-15-0056. That rubric includes: eight book characteristics, one four-level difficulty scale, and exemplar storybooks for each scale level. Using this rubric, 38 SLPs—who had served children at the preschool language level—rated 63 storybooks based on how difficult they thought the storybooks would be for children at the preschool language level to understand when the storybooks were read aloud to them. A principal component analysis identified-among the original eight characteristics a subset of five highly correlated characteristics related to overall text difficulty: vocabulary, story structure, sentence length, book length, and density. We revised the original rubric to include only four storybook characteristics: (a) text difficulty, (b) amount of inferencing, problem-solving, and abstract concepts, (c) familiarity of activities/experiences, and (d) level of support provided by the illustrations. Using quartile values of the text difficulty characteristic, we derived a four-level difficulty scale for the 63 storybooks. The revised storybook selection rubric simplifies the process of selecting appropriate storybooks for read alouds. The revised rubric and SLPs' difficulty ratings of 63 storybooks provide clinicians with a resource ready-made for clinical practice.

Applying Cross-Validated Psychometric Models to the Bavarian Reading Test (BYLET)

Abstract: In this study, we compared three different models of reading comprehension on a large dataset of more than 6,500 students. We compared two models representing four comprehension processes as well as the influence of text difficulty to a one-factor model by applying multi-dimensional item response models to the newly developed Bavarian reading test (BYLET). Cross-validation indicated the best generalizability for the one-factor model, but factor loadings and global model fit showed some evidence for the influence of text difficulty measured by word and sentence length and the process structure. All psychometric models tested had a good fit, as indicated by global fit indices and loading patterns. The general factor scores point to reliability and validity. We conclude that theories of reading comprehension processes also apply to some extent to the measurement of reading comprehension as a trainable skill and that the general factor score of the BYLET is suitable for a reading comprehension screening between grades two and six. The study is preregistered. The analysis code is available at https://osf.io/xw9bv/?view_only=21549993ef79426eb4006ef82415f25c . Test materials can be sent to interested researchers on request.

Attentional mediators of the effect of interest on comprehension

BackgroundWhile text reading is still a preferred form of learning, topic interest can be considered an important predictor of reading comprehension. However, the nature of the relationship between interest and comprehension is not yet fully understood. AimsThe present study investigates whether topic interest is related to comprehension when measured in advance and whether two indicators of attention (i.e., mind wandering and cognitive coupling) mediate this relation. SampleParticipants were 238 university students. MethodsParticipants rated their interest in three different topics. One week later, they read one text on each of these topics. The texts’ levels of difficulty were manipulated to change during reading. Measured variables during reading were the individual adaptation of the reading speed to the text difficulty (cognitive coupling) and the frequency of mind wandering. In addition, comprehension was measured after reading each text. ResultsPreliminary assessed topic interest was found to be indirectly but not directly associated with reading comprehension. Specifically, topic interest negatively predicted mind wandering during reading, while mind wandering was, in turn, negatively associated with reading comprehension. In addition, partial evidence was found for the mediating role of cognitive coupling. ConclusionsThe present study adds to the research by showing that topic interest can predict future mind wandering and one type of cognitive coupling. Because mind wandering was, in turn, negatively related to reading comprehension, the study's findings further suggest that topic interest should be encouraged to minimize harmful mind wandering, promote adaption to text properties, and thus improve comprehension.

Text Difficulty, Working Memory Capacity and Mind Wandering During Chinese EFL Learners’ Reading

Text Difficulty, Working Memory Capacity and Mind Wandering During Chinese EFL Learners’ Reading

Law Students and Literature: Uncovering Experiences and Overcoming Challenges

The benefits that literature offers have led many countries, including Malaysia, to integrate literature and literary texts into English education. In higher education, literature is not limited to English Language and Literature majors; students from various other degree programs also study literature as part of their curriculum. While numerous previous studies have explored students' perspectives and challenges in learning literature, most have focused on high school students and English major undergraduates. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the views of law undergraduate students on the subject. A survey was conducted with 103 students enrolled in an English for Literary Appreciation course at a public university in Malaysia. Quantitative data were collected and analysed using descriptive statistics. The results indicated that law undergraduates prefer drama as a genre. The research also showed that, like students in other disciplines, law students generally enjoy studying literature and recognize its importance in enhancing language skills, cultural awareness, and personal development. Moreover, the study found that law students see the relevance of literature to their future careers. Unlike earlier studies that highlighted the difficulty of texts and language as the main challenges, this study identifies rigorous assessments, the volume of these assessments, and time constraints as the primary challenges faced by law undergraduates.

