An analysis of readability levels of contemporary textbooks that employ a hybrid approach to the basic communication course

Abstract

Determining the readability of textbooks should allow teachers to select books that appropriately challenge the functional reading skills of their students. Gunning's (1968) FOG index was utilized to determine the average readability of 24 contemporary textbooks that employ a hybrid approach to the basic speech communication course. Twenty‐five reading samples from each text were analyzed. Means, standard deviations, and relevant statistics are reported. Pragmatic use of the FOG index is discussed and some strategies for developing reading skills are suggested.