The readability of English medium curriculum texts in Brunei primary schools.

The readability of English medium curriculum texts in Brunei primary schools. Textbooks written in English used in primary years 4-6 with BruneiMalay first language pupils were analysed for reading ease and humaninterest. The results suggest that the current texts are too difficultand generally insufficiently interesting for the young children for whomthey were designed. Possible strategies for rectifying the problems aresuggested. Introduction The Brunei Dwi Bahasa policyThe education system of Brunei Darussalam is centralised Adj. 1. centralised - drawn toward a center or brought under the control of a central authority; "centralized control of emergency relief efforts"; "centralized government"centralized , with theMinistry of Education the sole authority responsible for all mattersrelating to relating torelate prep → concernantrelating torelate prep → bez��glich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acceducation. The country has a national curriculum and thereis uniformity of syllabus A headnote; a short note preceding the text of a reported case that briefly summarizes the rulings of the court on the points decided in the case.The syllabus appears before the text of the opinion. throughout the state. Texts and teachingmaterials are developed by or on behalf of the Curriculum DevelopmentCentre. Education in Brunei Darrusalam is currently based on a bi-lingualapproach known as `Dwi Bahasa', a policy established through theEducation Act (1984), which gave importance to both English and Malayfollowing the gaining of full independence for Brunei. The policy wasbased on the realisation that effective use of English was essential ifstudents were to succeed in study at tertiary tertiary(tûr`shēârē), in the Roman Catholic Church, member of a third order. The third orders are chiefly supplements of the friars—Franciscans (the most numerous), Dominicans, and Carmelites. level overseas and if thecountry was to have a voice in international business, economic andpolitical arenas. Currently, children in the first three years of primary school aretaught in the Malay medium, with English as a subject of the curriculum.At primary four level (average age nine), Geography, Mathematics andScience are taught in English. All other areas of the curriculum aretaught in Malay. Until recently, History was also taught in English. Atpresent, Ministry of Education policy is in the process of changing themedium for History from English to Malay. This is being carried out overa three-year period in recognition of the problems young students arehaving with the sudden changeover (programming) changeover - The time when a new system has been tested successfully and replaces the old system. from Malay to English in primary four.It is also recognised as more appropriate that students learn thehistory of their country in their national language. There is concern among members of the education community that thetransfer from Malay medium to English medium in major curriculumsubjects for nine-year-olds with a limited knowledge of, and priorexposure to, English is hindering hin��der?1?v. hin��dered, hin��der��ing, hin��dersv.tr.1. To be or get in the way of.2. To obstruct or delay the progress of.v.intr. the progress of students. Manystudents appear to be having problems in primary four coping with thelevel of English required and the readability read��a��ble?adj.1. Easily read; legible: a readable typeface.2. Pleasurable or interesting to read: a readable story. level of the texts usedmay be too high. It is this latter issue that this article investigates. ReadabilityIn the production of written communication, it is vital that thosefor whom such material is intended can actually read and make sense ofit. This is a problem that is faced everyday in classrooms throughoutthe world as teachers use their own or published materials. Readabilityis also a crucial factor in other areas such as written instructions topatients, notifications to employees about health and safety issues inindustry, and explanatory ex��plan��a��to��ry?adj.Serving or intended to explain: an explanatory paragraph.ex��plan leaflets about rights to social securitybenefits. In all these contexts much of the material produced has beenfound to be too difficult for the general population to understand. According to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. most dictionaries, readability means understandable,and interesting to read. Readability is a useful way to gauge whether amessage is written at a suitable level for the intended audience. Itshould be one of the first evaluations conducted by teachers oradministrators in deciding whether to use a textbook or not. Apublication which has a readability level that is too high for the agelevel is not an appropriate choice, irrespective of