Flesch Reading Ease
In the Flesch Reading Ease test, higher scores indicate material that is easier to read; lower numbers mark more-difficult-to-read passages. Here's the breakdown:
- 90.0–100.0: easily understandable by an average 11-year old student
- 60–70: easily understandable by 13- to 15-year old students
- 0–30: best understood by college graduates
Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level
An obvious use for readability tests is in the field of education. The ‘Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level Formula’ translates the 0–100 score to a grade level, making it easier for teachers, parents, librarians, and others to judge the readability level of various books and texts.
It can also mean the number of years of education generally required to understand this text, relevant when the formula results in a number greater than 12.
The result is a number that corresponds with a grade level. For example, a score of 8.2 would indicate that the text is expected to be understandable by an average student in Grade 8 (usually aged 13-15 in South Africa).
Did you know? The lowest grade level score in theory is -3.4, but, since there are few real passages that have every sentence consisting of a single one-syllable word, this rarely occurs in practice. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss close, averaging 5.7 words per sentence and 1.02 syllables per word, with a grade level of -1.3. (Most of the 812 words are monosyllabic; "anywhere", which occurs eight times, is the only exception.)
A caveat
But readability often goes beyond mathematical calculations. How a reader feels about an article influences whether he or she will understand it or even finish reading it. When people open a new book or magazine, they may subconsciously scan it to see if it’s 'reader-friendly'.
Do they see lots of full stops? That means short sentences. Lots of white space? That may mean short paragraphs. Do they see exclamation points and question marks? That means that it isn’t straight, routine exposition.
A potential reader may subconsciously look for personal pronouns. That actually increases readability, because it suggests that the author is writing about people, and people are interesting. Does the book or article contain vocabulary that you wouldn’t expect to see, such as the word 'puppy' in a scientific article? That suggests that it contains metaphors and analogies, which are easier to understand, and not just chemical formulas.
Does it contain specific nouns at all? Seeing the word 'Weimaraner' in an article gives me more hope of an interesting read than 'dog' or 'animal'.
Flesch taught the importance of personality and personal connection in writing. A reader is not merely a customer, he or she is a human being like yourself, looking for reassurance and connection. We all want to hear, “I’m sorry about that,” “I know what you mean,” “I found the answer to your question,” “I solved your problem,” and “Thank you so much!”
Sentences like those appear all too rarely in business and government writing, and Flesch said there is no good reason why they shouldn’t.
Flesch had a special gift for helping to simplify legal language - and there’s a special reason for that. In one instance, he condensed a paragraph of gobbledy-gook into something like, 'These people have owed you $10,000 for two months. If they don’t pay by next month, I think you should sue.' Many clients might worry whether writing so simple can still be legally binding. Not to worry. Before he went to the United States, Rudolf Flesch was a lawyer in Vienna.
A little gift
Use http://juicystudio.com/services/readability.php to test the readability of any website you choose. Start with mine, if you like. You'll find it at www.tiffanymarkman.co.za. Enjoy!
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