Analyzing Lexical Density and Readability in IELTS Band 4 Students’ Writing Test

This study explores the lexical density and readability levels of writing produced by IELTS Band 4 students. The main objectives are to assess the lexical density and readability of their writing across ten writing tests. The study employs a descriptive qualitative research method, using data collected from 10 writing tests conducted by IELTS Band 4 students. Lexical density is determined using the "Analyze My Writing" website, while readability is assessed using the Flesch Reading Ease formula and scale. The findings reveal a wide range of lexical density, ranging from 46.98% to 63.93%, indicating varying levels of content richness and complexity in the students' writing. Similarly, readability scores vary significantly, with scores ranging from 34.21 to 66.32, reflecting differences in text difficulty and ease of comprehension. These findings underscore the diverse linguistic proficiency and accessibility of writing among IELTS Band 4 students.

Literature Review on Psycholinguistic Processes in Reading Comprehension Mechanisms in Individuals with Language Disorders

This literature review investigates the psycholinguistic processes in reading comprehensionmechanisms in individuals with language impairment. Reading comprehension is an important aspect oflanguage development, yet individuals with language impairment often experience difficulties in understandingwritten text. Reading comprehension involves various psycholinguistic processes, including phonological,syntactic, semantic and pragmatic processing. Language impairment conditions such as dyslexia, languagedevelopment disorders and reading comprehension disorders often affect these mechanisms. Phonologicalprocessing is key in reading comprehension mechanisms, and individuals with language impairments often havedifficulty in recognising and decoding words. In addition, syntactic aspects play an important role inunderstanding sentence structure and the relationship between sentence elements. Reading comprehensiondisorders are often associated with difficulties in understanding semantic relationships, recognising wordmeanings and applying semantic knowledge in reading contexts. In addition, pragmatic factors are alsoimportant in comprehending text, including understanding context and communicative purpose. Individuals withlanguage impairment may have difficulty in picking up pragmatic nuances and applying them in readingcomprehension. This literature review presents an in-depth understanding of the relationship betweenpsycholinguistic processes and reading comprehension mechanisms in individuals with language impairment.The clinical implications of this study may aid the development of more effective intervention strategies toimprove reading comprehension in this population. With a better understanding of the factors that influencereading comprehension, health and education practitioners can design specific and targeted interventionprogrammes to improve reading ability in individuals with language impairment.

Coh-Metrix 시스템을 통한 고등학교 영어 모의시험 독해지문의 학년 내 연계성 분석

This corpus-driven research aims to examine the intra-grade continuity of reading passages within high school English mock exams, specifically the national academic achievement tests for seniors in 2023. These tests were conducted quarterly by four regional educational offices: Seoul in March, Incheon in April, Gyeonggi Province in July, and Seoul in October. A corpus of 100 reading passages, 25 from each test, was analyzed via a range of Coh-Metrix measures, including word features, lexical diversity, connectives, readability, referential cohesion, syntactic complexity, semantic cohesion, and so on. These Coh-metrix results demonstrated that there was no compelling evidence to support strong intra-grade continuity, highlighting the necessity for meticulous calibration of text difficulty, which should incrementally escalate with successive test administrations. The analysis of basic metrics, lexical frequency and diversity, syntactic complexity, and readability revealed no consistent trends across test administrations. Additionally, lexical attributes such as concreteness, familiarity, imagery, and age of acquisition did not show significant continuity. Moreover, the analysis of syntactic complexity also showed no consistent pattern. The current inconsistency in text difficulty suggests that students may not be receiving the progressive challenge needed to develop their reading comprehension skills effectively. Drawing upon these findings, theoretical and pedagogical implications are elucidated.