irrespective ofprep.Without consideration of; regardless of.irrespective ofpreposition despitewhat otherfavourable qualities the text possesses. Readability has two aspects: * reading ease -- that quality of a book or text which enables usto read it with speed and facility without getting tired; and, * human or personal interest content -- the quality that catchesour attention because it appears to relate to us. Although `simple' and `difficult' language are relativeterms, the presence of a large number of complex words and long,involved sentence structures are likely to affect adversely thereadability of a text. What makes a written communication possesspersonal interest is very subjective and leans heavily on individualpreferences. Textbook authors generally try to interest students byappealing to them on an immediate, human interest level as well bypresenting a subject which is inherently valuable, hence interesting initself. That they sometimes fail may be due in part to an inability toidentify, particularly and concretely, those textual tex��tu��al?adj.Of, relating to, or conforming to a text.textu��al��ly adv. elements thatarouse human interest. Davison and Anderson (1986) define interest as akey to comprehension, indicating that it accounts for 30 times as muchrecall at the sentence level as does readability. Many researchers haveinvestigated the readability of text books over the last two decades,for example, Gillen (1974), Wright (1982), Maddux et al. (1983), andMaddux and Candler (1985), Long (1991), and Chang-Soong (1993). Ingeneral, results show that readability of school and college texts isoften too difficult for the intended audience even in countries whereEnglish is the first language. Surprisingly, however, little consideration has been given to theimportance of interest in expository classroom texts, though Hidi andBaird (1990), among others, maintain that text-based interest is animportant variable in comprehension. Hidi and Baird find most intereststudies flawed flaw?1?n.1. An imperfection, often concealed, that impairs soundness: a flaw in the crystal that caused it to shatter.See Synonyms at blemish.2. because little is known about what makes textsinteresting and because limited attention has been paid to expositorymaterial. Readability formulae generally focus on the reading ease elementand aim to predict and quantify Quantify - A performance analysis tool from Pure Software. the comprehensibility of a text for itsintended readership read��er��ship?n.1. The readers of a publication considered as a group.2. Chiefly British The office of a reader at a university. . No account is taken of extra linguistic factorssuch as graphic design. At least 50 indices exist that purport To convey, imply, or profess; to have an appearance or effect.The purport of an instrument generally refers to its facial appearance or import, as distinguished from the tenor of an instrument, which means an exact copy or duplicate. PURPORT, pleading. tomeasure the reading ease of written material (Klare, 1963; 1976).Readability formulae are normally devised by deriving a regressionequation Regression equationAn equation that describes the average relationship between a dependent variable and a set of explanatory variables. which best predicts the school grade or reading age level ofsample passages of text. The variables most commonly used as predictorsare word difficulty and sentence complexity, both of which appearlargely characterised by the number of words per sentence. * Word difficulty is usually measured by the number of syllables orwords per sentence or per 100-word sample. * Sentence complexity is usually determined by the number of wordsper sentence, the number of words with three or more syllables, or ameasure of the proportion of the text which consists of common asopposed to rare words. Indices derived from the application of these formulae are thenfurther validated against such criteria as judged difficulty of thepassage, time taken to read it, and probability of its being readthrough. The linguistic measures that have been found to have the greatestpredictive power The predictive power of a scientific theory refers to its ability to generate testable predictions. Theories with strong predictive power are highly valued, because the predictions can often encourage the falsification of the theory. for text written in English are word and sentencelength. Word length is associated with precise vocabulary; a reader mustmake extra effort to identify the full meaning of a long word because itis so precise. Long sentences usually have complexRobert Burns and Rosalind Charlestongrammatical gram��mat��i��cal?adj.1. Of or relating to grammar.2. Conforming to the rules of grammar: a grammatical sentence. structures which mean the reader must retain parts ofsentences before combining them into a meaningful whole. The best-known formulae for measuring reading ease are the FleschReading Ease Formula (Flesch, 1974) the Dale-Chall Formula (Dale &Chall, 1948), the Fry Graph (1977), the FOG Index (Gunning, 1968) andthe amusingly named SMOG smog(smŏg)[smoke+fog], dense, visible air pollution. Smog is commonly of two types. The gray smog of older industrial cities like London and New York derives from the massive combustion of coal and fuel oil in or near the city, (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook gob��ble��dy��gookalso gob��ble��de��gook ?n.Unclear, wordy jargon.