Assessing Text Readability Using Cognitively Based Indices

Crossley, Scott A.; Greenfield, Jerry; McNamara, Danielle S.

doi:10.1002/j.1545-7249.2008.tb00142.x

Cited by 207 publications

(203 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Directly related to the present study is the use of another online computational tool that gives a clear picture of texts' cohesion and comprehensibility at different levels of language, discourse, and conceptual analysis that count as improved ways of measuring readability of English texts for L2 learners (Crossley, Greenfield & McNamara, 2008). Specifically, the present study features the applicability of the Coh-Metrix T.E.R.A.…”

Section: Text Easability and Readability Measuresmentioning

confidence: 97%

Correlating Writer’s Block and Esl Learners’ Writing Quality

Rosa¹,

Genuino²

2018

Indonesian J. Appl. Linguist

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Despite the importance of writing in the language learners' development, there are difficulties faced by English as a Second Language (ESL) learners that stem from various factors. One of them is the presence of writer's block that could affect writing quality. Therefore, this study aims to describe writer's block, along with a statistically-laden analysis of the possible correlation between the blocking experiences of 55 Filipino ESL learners and the levels of easability and readability of the essays they had written. This research employed a descriptive-correlational design using The Questionnaire in Identifying Writer's Block (QIWB) to gauge the extent of occurrence of writer's block and the Coh-Metrix Common Core Text Easability and Readability Assessor (hereafter CohMetrix T.E.R.A.), an online computational tool, to measure the levels of easability and readability of the essays. The result shows that the learners generally experienced writer's block, and their essays collectively showed high levels of easability on the basis of narrativity, referential cohesion, and deep cohesion. However, the essays were low in syntactic simplicity and word concreteness, while the level of readability computed exceeded that of the reading ability of 10 th -grade learners. Test of correlation revealed that there exists negligible relationship between writer's block and the overall easability and readability levels of the essays, though a significant but a weak relationship was documented between lateness and word concreteness and with premature editing and deep cohesion, respectively.Keywords: writer's block; easability; readability; text quality; Coh-Metrix T.E.R.A.When students are asked to write down on paper their thoughts about several concepts, or when the language teacher finally announces that an essay test will be administered, sighs of agony and apprehension reverberate in the L2 (second language) classroom. This situation is particularly prevalent among L2 learners whose writing performance is encumbered by a number of L2 writing issues such as the influence of the writer's personal characteristics, L2 writers' attitudes and composing processes, not to mention the interplay of cultural, social, political, and institutional contexts with L2 writing (Lee & Ferris, 2017). As such, the complexity of writing, as part of second language learning, continues to pose challenges to learners of different linguistic backgrounds and academic levels. Jun (2008) therefore asserts that the area of L2 writing qualifies relevant topics for second language researchers because of the many blank spots that could be filled in through languagerelated investigations.Aside from studies that highlight significant fields such as L2 writing feedback, L2 writing instruction, and L2 writers' texts, scholarly efforts to improve L2 writing learning and instruction also drifted to the area of writing process per se. Saadat and Dastgerdi (2014) describe research expanse in L2 writing as highlighted with studies that examine the effect of ...

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Section: Text Easability and Readability Measuresmentioning

confidence: 97%

Correlating Writer’s Block and Esl Learners’ Writing Quality

Rosa¹,

Genuino²

2018

Indonesian J. Appl. Linguist

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“…Crossley et al [34] employed the data set used by Greenfield [29], which were 31 academic texts, and investigated the efficiency of Coh-Metrix L2 Reading Index in measuring text difficulty. They incorporated three predicting variables of CELEX Word Frequency, Sentence Syntax Similarity, and Content Word Overlap.…”

Section: Readability Of Spanish Textsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among the formulae reviewed above the FRES and FKGLs are mostly employed to evaluate textbooks written in English as a first language, the CMES is, however, intended to predict the readability of texts written in English as a second language [6,34]. This study aims to find out whether the FRES and FKGLs can be used to evaluate the readability of textbooks written in English as a second and foreign language on the one hand and whether FRES and CMES predict readability of those textbooks differently as do the FKGL and CMES do.…”

