Assessing the Readability of College Textbooks in Public Speaking: Attending to Entry Level Instruction

Abstract

More research is needed that examines textbooks intended for the entry level college classroom. This study offers valuable information to academics that adopt a public speaking textbook for instruction as well as objective feedback to the collective authors. Readability levels of 22 nationally published textbooks, based on McGlaughlin's (1969) SMOG readability index, are reported. The mean readability level for all textbooks combined equated to a (M= 15.66) grade level with a SD (.71) less than one grade level of difficulty and a range of 2.83 grade levels. It should be noted that the SMOG index is based on 100% reader comprehension and tends to rate difficulty two grade levels higher than comparable measures. An ANOVA and corresponding t-tests indicate significant differences with respect to the readability among texts. Implications of findings, limitations of this study, recommendations for teachers, and directions for future research are provided.