DIFFICULTIES IN TRANSLATING POPULAR SCIENCE TEXT IN THE FIELD OF ECONOMY (ON THE MATERIAL OF THE MONOGRAPH A.R. KROEBER CHINA`S ECONOMY: WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW)

Background. An adequate translation should fulfill the purpose of communication, which is imbedded in the original. At the same time, it is necessary to take into consideration both the content of the text and its pragmatic function. The translator`s task is using various types of translation transformations to select adequate lexical, phraseological, grammatical structures to maintain the pragmatic function of the translation at the level of the original. The authors of the article study the most interesting examples of translation difficulties based on the material of the monograph A.R. Kroeber China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know and offer their own variants of their translation. Purpose. Analysis of the translation difficulties of a popular scientific text on economic topics. Materials and methods. The main research method is comparative analysis. The article is based on the text of the monograph A.R. Kroeber China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know. Results. Analysis of the text of the monograph (parts 2.6-3.3 / 30,048 sign.) has revealed more than 200 translation difficulties with the help of which the pragmatic function of the text is preserved. These linguistic phenomena require detailed analysis using logical thinking, linguistic and extensive background knowledge for their adequate translation. The results of the research can be used in the preparation of lecture materials and practical tasks for the program "Translator in the field of professional communication" in disciplines focused on translation studies.

한국어능력시험(TOPIK) 읽기 영역 텍스트의 난이도 분석

The Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) stands as a reputable examination capable of assessing Korean language proficiency for various purposes. In order for TOPIK, with its pivotal significance, to be effectively utilized for multifaceted objectives, the validity and reliability of its evaluations must be substantiated. Thus, this study aims to scrutinize the disparities between TOPIK I and TOPIK II, focusing on reading texts, across various factors. Initially, a corpus was constructed comprising reading texts from the 35th session (post-2014 revision) to the most recent 83rd session available as of March 2014, obtained from the TOPIK website's archive. Subsequently, utilizing the Data Evaluation Unified System (DEUS), linguistic indicators including surface features (vocabulary and sentence length), lexical factors (vocabulary frequency, diversity, pronoun usage, emotional vocabulary usage), syntactic factors (proportion of function words, sentence constituent ratio), and discursive factors (referential coherence, patterns of adverbial conjunction usage) were employed to compare the text difficulty. Additionally, recommendations for future test construction were proposed based on the outcomes derived from each factor analysis.

Digital and print media texts and their comprehension by young adults – preliminary research results

The purpose of this article is to identify differences in the comprehension of print and digital media texts among young adults. This is due to the paradigm of transactional communication models (Yaros 2009 et al.), which assumes interaction between the medium and the audience, which corresponds to current changes in the media environment (Herkman 2008) and the accelerated digitization of mass media. The discussion of interaction with electronic texts and hypertexts (Singer 2017; Mangen 2013; DeStefano 2007 and others) opens up new research horizons and topics. Researchers from abroad (Norway, UK, etc.) have reported conflicting results regarding the level of comprehension of print and digital media texts, due to the length of the text, type of digital medium, target groups, etc. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital communication in both media and other areas (education). In order to solve the formulated research problems, a descriptive-mapping and correlation research plan was developed, using a standardized method adapted to the digital environment. A total of 486 respondents were surveyed, 173 of whom met the criteria for participation in both measurements, with an average age of 21.82. The results (compiled using MS Excel and SPSS software) show that there is no difference in the level of comprehension of media texts presented in print and digital form. At the same time, we found that although the values of correlation coefficients indicate that a higher level of text difficulty can lead to lower text comprehension scores (negative “r” values), a higher level of text difficulty is not related to the level of text comprehension. The results are discussed, not only limitations but also broader contexts (e.g., non-cognitive factors) are considered, and some implications for media practice and education are proposed.

Impact of text difficulty and visual emphasis on pediatric neuropsychological evaluation reports: The parent’s perspective

Objective: Despite varying opinions, little research has examined how to best write pediatric neuropsychology reports. Method: This study gathered input from 230 parents on how text difficulty (reading level) and visual emphasis (bullets, underline, italics) affect report readability and utility. We focused on the most-read report section: summary/impressions. Each parent rated the readability and usefulness of a generic summary/impressions section written in four different styles. The four styles crossed text difficulty (high school-vs-collegiate) with use of visual emphasis (absent-vs-present). Results: Parents found versions with easier text to be more clearly written, easier to follow, and easier to find information (p<.001). Parents rated those with harder text to be overly detailed, complex, hard to understand, and hard to read (p<.001). Visual emphasis made it easier to find key information and the text easier to follow and understand – but primarily for versions that were written in difficult text (interaction p≤.026). After rating all four styles, parents picked their preference. They most often picked versions written in easier text with visual emphasis (p<.001). Conclusions: Findings support writing styles that use easier text difficulty and visual emphasis.