[Imitative of the gobbling of a turkey.]Noun 1. ) Index(McLaughlin, 1969). Flesch also provides a formula for determining humaninterest. The detailed directions and instructions for all these methodscan be found in the references above. While none of the measures arerecent, they are still used in readability research across a wide rangeof areas such as health, legal and educational communications (e.g.Mann, 1994; Singh, 1995; Wells, 1994). Correlations between the indices derived from the differentformulae tend to be high, but there can sometimes be wide discrepanciesin the absolute level of difficulty assigned to text by differentformulae. For example, Stokes Stokes, William 1804-1878.British physician. Known especially for his studies of diseases of the chest and heart, he expanded on the observations of John Cheyne in describing the breathing irregularity now known as Cheyne-Stokes respiration. (1978) applied seven formulae to elevenschool textbooks and found a range of five grades in the mean gradelevels assigned by the different formulae. This absolute difference wasfound despite high interformula agreement on relative difficulties (forwhich correlations ranged from .66 to .99, with most being over .90). Two major factors contribute to reading problems in school:inadequate student reading abilities and the readability level of thetextbook. It can be hypothesised that both these factors are active inBrunei schools from primary four onwards on��ward?adj.Moving or tending forward.adv. also on��wardsIn a direction or toward a position that is ahead in space or time; forward.Adv. 1. , given a situation where youngchildren are abruptly a��brupt?adj.1. Unexpectedly sudden: an abrupt change in the weather.2. Surprisingly curt; brusque: an abrupt answer made in anger.3. exposed to textbooks and instruction in a secondlanguage. Prior to this, exposure to English is limited for most pupils-- the hearth hearthsymbol of home life. [Folklore: Jobes, 738]See : Domesticity language is Malay, the language in the playground isMalay, the cultural environment is strongly Islamic Malay, local TV andradio are mainly in Malay. The only exposures to English are Englishlessons at school and the universal sounds of English language English language,member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. pop musicand satellite TV. This study is an attempt to evaluate the readabilityof the English medium texts currently in use for the three years ofEnglish medium teaching at primary levels four to six. MethodologyThe Flesch, FOG, SMOG and Fry Graph were each applied to theauthorised Adj. 1. authorised - endowed with authorityauthorizedlawful - conformable to or allowed by law; "lawful methods of dissent"legitimate - of marriages and offspring; recognized as lawful textbook for Geography and History and to one of the twotextbooks chosen at random for Science and Maths prescribed pre��scribe?v. pre��scribed, pre��scrib��ing, pre��scribesv.tr.1. To set down as a rule or guide; enjoin. See Synonyms at dictate.2. To order the use of (a medicine or other treatment). for each ofyears 4, 5 and 6 in Brunei government primary schools. Since there iscurrently no English text available, English reading materials werebased on RELA (Reading and Language Acquisition) materials produced bythe Ministry of Education's Curriculum Development Centre. Thesematerials are currently in use in 26 schools throughout the country aspart of a pilot project to assess their suitability and include passagesfor the pupils to read. A random number table was used to select pagesin each book on a 1 in 10 ratio. It was believed that the use of severalreadability indices would add to the reliability and validity of thestudy and provide more evidence on the readability levels of the texts. The Flesch formulaeThe Flesch readability test Readability tests are formulaic protocols for evaluating the readability of text, which may be used instead of conducting an actual statistical survey of human readers, or perhaps may be used in conducting such a survey, known as a readability survey. has two parts. One part gives a score of`reading ease' -- an estimate of the ease with which a reader isgoing to read and understand what is written. The other part provides ascore of `human interest' -- an estimate of the human interest thatthe