Assessing Text-grading of the Introduced Graded Readers in China

摘要

An increasing number of graded readers thus come out for pedagogical purposes. However, the reliability of text-grading for graded readers remains questionable. Whether they show linguistic difference across levels needs further research given a shifted emphasis on multidimensional features. The study used Co-Metrix to give an assessment on graded readers’text-grading both under unidimensional and multidimensional indices, providing a testimony to publishers’original design and to the feasibility against the new trend. It indicated that across-grade difference only partly corresponded with publishers’text-grading rationale that focused on surface features. But it made no sense in linguistics at a deeper level since no overall difference was found. Therefore, the reassessment and design of graded readers were suggested to take account of multidimensional features for across-grade difference.