Measuring and predicting graded reader difficulty

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorHolster, Trevor A.
dc.contributor.authorLake, J. W.
dc.contributor.authorPellowe, William R.
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-22T02:26:36Z
dc.date.available2020-05-22T02:26:36Z
dc.date.issued2017-10
dc.description.abstractThis study used many-faceted Rasch measurement to investigate the difficulty of graded readers using a 3-item survey. Book difficulty was compared with Kyoto Level, Yomiyasusa Level, Lexile Level, book length, mean sentence length, and mean word frequency. Word frequency and Kyoto Level were found to be ineffective in predicting students' perceptions of book difficulty. Book length was found to be highly predictive of perceived book difficulty, with the Yomiyasusa Levels predicting 68% of variance, while the Lexile measure of mean sentence length was moderately predictive, with 40% of variance explained. These results show that current headword levelling of graded readers is ineffective and that publishers' book levels do not provide useful guidance in selection of books to read. It is therefore recommended that students use book length as their primary consideration in choosing books and that reading recommendations and purchasing decisions be based on Yomiyasusa Levels rather than publishers' levels.
dc.identifier.doi10125/66914
dc.identifier.issn1539-0578
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10125/66914
dc.publisherUniversity of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center
dc.publisherCenter for Language & Technology
dc.subjectextensive reading
dc.subjectbook difficulty
dc.subjectreadability
dc.subjectRasch analysis
dc.subjectmany-faceted Rasch measurement
dc.titleMeasuring and predicting graded reader difficulty
dc.typeArticle
dc.type.dcmiText
local.rfl.topicGraded Readers
prism.endingpage244
prism.number2
prism.startingpage218
prism.volume29

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
29_2_10125_66914_holster.pdf
Size:
932.31 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Volume 29, No. 2