material will have for the reader. Together, the two scores give anestimate of both aspects of readability. Flesch's method forcalculating the reading ease of written material is based on two factorsusing randomly selected 100 samples of text: * the number of syllables per 100 words; and * the average number of words per sentence. Using regression analysis In statistics, a mathematical method of modeling the relationships among three or more variables. It is used to predict the value of one variable given the values of the others. For example, a model might estimate sales based on age and gender. Flesch derived the following equation:Reading ease = 206.835 - 0.846 (word length) - 1.015 (sentence length).The derived reading ease score puts a piece of writing on a scalebetween 0 (practically unreadable) and 100 (easy for anyone).The reading ease score obtained from the formula is interpreted byreference to a table (see Table 1) which provides a verbal descriptionof the material ranging from very easy to very difficult, the US gradelevel required for comprehension of the material, and an estimate of thepercentage of the US population which could be expected to understandthe material (derived from census data on educational grades).Table 1: Reading ease scores(*)Reading Average Average no. Readinglevel sentence of syllables ease length per 100 score wordsVery easy 8 or less 123 or less 90-100Easy 11 124-131 80-90Fairly easy 14 132-139 70-80Standard 17 140-147 60-70Fairly difficult 21 148-155 50-60Difficult 25 156-167 30-50Very difficult 29 plus 168-192 plus 0-30Reading Approx. USA % of adultslevel school year in major Western countriesVery easy 4th grade, 93 age 10Easy 5th grade, 91 age 11Fairly easy 6th grade, 88 age 12Standard 7th/10th grade, 83 age 13-16Fairly difficult 11th/12th grade, 54 age 17/18Difficult Higher education 33Very difficult Top academic 5(*) (Based on Flesch R. [1974]. The Art of Readable read��a��ble?adj.1. Easily read; legible: a readable typeface.2. Pleasurable or interesting to read: a readable story. Writing. NewYork New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Harper Row.) Flesch made one of the few attempts to quantify human interestfactors with his human interest formula. He defines and counts personalwords and personal sentences, then inserts these values into a formulawhich produces a human interest score. Personal words are essentiallyfirst second and third person pronouns (except neuter neu��teradj.1. Having undeveloped or imperfectly developed sexual organs.2. Sexually undeveloped.n.A castrated animal.v.To castrate or spay.neuter1. pronouns) whichrefer to people rather than things, as well as all words that have amasculine MASCULINE. That which belongs to the male sex. 2. The masculine sometimes includes the feminine, vide an example under the article Man, and see also the articles Gender, Worthiest of blood; Poth. Intr. au titre 16, des Testamens et Donations Testamentaires, n. and feminine gender. The human interest score is derived fromthe following formula using randomly selected 100-word samples: * multiply the number of personal words per 100 words by 3.635; * multiply the number of personal sentences per 100 sentences by0.314.The total is the human interest score, which places the text on ascale between 0 (no human interest) and 100 (full of human interest).Flesch provides the following table to interpret the human interestscore: it shows for five levels of scores, descriptions of the styles ofliterature where such writing is usually found. The reading ease formula measures length (the longer the words andsentences, the harder to read) and the human interest formula measurespercentages (the more personal words and sentences, the more humaninterest). Gunning's FOG IndexThree 100-word samples are taken at random and average sentencelength determined. The percentage of polysyllabic words Noun 1. polysyllabic word - a word of more than three syllablespolysyllableword - a unit of language that native speakers can identify; "words are the blocks from which sentences are made"; "he hardly said ten words all morning" is alsocalculated. To increase the reliability and validity of the assessment,ten 100-word samples from each text were taken in this study and averagesentence length calculated. Gunning's Fog Index provides a reading grade level = 0.4 (S +% PW) where S = average sentence length and PW = words of three or moresyllables. An approximate chronological age chron��o��log��i��cal agen. Abbr. CAThe number of years a person has lived, used especially in psychometrics as a standard against which certain variables, such as behavior and intelligence, are measured. at which the text should begenerally comprehensible com��pre��hen��si��ble?adj.Readily comprehended or understood; intelligible.