A computer program has been designed to analyze the reading difficulty of English text. It is, essentially, an automation of the widely used Dale-Chall formula for the estimation of reading difficulty. Text samples of up to 5000 words are input, with only minor punctuation restrictions being applied. Output from the program consists of sample…

Textual Analysis of Language Samples (TEXAN) is a computer program which can count a number of variables needed for use in readability formulas. Three studies which utilize TEXAN are reported in this paper: (1) In 1972, Norman and Helen Felsenthal randomly selected 20 books from the 1306 in Eakin's "Good Books for Children" and calculated their…

Two programs designed to analyze reading selections and post a grade level based on number of syllables and phonetic make-up are presented. The materials are written in BASIC for a PET computer. The program, designed to analyze the phonics, is thoroughly documented. (MP)

Stories relating to life experiences were tape-recorded in an informal setting using natural language patterns and familiar topics in this study of peer-prepared reading materials for black adults. Three of the stories were written at different levels of difficulty according to the Automated Readability Index (ARI). The stories were presented to a…