A readability study of social studies and science textbooks

• Main Author: English, Ida Perpetua Marrie
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1974
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/7999/; https://research.library.mun.ca/7999/1/English_IdaPerpetuaMarrie.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/7999/3/English_IdaPerpetuaMarrie.pdf

The purpose of this study is to determine by using the Dale-Chall Readability Formula: (1) the readability level of the social studies and science textbooks recommended by the Newfoundland Department of Education for use in grades four, five, six, seven and eight; (2) the readability level of two series of science textbooks which are at present under consideration for further use in grades four, five, and six; (3) whether the reading difficulty of the social studies and science textbooks increases at a uniform rate from the beginning to the end of the book. -- The results of this study show that at grade five and grade seven a majority of the textbooks sampled conforms to their publishers designated grade-level; at grade four and grade six none of the textbooks sampled conform to their publisher's designated grade-level since all scored above, and at grade eight the majority of textbooks sampled do not conform to their publisher's designated grade-level but scored above it. -- To the question concerning the extent to which the sampled textbooks at each grade-level exhibit a desirable internal progression from less difficult to more difficult reading material, the results show that at grades four and eight, one of the textbooks at each grade-level exhibited the desired internal progression; at grades five and seven, two of the textbooks at each grade-level exhibited the desired internal progression; and at grade six, three of the textbooks at this grade-level exhibited the desired internal progression.