[Latin compreh can be obtained by adding five to the readinggrade level. McLaughlin's SMOG Index The SMOG Index is the approximate version of SMOG (Simple Measure Of Gobbledygook), making this readability test easy to calculate manually. SMOG can be calculated more accurately using the instant free online SMOG Calculator. The output estimates the number of years of U.S. Three random samples of ten consecutive sentences are selected andthe number of polysyllabic words counted. The SMOG formula = 3 + the square root of polysyllabic pol��y��syl��lab��ic?adj.1. Having more than two and usually more than three syllables.2. Characterized by words having more than three syllables. count.This gives the reading grade level a person must have reached tofully understand the text. By adding five to this score an approximatechronological age at which the text would be comprehensible can besubstituted for reading grade. Again the average of ten random samplesof ten consecutive sentences were taken in this study to increasereliability and validity. Fry GraphThis is a graphical method using the indices already calculated forthe Flesch reading ease index for obtaining a readability level. ResultsThe results of the four assessments of reading ease and the singleinterest assessment are listed in Table 3. The reading ease levelsreveal two major trends. Firstly, that there is considerable consistencybetween indices and, secondly, that the texts are generally rated at ahigher age level than that of the child population using them.Table 3: Reading ease age levels and personal interest levels ofassessed texts (Level 4 = 9-10-yr-olds; level 5 = 10-11-yr-olds; level 6= 11-12-yr-olds).Year and Flesch Reading Fry Graph Gunningsubject Ease Formula (age) FOG Index (age)HistoryLevel 4 70.21 Fairly easy 13 14.76 (e.g. fiction)Level 5 57.65 F. difficult 15 16.83 (Harper's, Atlant.)Level 6 54.59 F. difficult 15 18.09 (Harper's, Atlant.)GeographyLevel 4 94.83 Very easy 11 12.50 (e.g. comics)Level 5 72.23 Fairly easy 13 13.54 (e.g. fiction)Level 6 83.49 Easy 12 15.12 (e.g. fiction)EnglishRELA 86.95 Easy 11 11.52Units 1, 3, 5 (e.g. fiction)Units 10, 81.68 Easy 11 13.62 11, 17 (e.g. fiction)Units 20, 77.35 Fairly easy 11 14.70 22, 23 (e.g. fiction)ScienceLevel 4 91.89 Very easy 11 10.36 (e.g. comics)Level 5 74.85 Fairly easy 12 12.72 (e.g. fiction)Level 6 66.23 Standard 13 17.1 (Reader's Digest, Time)MathsLevel 4 71.0 Fairly easy 11 10.76 (e.g. fiction)Level 5 70.2 Fairly easy 12 12.8 (e.g. fiction)Level 6 64.36 Standard 14 14 (Reader's Digest, Time)Year and SMOG Fleschsubject Index personal (age) interestHistoryLevel 4 13 9.62 Mildly interestingLevel 5 15 23.9 InterestingLevel 6 15 31.62 InterestingGeographyLevel 4 10 44.41 Highly interestingLevel 5 13 16.92 Mildly interestingLevel 6 14 16.51 Mildly interestingEnglishRELA 11 38.18 InterestingUnits 1, 3, 5Units 10, 12 32.84 Interesting 11, 17Units 20, 12 16.15 Mildly 22, 23 interestingScienceLevel 4 11 16.32 Mildly interestingLevel 5 12 4.36 DullLevel 6 14 3.98 DullMathsLevel 4 12 24.33 InterestingLevel 5 13 12.83 Mildly interestingLevel 6 14 15.72 Mildly interesting Discussion ReadabilityIn terms of the results presented in Table 3, three features standout. Firstly, the various formulae used produce very similar resultsalthough there is a tendency for Gunning's FOG Index to provideslightly higher age levels. Secondly, since all the texts are ratedabove the age level of first language English users, the discrepancy DISCREPANCY. A difference between one thing and another, between one writing and another; a variance. (q.v.) 2. Discrepancies are material and immaterial. will be far higher with these second language children who have beenthrust suddenly into the English medium. History appears particularlydifficult with material produced for 10-to-12-year-olds being rated atthe 15-year-old level for first language users. Primary four pupils(nine-year-olds) in all the subject areas are being presented with textsat the eleven-year-old level for first language users. It must beremembered that since these pupils have a very limited exposure toEnglish up to the age of 8/9, their reading skills in English could beconsidered to be at least two years below that of a first languageEnglish pupil. Hence at nine we might expect texts to possess areadability pp level suitable for a seven-year-old and so on with thediscrepancy only bring reduced gradually though adolescence adolescence,time of life from onset of puberty to full adulthood. The exact period of adolescence, which varies from person to person, falls approximately between the ages 12 and 20 and encompasses both physiological and psychological changes. . The third feature is a general trend that the order of increasingreading difficulty produced within each academic subject does matchincreasing age in most cases, despite the fact that the Fry Graph andFlesch produce a reversal for Geography between years 5 and 6. The rangein reading ease of the English