High School English Textbooks and College Entrance Examinations: A Comparison of Reading Passage Difficulty

Page No.: 
81
Writer(s): 
Shinji Kimura, Kwansei Gakuin University; Brad Visgatis, Osaka International College for Women

This paper examines the difficulty level of 48 entrance examination reading
passages, taken from tests at 33 junior colleges, and compares them with the
difficulty level of 66 passages taken from 4 approved high school English
textbooks using readability indices. Though wide variation in readability scores
was recorded, overall results indicate test reading passage difficulty to be
significantly higher than the difficulty of textbook reading passages. A serious
mismatch between official test candidate requirements and what is truly required
of the applicants may exist. Schools are encouraged to review their literature for
prospective students and/or adapt their tests to help ensure fairness and validity.

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