Conceptual readability : new ways to look at text
Andee Rubin, Robert N. Kantor, Alice Louise Davison, Cindy Steinberg, Bertram C. Bruce, Bonnie B. Armbruster, Dedre Gentner, Thomas H. Anderson, Ernest T. Goetz · Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) · 1981
The papers in this collection describe a notion of "conceptual readability" which contrasts our approach to text with that assumed by standard readability formulas.Traditionally, the readability level of a text has been calculated by considering text characteristics such as the number of words per sentence and the degree of familiarity of individual words.Our approach focuses instead on the concepts communicated by the text: how arguments are presented, what place examples play in an exposition, how characters' interactions are developed and described.In this report, we first demonstrate how certain uses of traditional readability formulas may actually lead to more difficult texts.Next, we discuss two alternative text analysis methods which are sensitive to structural, semantic and discourse characteristics.Finally, we suggest an educational method which encourages children to focus on the conceptual level of text in their early reading and writing experiences.