reading materials, units 1-23, does notappear to vary and all have a readability level of eleven years for anEnglish first English First is a non-profit lobbying organization founded in 1986 in the United States in an effort to: Make English America's official language Lobby against United States "multilingual policies" language pupil although presumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. used across the upperprimary age range. These units have not been developed on a grade or agebasis but rather are to be selected by topic interest. While these trends suggest that the current texts are toodifficult for the population for which they were designed, there are anumber of general criticisms that have been raised about the concept ofreadability. Firstly, the predictor variables Noun 1. predictor variable - a variable that can be used to predict the value of another variable (as in statistical regression)variable quantity, variable - a quantity that can assume any of a set of values appear too simplistic sim��plism?n.The tendency to oversimplify an issue or a problem by ignoring complexities or complications.[French simplisme, from simple, simple, from Old French; see simple ,with formulae implying that word length, sentence length and word rarityare good and consistent predictors of understandability. Although a massof correlational evidence supports this claim (Klare 1974; Ley LEY. This word is old French, a corruption of loi, and signifies law; for example, Termes de la Ley, Terms of the Law. In another, and an old technical sense, ley signifies an oath, or the oath with compurgators; as, il tend sa ley aiu pleyntiffe. Brit. c. 27. , 1977),it is nevertheless quite possible to write short sentences using shortwords which are hard to understand. Secondly, readability may be only one factor, although the majorone, making for comprehensibility. On an empirical level there is thepossibility that readability will interact with other variables known toaffect sentence comprehension such as the use of passives, negatives,concept difficulty and abstract sentences. Readability indices do notassess these issues, as is seen from the following texts assessed in thepresent study.Maths, Year 4, p. 60: `We can tell the value of each digit in thedecimal Meaning 10. The numbering system used by humans, which is based on 10 digits. In contrast, computers use binary numbers because it is easier to design electronic systems that can maintain two states rather than 10. by using a place value chart'. Here some relatively shortwords form a sentence which would rate high in readability as measured,while representing concepts that are far from simple.History, Year 5, p. 44: `Brunei was a big kingdom that extended overthe whole of Borneo, the Sulu Archipelago Sulu Archipelago(s`l), island group, 1,086 sq mi (2,813 sq km), the Philippines, SW of Mindanao. and the Islands of Palawan andLuzon in the Philippines'. This appears to be a long sentence withmany polysyllabic words (rated low in readability) yet it is simply aseries of lexical lex��i��cal?adj.1. Of or relating to the vocabulary, words, or morphemes of a language.2. Of or relating to lexicography or a lexicon.[lexic(on) + -al1. terms in an additive additiveIn foods, any of various chemical substances added to produce desirable effects. Additives include such substances as artificial or natural colourings and flavourings; stabilizers, emulsifiers, and thickeners; preservatives and humectants (moisture-retainers); and relationship. The sentence below,despite containing a substantial number of monosyllabic words, iscomplex in structure for pupils in their first year of learning throughthe medium of English.History, Year 4: `It was he who led Majapahit to the peak of itsgreatness, as described in Negarakeretagama, by bringing many statesinto the empire'. Sentences for which readability formulae appear most valid andreliable are those that are long and contain many polysyllabic words,e.g. Science, Year 6, p. 87: `Cigarette smoking is harmful to our healthbecause cigarette smoke contains tar, a black sticky substance which cancause cancer, and carbon monoxide carbon monoxide,chemical compound, CO, a colorless, odorless, tasteless, extremely poisonous gas that is less dense than air under ordinary conditions. It is very slightly soluble in water and burns in air with a characteristic blue flame, producing carbon dioxide; , a poisonous poi��son��ousadj.Relating to or caused by a poison.poisonoushaving the properties of a poison.poisonous bride's bushpavettaschumanniana. gas which causes the bodyto be short of oxygen'. Examples such as these reveal that readability formulas arelimited in their approach, a fact that limits their validity. As well as factors relating to the structural aspects of theprose, it might be expected that readability would also interact withpupil characteristics