Readability of Examination Reading Comprehension Texts at Third Grade Male Secondary Schools : Students’ Comprehension and Strategies

Abstract

The aim of this study is to enable English Language Teachers of Third Grade Male Secondary Schools in Saudi Arabia to select Examination Reading Comprehension Texts (ERCTs) which are appropriate and compatible with the level of Students of Third Grade Male Secondary Schools. It also shows how (ERCTs) are selected on a scientific basis so that they (ERCTs) could be compatible with the Reading Comprehension Texts (RCTs) found in the third grade students’ textbooks. This study also aims to show the actual comprehension level of students when reading (ERCTs) and the appropriate Reading Strategies (RS) that could aid students to increase their comprehension of (ERCT). To reach the aforementioned aims, this study investigates two main aspects. The first, compares (RCTs) found in third year secondary English textbooks for males in Saudi Arabia with (ERCTs) in terms of readability. The study analyzes the linguistic aspect of (ERCTs) (the total number of unfamiliar words, the total number of words, the average sentence length, the total number of sentences, the total number of words with three syllables and more and the final readability score of Dale & Chall 1995 software) in order to explore whether there is a correlation between the (RCTs) in third grade secondary school textbooks and the (ERCTs) selected by third grade English teachers. In addition, the study investigates whether (ERCTs) are readable for third grade students throughout the use of Cloze Readability (CR) test. As for the second aspect of the study, it highlights the level of correlation between the students’ scores in the Cloze Readability (CR) test and the use of (RS) through the use of a reading strategies (RS) questionnaire. This study analyzes and compares two types of data: 1- the controlled data taken from (RCTs) sample that is twelve (RCTs) found in third year secondary school textbooks used in Saudi Arabia and 2- the experimental data taken from an (ERCTs) sample that is made up of thirty (ERCTs) selected for English examinations. All texts are analyzed through (Dale & Chall, 1995) readability formula software. The subjects of the study are 100 male secondary school students taking the cloze readability (CR) test to show their comprehension level in relation to the readability of (ERCTs) following (Bormuth, 1967) a cloze readability test procedure. The 100 subjects take the (CR) test in which three random examination reading comprehension texts (ERCTs) are encountered. The same 100 participants then also respond to a questionnaire about reading comprehension strategies to demonstrate whether the strategies influence their performance on (CR) test.