Text Readability and Vocabulary Frequency Levels: Analyzing Reading Texts in the College Scholastic Ability Test

• Published in: English Language Teaching Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 157 - 175
• Main Authors: 신유선, Junil Oh, 김은지
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 팬코리아영어교육학회 01.01.2012
• Subjects: 영어와문학
• ISSN: 1226-6566; 2671-9460
• DOI: 10.17936/pkelt.2012.23.4.008

The quantitative study investigated reading difficulty by analyzing Flesch-Kincaid readability index and vocabulary frequency levels of the texts in the College Scholastic Ability Test from 2002 to 2011 in Korea. Analyses of readability index and vocabulary frequency levels of the texts used in the test yielded the following clear results: both reading difficulty and vocabulary frequency levels including 1000, 2000, UWL (University Word Level), and not-in-the-list frequency level have increased over the last ten years. The tendency suggests that there has been a gradual change in terms of reading difficulty in accordance with the level of vocabulary in the test. Additionally, the results imply that the steady increase in both reading difficulty and vocabulary frequency levels has improved the authenticity of the test based on the perspective that students will actually confront texts with the similar level of vocabulary difficulty and lengths or even longer than those as the CSAT test in their academic contexts. This finding, though, runs counter to foreign language policy stated by the Ministry of Education, which currently focuses on communicative language ability and subsequent practical language use in real life. The quantitative study investigated reading difficulty by analyzing Flesch-Kincaid readability index and vocabulary frequency levels of the texts in the College Scholastic Ability Test from 2002 to 2011 in Korea. Analyses of readability index and vocabulary frequency levels of the texts used in the test yielded the following clear results: both reading difficulty and vocabulary frequency levels including 1000, 2000, UWL (University Word Level), and not-in-the-list frequency level have increased over the last ten years. The tendency suggests that there has been a gradual change in terms of reading difficulty in accordance with the level of vocabulary in the test. Additionally, the results imply that the steady increase in both reading difficulty and vocabulary frequency levels has improved the authenticity of the test based on the perspective that students will actually confront texts with the similar level of vocabulary difficulty and lengths or even longer than those as the CSAT test in their academic contexts. This finding, though, runs counter to foreign language policy stated by the Ministry of Education, which currently focuses on communicative language ability and subsequent practical language use in real life. KCI Citation Count: 1