Readability of comprehension passages in Junior High School (JHS) English textbooks in Ghana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4314/gjl.v3i2.21Keywords:
readability formulas, comprehension passages, Junior High School, textbookAbstract
Understanding what is read is essential to academic success in general and literacy development in particular. The aim of any textbook, especially English language textbooks for second language learners is to help readers improve their English language competence. This aim is defeated when students cannot read texts intended for them. One factor which makes a reading material unreadable is the complexity of the language used in relation to the reading ability of the reader. Research has shown that most materials meant for second language learners are difficult for the intended readers. It is therefore crucial to determine the readability of comprehension passages in Junior High School (JHS) English language textbooks used in Ghana and also to examine what can be done to improve L2 text writing in Ghana to make materials readable. This paper, therefore used The Gunning FOG Readability test, Flesch Reading Ease Formula, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, SMOG Index, Coleman-Liau and Automated Readability Index readability formulas to determine the readability of 48 comprehension passages purposively selected from four different sets of JHS 1-3 English language textbooks. It was found that most of the passages were above the age of learners and were therefore difficult for them to read and comprehend. The study through interviews examined ways that writing of JHS English textbooks can be improved to enhance readability.References
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Berman, R. A., 1984. Syntactic components of the foreign language reading process. In J. C. Alderson and A. H. Urquhart (eds). Reading in a foreign language (pp. 139-156). New York, NY: Longman.
Bitgood, S. C., 1996. Aspects of Literacy. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Brantmeier, C., 2005. Anxiety about L2 reading or L2 reading tasks? A study with advanced learners. The Reading Matrix 5.2: 67-85.
Brown, J. D., 1998. An EFL readability index. JALT Journal 20: 7-36.
Carrell, P. L., 1987. Readability in ESL. Reading in a Foreign Language 4.1: 21-40.
Crossley, S. A., D. Allen and D. S. McNamara, 2011. Text simplification and comprehensible input: A case for an intuitive approach. Reading in a Foreign Language 23.1: 84-101.
Crossley, S. A., P. M. McCarthy and D. S. McNamara, 2006. Discriminating between second language learning text-types. American Association for Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved from www.aaai.org. 13/6/13
DuBay, W. H., 2004. The principles of readability. Retrieved from en.copian.ca/lidrary/research/readab/readab.pdf
Essem Educational Limited, 2007. Readability: How readable are your texts. Retrieved from www.readability.biz/indices.html, on 13/2/13
Fitzsimmons, P., B. Micheal, J. Hulley and G. Scott, 2010. A readability assessment of online Parkinson’s disease information. Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 40.4: 292-296.
Fountas, I. and G. S. Pinell, 2001. Guiding Readers and Writers Grades 3-6: Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fry, E., 2006. Readability: Reading Hall of Fame Book. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Gernsbacher, M., 1997. Coherence cues mapping during comprehension. In J. Costermans and M. Fayol (eds.), Processing Interclausal Relationships. Studies in the Production and Comprehension of text (pp. 3-22). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Grabe, W. and F. L. Stoller, 2002. Teaching and Researching Reading. London: Pearson Education.
Greenfield, G., 1999. Classic readability formulas in an EFL context: Are they valid for Japanese speakers. Unpublished doctoral dissertation in temple university, Philadelphia, PA: USA.
Harrison, S. and P. Bakker, 1998. Two new readability predicators for professional writer: Pilot trials. Journal of Research in Reading 21: 121-138.
Hedman, A. S., 2008. Using the SMOG formula to revise a health related document. American Journal of Health Education 39.1: 61-64.
Johnson, K., 2000. Readability. Retrieved from www.timetabler.com on 12/03/2013.
Kincaid, J. P., R. P. Fishburne, R. L. Rogers and B. S. Chissom, 1975. Derivation of new readability formulas for Navy Enlisted Personnel. Research Branch Report 8-75. Millington, TN: Naval Technical Training: Memphis.
Klare, G. R., 1963. The measurement of readability. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.
Krashen, S., 1983. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Lee, J. F., 1986. Background knowledge and L2 reading. Modern Languages Journal 70: 350-354.
McNamara, D. S. and J. P. Magliano, 2009. Self-explanation and metacognition: The dynamics of reading. In J. D. Dunlosky and A. C. Graesser (eds.), Handbook of Metacognition in Education (pp. 60-81).Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Ministry of Education, Canada (2003). A guide to effective instruction in reading: Kindergarten to Grade 3. Ontario, Canada: Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
Owu-Ewie, C., 2012. Language performance and mathematics/science performance: A correlational case study of JHS students in Sekondi/Takoradi and Shama Districts. The Buckingham Journal of Language and Linguistics 5: 83-99.
Owu-Ewie, C., 2013. The language policy of education in Ghana in perspectives: The past, the present and the future. Language and Linguistics 32: 39-58.
Paltridge, B., 1996. Genre and the Language-learning Classroom. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Perfetti, C. A., N. Landi and J. Oakhill, 2005. The acquisition of reading comprehension skill. In M. J. Snowing and C. Hulme (eds.). The Science of Reading: A Handbook (pp. 227-247). Oxford: Blackwell.
Pulido, D., 2007. The effects of topic familiarity and passage sight vocabulary on L2 lexical inferencing and retention through reading. Applied Linguistics, 28: 66-86.
Schramm, W., 1947. Measuring another dimension of newspaper readership. Journalism Quarterly 24: 293-306.
Stephens, C., 2000. All about Readability.
Retrieved from http://plainlanguage.com/newreadability on12/04/12.
Reece, I. and S. Walker, 1992. A Practical Guide to Teaching, Training and Learning. Great Britain: Business Education Publishers Limited
Woods, B., G. Moscardo and T. Greenwood, 1998. A critical review of readability and comprehensibility tests. The Journal of Tourism Studies 9.2: 49-60.
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Published
12/01/2014
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Owu-Ewie, C. (2014). Readability of comprehension passages in Junior High School (JHS) English textbooks in Ghana. Ghana Journal of Linguistics, 3(2), 35–68. https://doi.org/10.4314/gjl.v3i2.21
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