A readability study of social studies and science textbooks

English, Ida Perpetua Marrie (1974) A readability study of social studies and science textbooks. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[English] PDF (Migrated (PDF/A Conversion) from original format: (application/pdf)) - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Download (5MB) [English] PDF - Accepted Version Available under License - The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. (Original Version)

Abstract

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.

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