Karin Berendes

Reading demands in secondary school: Does the linguistic complexity of textbooks increase with grade level and the academic orientation of the school track?

An adequate level of linguistic complexity in learning materials is believed to be of crucial importance for learning. The implication for school textbooks is that reading complexity should differ systematically between grade levels and between higher and lower tracks in line with what can be called the systematic complexification assumption. However, research has yet to test this hypothesis with a real-world sample of textbooks. In the present study, we used automatic measures from computational linguistic research to analyze 2,928 texts from geography textbooks from four publishers in Germany in terms of their reading demands. We measured a wide range of lexical, syntactic, morphological, and cohesion-related features and developed text classification models for predicting the grade level (Grades 5 to 10) and school track (academic vs. vocational) of the texts using these features. We also tested ten linguistic features that are considered to be particularly important for a reader’s understanding. The results provided only partial support for systematic complexification. The text classification models showed accuracy rates that were clearly above chance but with considerable room for improvement. Furthermore, there were significant differences across grade levels and school tracks for some of the ten linguistic features. Finally, there were marked differences among publishers. The discussion outlines key components for a systematic research program on the causes and consequences of the lack of systematic complexification in reading materials.

Selecting Appropriate Phonological Awareness Indicators for the Kindergarten Cohort of the National Educational Panel Study:A Theoretical and Empirical Approach

Language is the central medium for lifelong learning and consequently significantly impacts on the cognitive-academic and socio-emotional development of an individual. Thus, the assessment of language competencies is one major focus of the measurement of competencies in the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). Since reading literacy in the lingua franca of society is essential in order to achieve academic goals, acquire knowledge, and participate in society, this competency is assessed coherently over the lifespan in the NEPS. However, in Germany, reading is not taught before formal schooling. Therefore, reading competencies cannot be assessed in preschool or Kindergarten. Instead, phonological awareness is measured as a precursor variable of reading competence and oral language (receptive vocabulary, grammar) as well as more general literacy indicators. Although a broad range of tests and subscales for assessing phonological awareness exist, not all of them are suitable for the assessment within the framework of a large-scale educational study. Most well-established measures for assessing phonological awareness in preschool age are designed as screening instruments and/or indicators within therapeutic settings. Thus, the items are very easy, distinguishing exclusively children who show below-average performances.