Abstract
The current study aimed to compare the reading passages in the prescribed textbooks (Middle School English 3 and High School English 1) and in high school 1st graders’ National Achievement English tests (mock tests) implemented for three consecutive years (2018-2020). In doing so, the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (L2SCA) and two dissimilar readability indices, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), were utilized. One-way ANOVA and a post-hoc test (Scheffe test) were conducted on 104 passages for Middle School English 3, 92 for High School English 1, and 276 for the mock tests. The results revealed that the reading passages in the mock tests were syntactically the most complex across the 14 measures. In addition, in terms of readability, much greater difference was observed between the Middle School English 3 and the mock tests than between the Middle School English 3 and High School English 1. These results imply that the difficulty levels in the textbooks should be adjusted and that similar to the high school setting, a mock test needs to be considered for the middle school, so that learning burden of students can be lessened.
| Translated title of the contribution | An analysis of the reading passages represented in the textbooks of middle/high school and national achievement English tests through syntactic complexity and readability |
|---|---|
| Original language | Korean |
| Pages (from-to) | 48-66 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | 중등영어교육 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2021 |