Methodology

Readabilities were done on each book in order to ensure a standard measure of determining reading levels. For those who are not familiar with readabilities or the type we used, a brief explanation follows.

Key Terms

Readabilities

are mathematical formulas which predict reading levels of a text, often based on:

sentence length, measured in numbers of words

word difficulty, measured in:

number of syllables or letters

percentage of words on a list of familiar words

Fry Readability

was recommended by the Manitoba Literacy Office
was initially used for our assessments

Flesch-Kincaid Scale

is a readability formula in the Correct Grammar computer program
has results that correlate very closely with Fry's results
was mainly used for this publication

Process

Step 1.
Fry Readabilities were done on a selection of books. The process was found to be too time-consuming for the number of books we planned to assess.
Step 2.
The same passages used for Fry were keyed into the Correct Grammar computer program. The Flesch-Kincaid results correlated very closely with Fry; therefore, the decision was made to use Flesch-Kincaid.
Step 3.

To reduce the time even further, a scanner was used rather than keying in the passages. The scanned passages on the disc were read by Correct Grammar. This final step became our standard method of assessment.

Assessing Your Own Books

You could assess your own books by using Fry (manually) or Flesch-Kincaid (Correct Grammar computer program). Other computer programs with the Flesch-Kincaid or a comparable readability system might also be used. For large numbers of books, obviously, using a scanner and a computer program would be the most expedient.

Assigning Reading Stages

The Manitoba Literacy and Continuing Education Branch developed certificates for the different stages of adult learning in reading, writing and speaking.

Using the readability results and guidelines from the Manitoba Literacy and Continuing Education Branch adult learning stages were assigned to all of the reading books, using the equivalencies which follow.

Equivalencies

Stage 1 - Reading Level below gr. 2

Stage 2 - Reading Level gr. 2, 3, 4

Stage 3 - Reading Level gr. 5, 6, 7, 8

Stage 4 - Reading Level above gr. 8

Assigning Reading Stages

The Manitoba Employment Development Programs and Literacy Branch developed certificates for the different stages of adult learning in reading, writing and speaking.
Using the readability results and guidelines from the Manitoba Literacy and Continuing Education Branch adult learning stages were assigned to all of the reading books.

Before an assigned stage was confirmed for a book, other criteria affecting readability was taken into consideration, not just the Flesch-Kincaid results. The additional criteria follows:

Other Criteria

Format

pictures
print size
print type
layout on the page
number of words on a page
number of words on a line

repetition of words

Content

foreign vocabulary
abstract concepts or information
length of the novel

Books which were "borderline", at the lower or upper end of a stage, were either reassessed and/or moved if the other criteria strongly supported the move.

Notes:

Books with tapes were assessed by the standardized method. It is to be noted, however, that a learner with a lower reading ability could read these books while listening to a tape. All of the books in this publication have been assessed using the above methodology, with the exception of learners' writings. Because books of learners' writings often covered a wide range of reading levels, the Flesch-Kincaid assessment was not always done on them. Instead, an assigned stage or range of stages was given to them after consideration of the other criteria affecting readability.

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