Research on schema theory and the psycholinguistic perspectives of reading suggest that the measures of readability currently used on second language tests be reconsidered. Because foreign language readers, especially in the early stages of language learning, often do not have the necessary schema or background knowledge, teachers should include schema-inducing methods to prepare students for reading in a foreign language. The standards of what is readable and judgments as to what is understandable should always be relative to a particular instructional setting. Using traditional methods to measure readability is undesirable for foreign language reading because of students' insufficient linguistic and cultural background information. With the current knowledge of the factors interacting during the reading process, artificial and arbitrary means for classifying materials should be avoided. (MSE)