Section: Readability Of Spanish Textsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Two High Intermediate EFL and ESL Textbooks: A Comparative Study Based on Readability Indices

Khodadady¹,

Mehrazmay²

2017

SIJ

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This study aimed to evaluate "High-Intermediate 3" (Iran Language Institute, 2008) and "New Headway Upper-Intermediate" Soars [1] in terms of their readability levels. To this end, the readability of ten and 12 reading passages of the two textbooks taught to the students of English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) at the same level of language proficiency, respectively, was analyzed via the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) and Coh-Metrix Easability Score (CMES) consisting of narrativity (NAR), syntactic simplicity, word concreteness, referential cohesion, deep cohesion, verb cohesion, connectivity, and temporality components. The results showed although the FRESs are developed on reading passages written for native speakers of English, they correlate very highly not only with the CMES but also with its NAR component obtained on the passages written for ESL students, indicating that the FRESs are valid readability measures of ESL texts as well. The FRES and CMES did not, however, correlate significantly with each other on EFL texts, indicating that the EFL and ESL texts differ from each other in terms of readability. The results are discussed from the perspective of micro structural approach to schema theory and suggestions are made for future research.

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“…Trabajos recientes (Oh, 2001;Crossley, Greenfield y McNamara, 2008;Geva, 1992) han demostrado que medidas de correferencialidad, conectores, ob-viedad y relevancia de la estructura usada y similares variables están correlacionadas con una mejor comprensión de los textos en una L2. También sería interesante observar la interacción entre la complejidad morfosintáctica y la variedad y dificultad del vocabulario, según su frecuencia absoluta en la lengua y, si fuera posible, también según su disponibilidad (cfr.…”

Section: Conclusionesunclassified

Complejidad gramatical y niveles de dificultad en lecturas de ELE adaptadas y originales

Checa-García

2013

RLA

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RESUMENLas lecturas de español ELE son clasificadas por las editoriales en varios niveles de dificultad. Sin embargo, poco o ningún criterio se ofrece para su clasificación. Si algún criterio se menciona, éste se refiere a la diversidad de vocabulario, pero no a la complejidad morfosintáctica. Este estudio trata de responder a dos cuestiones fundamentales: a) ¿Hay una relación entre ciertos índices de complejidad morfosintáctica y niveles de dificultad de las lecturas? y b) ¿Difieren los índices de complejidad morfosintáctica de los textos creados originalmente como lecturas ELE y de los que provienen de adaptaciones? En una muestra de 61 fragmentos pertenecientes a 3 niveles diferentes de dificultad (básico, intermedio y avanzado) se analizan los índices primarios de madurez sintáctica y la diversidad verbal. Los resultados muestran que las diferencias entre niveles de dificultad son sólo significativas para los textos originales (aquellos que se crearon originalmente como lecturas ELE vs. textos que son adaptaciones). Además, los niveles intermedio y avanzado se diferencian mucho menos entre sí que con respecto al nivel básico.Palabras clave: Complejidad sintáctica, lecturas ELE, dificultad de lectura, lectura en L2, adquisición de lenguas extranjeras, español como lengua extranjera. ABSTRACTSpanish L2 readings are classified by editors into different difficulty levels. However, very few criteria if any are mentioned for the classification. When some criterion is mentioned, it is a measure of vocabulary diversity, with no reference to morphosyntactic complexity. The present study seeks to answer two main questions: a) is there a relation between certain indexes of morphosyntactic complexity and the readings levels of difficulty?, and b) are texts created as L2 readings and texts adapted from originally L1 readings different

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Assessing Text Readability Using Cognitively Based Indices

Cited by 207 publications

References 16 publications

Correlating Writer’s Block and Esl Learners’ Writing Quality

Correlating Writer’s Block and Esl Learners’ Writing Quality

Evaluating Two High Intermediate EFL and ESL Textbooks: A Comparative Study Based on Readability Indices

Complejidad gramatical y niveles de dificultad en lecturas de ELE adaptadas y originales

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