such as reader motivation, self-concept,expectations of success, study methods, and the provision of books inthe home coupled with encouragement from parents to read them. Importanttextual variables such as layout, font fontor typeface or type familyAssortment or set of type (alphanumeric characters used for printing), all of one coherent style. Before the advent of computers, fonts were expressed in cast metal that was used as a template for printing. size, organisation and cohesion cohesion:see adhesion and cohesion. Cohesion (physics)The tendency of atoms or molecules to coalesce into extended condensed states. This tendency is practically universal. of material appropriate for children are rarely considered. Thirdly, the simple formulae used do not of themselves provide anyproductive guidelines guidelines,n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. for creating readable texts apart from a trial anderror approach -- design-test-redesign-test. Finally, more refinedmeasures of variables such as sentence complexity do not improve theassessment of readability. Even the sum of Yngve word depths persentence (Martin & Roberts, 1966) was found by Bormuth (1966) to becorrelated cor��re��late?v. cor��re��lat��ed, cor��re��lat��ing, cor��re��latesv.tr.1. To put or bring into causal, complementary, parallel, or reciprocal relation.2. +0.90 with sentence length. It would not therefore beexpected to improve on the formulae which include sentence length as oneof the predictor variables. Thus, despite the issues raised above,readability formulae and graphs do perhaps provide currently thesimplest, quickest and most reliable way of assessing the probabledifficulty of reading materials. InterestInterest levels as measured by the Flesch formula are generally atthe `interesting' or `mildly interesting' level though Sciencetexts appear to rate `dull' at two age levels. The validity ofhuman interest scores have been questioned since interest is largely amatter of subjective opinion, differs greatly from one person to anotherand cannot be quantified simply in terms of the presence of personalpronouns personal pronounn.A pronoun designating the person speaking (I, me, we, us), the person spoken to (you), or the person or thing spoken about (he, she, it, they, him, her, them). . When applied to writing textbooks, Flesch's interestlevel procedure can be especially misleading. Personal pronouns and evenpersonal names are frequently used impersonally im��per��son��al?adj.1. Lacking personality; not being a person: an impersonal force.2. a. Showing no emotion or personality: an aloof, impersonal manner. in writing texts. A listof personal pronouns, for example, would be made up almost entirely ofwords Flesch counts as personal, yet would be completely withoutreference to actual people. Worse, textbooks frequently refer to anunspecified Adj. 1. unspecified - not stated explicitly or in detail; "threatened unspecified reprisals"specified - clearly and explicitly stated; "meals are at specified times" `you' who is clearly not the reader. Likewise,impersonal im��per��son��al?adj.1. Lacking personality; not being a person: an impersonal force.2. a. Showing no emotion or personality: an aloof, impersonal manner. command structures proclaim pro��claim?tr.v. pro��claimed, pro��claim��ing, pro��claims1. To announce officially and publicly; declare. See Synonyms at announce.2. rules for effective compositionwhich are, in effect, aimed at a generalised Adj. 1. generalised - not biologically differentiated or adapted to a specific function or environment; "the hedgehog is a primitive and generalized mammal"generalizedbiological science, biology - the science that studies living organisms audience, rather thanspecific individuals. These constructions can confer artificially highhuman interest scores based on the Flesch scale (O'Hear &Ramsey, 1992). Given these issues, it is likely that the interest levelsrecorded here may be artificially high. This would imply that theinterest levels of the texts are quite low at a time when many pupilsare trying to cope with English. Davison and Anderson (1986) haveindicated that interest accounts for 30 times as much recall at sentencelevel as does reading ease. Interest is something that has a motivatingcharacteristic to encourage continuing involvement to master a newskill, yet it may well be missing here. Not only will texts that are too difficult and lack interest forthe reader decrease performance in the subject but they also reducemotivation and interest as well. This is not only in the specificsubject area but generalised to all contexts where reading is necessary.As a result, the incomprehensibility in��com��pre��hen��si��ble?adj.1. a. Difficult or impossible to understand or comprehend; unintelligible: incomprehensible jargon.b. of what is being read so easilybecomes associated with failure, frustration and boredom BoredomSee also Futility.Aldegonde, Lord St.bored nobleman, empty of pursuits. [Br. Lit.: Lothair]Baudelaire, Charles(1821–1867) French poet whose dissipated lifestyle led to inner despair. [Fr. Lit. that reading(in the Brunei context this means the use of English) becomes anactivity to be avoided-and a self-fulfilling expectation is produced.Yet all school subjects are reading lessons, and in particular for theseBrunei students, being able to read with understanding in English is thekey to their future. Textbooks are the major sources of information for students, andbecome more important with increasing year level. Material useful forpupils placed on the Internet can also be regarded as textbook/reference book type of information. A basic principle of education isthat pupils must be taught with materials with a level of difficultyapproximately matching the pupils' level of ability, otherwisetextbooks become ineffective as learning tools. We would accept thatthere is no guarantee that unmotivated or low ability pupils, or thosewith poor study habits, will gain much from a textbook even if it iswritten at their ability level. But most pupils are not in thesecategories and even these pupils can be remediated with texts written ata level and replete re��plete?adj.1. Abundantly supplied; abounding: a stream replete with trout; an apartment replete with Empire furniture.2. Filled to satiation; gorged.3. with interest appropriate for them. Since there appears to be a readability problem with the textsassessed and given the limited exposure of these pupils to the use ofEnglish, potential solutions must include the following strategies. * The improvement of pupil English ability through increasing theamount of English teaching prior to Year 6 and afterwards af��ter��ward? also af��ter��wardsadv.At a later time; subsequently.afterwardsor afterwardAdverblater [Old English ?fterweard]Adv. 1. , using agreater number of expatriate ExpatriateAn employee who is a U.S. citizen living and working in a foreign country. English first language teachers not only toteach English but also other subjects taught in English. All teachersare teachers of English, not simply their own subject areas, whenEnglish is the medium of instruction. This is especially true in primaryschools where the class teacher is a generalist gen��er��al��istn.A physician whose practice is not oriented in a specific medical specialty but instead covers a variety of medical problems.generalistand covers most aspectsof the curriculum, although in Brunei this is not always the case.Specialist teachers are used in many curriculum areas throughout theprimary school system there. If teachers are weak in their own Englishskills then pupil English skills will be poor as incorrect grammar andspelling and inadequate comprehension cloud attempts to read and speakthe language competently. * The reduction of the readability of the texts to a levelcongruent con��gru��ent?adj.1. Corresponding; congruous.2. Mathematicsa. Coinciding exactly when superimposed: congruent triangles.b. with the age of the pupil group and their level of experiencewith the English language. This may mean, for example, that Year 6 textsshould be written with a reading ease suitable for first languagechildren two years younger and with a higher level of interestappropriate to the age of the children rather than their reading age.All new texts should be assessed for readability and interest levels asthey are being prepared so that the finished product is at theappropriate level. These strategies should lead to better English skills, higherlevels of understanding of texts, more enjoyable and successfullearning, and a more productive future for all pupils. In a globalelectronic society the ability to understand and communicate competentlyin spoken and written English is very important. Everyone benefits: theindividual, the community and the state.Table 2: Reading interest levels (Flesch, 1974)Human interest Description Typicalscore of style literature60 to 100 Dramatic Fiction40 to 60 Highly interesting New Yorker20 to 40 Interesting Digests, Time10 to 20 Mildly interesting Trade0 to 10 Dull Scientific/ professionalHuman interest Percent Percentscore personal personal words sentences60 to 100 17 5840 to 60 10 4320 to 40 7 1510 to 20 4 50 to 10 2 0 REFERENCESBormuth, J. (1966) Readability: a new approach. Reading ResearchQuarterly, 1. pp 79-132.Chang Soon, B. (1993). Readability levels of science text books usedin most secondary schools. School Science and Mathematics, 93, pp 24-27.Dale, E. & Chall, J. (1948). A formula for predictingreadability. Educational Research Bulletin, 27, pp 11-20, 37-54.Davison, A. & Anderson, R. (1986). Conceptual and Empirical Basesof Readability Formulas. Technical Report 392. Cambridge: Bolt and Co.Flesch, R. (1974). 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