One of the earlier readability tests is the Reading Ease formula developed by Rudolph Flesch. Considered to be almost as accurate a measure as the the Dale-Chall formula that preceded it, the reading ease formula has been noted to be easier to use. To compute it, one only has to count words, syllables, and sentences. Then, sentence length and word length are summed to compute the score. A low score suggests an extremely difficult piece of material while a high score implies a very easy read.

For details on the original Flesch formula, read more …

In 1978, David Foulger presented a simplified reading ease formula which is a modification of the original Flesch procedure. Foulger’s revision aims to cut down on word counting time which should make computations easier.

SMOG Readability Test

SMOG (Simple Measure Of Gobbledygook) is another readability test that’s easy to calculate manually. To calculate
the SMOG reading grade level, begin with the entire written work that is being assessed, and follow these four steps:

1. Count off 10 consecutive sentences near the beginning, in the middle, and near the end of the text.

2. From this sample of 30 sentences, circle all of the words containing three or more syllables (polysyllabic), including repetitions of the same word, and total the number of words circled.3

3. Estimate the square root of the total number of polysyllabic words counted. This is done by finding the nearest perfect square, and taking its square root.

4. Finally, add a constant of three to the square root. This number gives the SMOG grade, or the reading grade level hat a person must have reached if he or she is to fully understand the text being assessed. A few additional guidelines will help to clarify these directions:

* A sentence is defined as a string of words punctuated with a period (.), an exclamation point (!) or a question mark (?).
* Hyphenated words are considered as one word.
* Numbers which are written out should also be considered, and if in numeric form in the text, they should be pronounced to determine if they are polysyllabic.
* Proper nouns, if polysyllabic, should be counted, too.
* Abbreviations should be read as unabbreviated to determine if they are polysyllabic.

Not all pamphlets, fact sheets, or other printed materials contain 30 sentences. To test a text that has fewer than 30 sentences:

1. Count all of the polysyllabic words in the text.
2. Count the number of sentences.
3. Find the average number of polysyllabic words per sentence as follows:
Average= Total # of polysyllabic words/Total # of sentences
4. Multiply that average by the number of sentences short of 30.
5. Add that figure on to the total number of polysyllabic words.
6. Find the square root and add the constant of 3.

Perhaps the quickest way to administer the SMOG grading test is by using the SMOG conversion table.

Read more …