Re[2]: Word lists for reading levels?

Subject: Re[2]: Word lists for reading levels?
From: William Warner <Bill -dot- Warner -at- RELIASTAR -dot- COM>
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 10:09:28 -0600

>Does anyone have access to a reference that lists the reading level
(for >example, 8th grade, 10th grade, etc.) for words?
>
Re Readability of words:

Readability studies that analyze readability (e.g., Flesch readability
scale) take into consideration much more than "individual words." The
factors involved include:

1. Complexity of the words. For example, the number of syllables in
the randomly selected sample passage (or in the entire document).
Another consideration analyzed is the number of uncommon proper nouns.

2. Complexity of the sentences: For example, number of words in each
sentence. Another consideration analyzed is the types of sentences
(e.g., declarative, interrogative).

I know of no valid study that determined the readability grade level
of individual words.

Bill Warner, Ph.D.
Senior Technical Writer
ReliaStar Financial
Minneapolis, Minnesota
bwarner -at- reliastar -dot- com









______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Word lists for reading levels?
Author: TECHWR-L (INTERNET.TECHWRL) at LOTUSAU
Date: 11/24/96 7:23 PM


>The discussion (on TECHWR-L) of Latinisms prompts me to ask:

>Does anyone have access to a reference that lists the reading level (for
>example, 8th grade, 10th grade, etc.) for words?

>Regards...Kris
>===================================
>kjolberg -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com (preferred)
>kolberg -at- actamed -dot- com

I don't know of a book that lists the reading level of individual words.
However, there is a tool for determining the reading level of a document
that is probably closer than you'd think: MS Word. Open your Word doc (or
import text into Word, if necessary) and select Grammar from the Tools
menu. Among the several things that the Grammar tool checks is the reading
level of the document. I use it less often than I probably should, but it's
nice to know that it's available.

Cheers!
Pam Williams

Pam Williams
Tech Writer, Reiki Master, and Bon Vivant
PO Box 476
Manchester, NH 03105 USA
grenadin -at- bit-net -dot- com



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