Is Sentence Length a Valid Measure of Difficulty in Readability Formulas
Susan Mandel Glazer · The Reading Teacher · 1974
FOR MANY YEARS researchers in readability have used sentence length as a variable for assessing the predictability of reading comprehension. Sentence length, as a readability factor, has been the one linguistic variable in cluded in many of the more widely used formulas for predicting the reading difficulty level of a passage of prose writing (Dale and Chali, 1948; Spache, 1953). Consideration of other linguistic variables in formulas (such as number of prepositions, or the number of modifiers employed) was not given. The more variables measured, the more complicated computations would become, and complicated formulas are not practical for classroom teachers to use. After 1950, researchers in readability began thinking about matching materials with children with new considerations. Strickland (1962) is responsible for stimulating changes in readability analysis. She suggested that language complexity may not necessarily be a function of sentence length. She further con cluded that oral language patterns should be considered in writing texts for instruction in reading. This led others to consider language variables other than a mere count of words