Computational Text Analysis: A More Comprehensive Approach to Determine Readability of Reading Materials

Autor/inn/en	Aziz, Anealka; Fook, Chan Yuen; Alsree, Zubaida
Titel	Computational Text Analysis: A More Comprehensive Approach to Determine Readability of Reading Materials
Quelle	In: Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 1 (2010) 2, S.200-219 (20 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2203-4714
Schlagwörter	Readability; Computational Linguistics; Reading Materials; Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Difficulty Level; Computer Software; Reading Fluency; Sentences; Readability Formulas; Comparative Analysis; Reliability; Evaluation Methods; Flesch Kincaid Grade Level Formula; Flesch Reading Ease Formula; Fry Readability Formula; Dale Chall Readability Formula + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Lesbarkeit; Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Schwierigkeitsgrad; Sentence analysis; Satzanalyse; Reliabilität
Abstract	Reading materials are considered having high readability if readers are interested to read the materials, understand the content of the materials and able to read the materials fluently. In contrast, reading materials with low readability discourage readers from reading the materials, create difficulties for readers to understand the content of the materials and prevent readers to read the materials fluently. The study presented in this article intends to propose a comprehensive approach to analyze reading materials so that not only the overall readability of the materials can be determined, but information about sentence and word difficulty as well. This study was interested to analyze reading materials at three levels: (1) text; (2) sentence; and (3) and word levels. Three computational tools were used to extract information related to readability of reading materials at the three levels: (1) A readability formula was used to estimate materials difficulty at text level; (2) writing enhancement software was used to estimate materials difficulty at sentence level; and (3) concordance software was used to estimate materials difficulty at word level. It was found that conventional readability formulas usually provide estimates of overall readability of reading materials. However, the composite computational tools proposed in this study, are able to provide more information about readability of reading materials at sentence and word levels. These tools enable estimation of materials difficulty to be performed objectively and reliably. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Australian International Academic Centre PTY, LTD. 11 Souter Crescent, Footscray VIC, Australia 3011. Tel: +61-3-9028-6880; e-mail: editor.alls@aiac.org.au; Web site: http://journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/alls/index
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01