Smart Language Readers, Readability, and the Grading of Text William H. DuBay Impact Information Costa Mesa, California Copyright Smart Language: Readers, Readability, and the Grading of Text 25 January 2007 © 2007 William H. DuBay. All Rights Reserved. Abstract Smart Language gives a brief introduction to the adult literacy sur‐ veys and the research on readability and the readability formulas. Readersʹ Comments Please send all comments and suggestions regarding this document to: William DuBay Email: bdubay@impact‐information.com Website: http://www.impact‐information.com ISBN: 1‐4196‐5439‐X To George R. Klare 1922—2006 Teacher, writer, scientist, and friend Contents Introduction...............................................................................................................1 Writing for the Right Audience................................................................1 Writing for the Wrong Audience .............................................................2 What Is a Reading Grade Level? ..............................................................4 What is Readability? ..................................................................................4 The Readability Formulas .........................................................................6 How This Book is Organized....................................................................7 Part 1 How People Read ........................................................................................10 Chapter 1 The Adult Literacy Surveys .........................................................12 Grading the Skill of Readers ...................................................................12 Testing Comprehension...........................................................................13 Grading Adult Readers............................................................................14 The U.S. Military Literacy Surveys ........................................................14 U.S. Civilian Literacy Surveys ................................................................16 Adult‐Survey Controversies ...................................................................22 The New Literacy Studies .......................................................................26 Chapter 2 Surveys of Literature Use.............................................................30 Challenges for Writers .............................................................................34 Part 2 The Grading of Texts...................................................................................36 Chapter 3 The Classic Readability Studies...................................................38 Text Leveling.............................................................................................38 Early Readability Studies ........................................................................41 Vocabulary‐frequency lists .....................................................................43 The Classic Readability Formulas..........................................................47 Chapter 4 The New Readability ....................................................................62 A Community of Scholars .......................................................................64 The Cloze Test...........................................................................................65 Features of the Reader .............................................................................67 v Contents New Measures of Readability.................................................................70 The Measurement of Content .................................................................74 New Readability Formulas......................................................................80 The Listenability Formulas......................................................................85 Chapter 5 Applying the Formulas...............................................................100 Creating and Transforming Text..........................................................100 Applications in Research .......................................................................109 Court Actions and Legislation..............................................................109 Textbook publishers ...............................................................................110 Using the Formulas ................................................................................110 Conclusion ......................................................................................................117 Appendix ........................................................................................................119 George Klare’s Readability Ranking Test ...........................................119 References .......................................................................................................123 Index ................................................................................................................147 vi Introduction ONGRATULATIONS on your grosfast of Smart Language! This cor‐ tiloften will metroshram many years of habenlicks. Over time, if you slinktab, the benefits will akenblest on a jetloprak basis. The Cresponse of your rezneens will increase more than you have ever imagined. If you had difficulty reading that, it might give you a small idea how dif‐ ficult it is for many readers to read the forms, notices, applications, sched‐ ules, and instructions of everyday life. Even the best readers can be thrown off by a word they do not recognize. It is a common experience. Whenever we try to read a text that is too difficult for us, we quickly put it down and go do something else, automatically, even without thinking about it. Writing for the Right Audience RITING guides often tell us how to avoid such problems. For ex‐ ample, JoAnn Hackos and Dawn Stephens in Standards for Online W Communication (1997) ask us to “conform to accepted style stan‐ dards.” They explain: Many experts, through much research, have compiled golden rules of documentation writing. These rules apply regardless of medium: • Use short, simple, familiar words • Avoid jargon. • Use culture-and-gender-neutral language. 1 Smart Language • Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling. • Use simple sentences, active voice, and present tense. • Begin instructions in the imperative mode by starting sentences with an action verb. • Use simple graphic elements such as bulleted lists and numbered steps to make information visually accessible. There are many publications that follow these “golden rules” and yet only reach a small fraction of their potential readership. One reason may be that the writers are not adjusting the readability of their text to the reading ability of the audience. For example, take this text: Our pediatric staff — along with pediatric staffs of many other hospitals nationwide—believes it has a unique opportunity to intervene during the crucial early years of a child's develop- ment. Pediatricians have a special opportunity to promote early, positive book exposure because they see infants frequently in the first two years of life. They are often the only professionals to have repeated, one-to-one contacts with parents during their children's early years. The pediatrician sees the child and parent together at least every two to three months for the first 18 months of the child's life, and every six-to-12 months thereafter. Although on a Web site intended for the general public, it was written at the 15th‐grade level. Only a small fraction of its intended audience will read it. The following text was re‐written in smart language at the 7th‐grade level. A good 80% of the adult population will be able to read it: Pediatricians—children's doctors—can help prevent reading problems later in life. They are often the only professionals to see you and your child together in the first two years. They see both you and your child at least every couple months for the first 18 months. After that, they see you both every 6-to-12 months. Writing for the Wrong Audience Language can be very well written—and very plain—and yet written at the wrong reading level. Medical‐research institutions took note in 1999 when Tampa General Hospital and University of South Florida paid a $3.8 million settlement to a group of women who claimed the informed consent they had signed ex‐ ceeded their reading abilities. 2 Introduction The plaintiffs cited a law regarding dignitary harm, which is com‐ pensable even in the absence of other injury. The consent form, they claimed, informed them that they have no meaningful role in the research, because it is something that they cannot understand. Similar cases are pending else‐ where. In 1998, traffic accidents caused 46 percent of all accidental deaths of in‐ fants and children aged 1 to 14 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2000). One study (Johnston et al. 1994) showed that the single strongest risk factor for injury in a traffic accident is the improper use of child‐safety seats. An‐ other study (Kahane 1986) showed that, when correctly used, child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent and hospitalization by 67 percent. To be effective, however, the seats must be installed correctly. Other studies showed that 79 to 94 percent of car seats are used improperly (Na‐ tional Highway Traffic Safety Administration 1996, Decina and Knoebel 1997, Lane et al. 2000). Public‐health specialists Dr. Mark Wegner and Deborah Girasek (2003) suspected that