Comprehension monitoring across languages – The effect of online feedback

BackgroundReading and comprehending texts is challenging for students in higher education, especially when reading in English as a foreign language (EFL). An important component of efficient reading comprehension is the ability to accurately self-monitor understanding and performance, though most readers are not accurate at monitoring their comprehension. AimsThis study investigated whether online, immediate and repetitive feedback on the process of calibration of comprehension, can improve comprehension monitoring when reading in native (L1) and foreign languages (FL), and whether such improvement can be generalized across languages. SampleParticipants were 138 undergraduate Hebrew-English bilingual university students. MethodsMonitoring accuracy was calculated through the paradigm of ‘calibration of comprehension’. Participants were divided into four study groups according to the language of reading (L1 or FL) and the exposure to feedback on calibration (with or without). Participants attended a total of five study sessions: a pre-exposure session, three exposure sessions and a fifth post-exposure session. ResultsOnly students who engaged with texts in the FL and received feedback showed improved monitoring accuracy. This improvement did not generalize to their L1. ConclusionsPedagogically, these results indicate that comprehension monitoring skills can be improved through online, immediate and repetitive feedback, especially in the FL. We suggest that FL comprehension was amenable to change because it met the optimal level of text difficulty to engage participants with the monitoring process. Thus, online feedback supported by digital technology may offer distinctive educational opportunities for bolstering comprehension monitoring.

Assessing an Instructional Level During Reading Fluency Interventions: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects on Reading

The current study meta-analyzed 27 effects from 21 studies to determine the effect assessment of text difficulty had on reading fluency interventions, which resulted in an overall weighted effect size ( ES) = 0.43 (95% CI = [0.25, 0.62], p &lt; .001). Using reading passages that represented an instructional level based on accuracy criteria led to a large weighted effect of ES = 1.03, 95% CI = [0.65, 1.40], p &lt; .01), which was reliably larger ( p &lt; .05) than that for reading fluency interventions that used reading passages with an instructional level based on rate criteria (weighted ES = 0.29, 95% CI = [0.07, 0.50], p &lt; .01). Using reading passages based on leveling systems or those written at the students’ current grade level resulted in small weighted effects. The approach to determining difficulty for reading passages used in reading fluency interventions accounted for 11% of the variance in the effect ( p &lt; .05) beyond student group (no risk, at-risk, disability) and type of fluency intervention. The largest weighted effect was found for students with reading disabilities ( ES = 1.14, 95% CI = [0.64, 1.65], p &lt; .01).

Assessment features for complexity of educational texts for schoolchildren

It is extremely important to choose an appropriate material for the students learning a foreign language. Hence the issues of studying the complexity of academic texts, their readability and their compliance with the level of language proficiency is of outmost importance. At this point, one can note the inevitable interconnection between linguistics and teaching methods. An educational text is a special type of secondary text that has a number of important functions, among which, first of all, there are informative, cognitive and cultural-logical ones. This type of text both contains new information and has an educational and developmental effect on students.The difficulty of text as well as its readability and complexity are crucial for text understanding. The evaluation of academic texts difficulty is closely connected with consideration of other characteristics. However, there are no widely accepted definitions of such concepts as “difficulty”, “complexity” and “readability” in contemporary linguistics. They are unreasonably used as synonymic notions. That is why the purpose of this article is to more clearly distinguish between these characteristics of the text. The features of complexity assessment of educational texts are revealed on the basis of their key characteristics.The study of educational texts’ complexity was conducted by using secondary school textbooks on physics. The text analysis was performed with the help of the automated analyzer Rulingva. This study demonstrates the capabilities of this program and presents the results of the analysis, which suggest that the use of Rulingva analyzer could be beneficial not only for linguists, but also for educators, measurement and control materials developers and those preparing for state exams in various academic disciplines.