A structured analysis of three basal readers written for grades 2-5 was conducted using the T-unit (any independent clause) as the primary unit of analysis. The number of T-units per 100 words, the number of words per T-unit, the number of clauses per T-unit, and the number of morphemes per T-unit (a new index of linguistic maturity) are reported.…

This review of findings in the field of readability research discusses the differences in meaning between readability and legibility, examines the origins and developments of readability formulas for children's and adult materials, and describes several of the best-known formulas for English-language materials. (46 references) (Author/LRW)