Reconceptualizing Readability: The Relationship between Surface and Underlying Structure Analyses in Predicting the Difficulty of Basal Reader Stories
Shane Templeton, Carolyn T. Cain, James O. Miller · The Journal of Educational Research · 1981
Readability has traditionally been predicted by tabulating surface structure variables such as vocabulary and sentence length. These criteria are used in determining levels within basal reading series. The prediction of readability as a function of underlying structure- or the logical relationship among higher-order text elements-has not been systematically investigated. In this study a difficulty formula based on underlying structure analysis was applied to basal reader stories and compared to difficulty levels as determined by the Fry Readability Formula. Results indicated that there is no systematic increase in underlying structure difficulty with increase in grade level. Implications for readability research and for basal reader content and instruction are discussed.