Selected Works of Literature and Readability.

Autor/in	Davis, Charles Ernest
Titel	Selected Works of Literature and Readability.
Quelle	(1969), (170 Seiten)Verfügbarkeit
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Prose; Readability; Reading Research; Reading Skills; Twentieth Century Literature; United States Literature; Vocabulary + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Prosa; Lesbarkeit; Leseforschung; Reading skill; Lesefertigkeit; Wortschatz
Abstract	An investigation was made to determine the levels of readability of representative works of prose fiction by contemporary American authors. Authors were selected on the basis of their appearing in the "Modern Language Association International Bibliography of Books and Articles" for the years 1958-1967. Authors appearing there were checked against "Contemporary Authors" to determine if they were living American authors of prose fiction. A representative work of each of the 124 authors chosen was analyzed for its readability level by means of the Yoakam Readability Formula which determines readability level on the basis of vocabulary difficulty. A mean level of readability for the works analyzed was 110.8, or 9.9 in terms of grade level. Plus or minus one standard deviation from the mean indicated a range of from 7.4 to 12.1 in terms of readability by grade level. The conclusion was drawn that works of literary merit could be found for students lacking reading skills, commensurate with their maturity otherwise. It was suggested that future formulas for readability based on vocabulary difficulty ought to use a more recent study than the Thorndike word list compiled before 1932 (the basis of the Yoakam formula), and that readability analysis be programmed for use with computers. (Author/DD)
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC