READABILITY LEVEL OF “BAHASA INGGRIS” TEXTBOOK FOR THE SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS Fahriah Alumni of English Education Department , Tarbiyah and Teachers Training Faculty IAIN Antasari Banjarmasin Puji Sri Rahayu A Lecturer at English Education Department, Tarbiyah and Teachers Training Faculty IAIN Antasari Banjarmasin ABSTRACT This research aims to investigate the level of readability of “Bahasa Inggris” textbook for the seventh grade students published by Mediatama and to know whether “Bahasa Inggris” textbook is readable for the seventh grade students. The population of this study is + 210 students of seventh grade of SMP Negeri 1 Banjarmasin. The sample is 20% of the population or 42 students. The sample is chosen by using random-sampling techniques which is taken 6 students in each class. To collect the data, the writer uses two techniques that are cloze test and readability formula (Flesch Reading Ease Formula). The result of this research showed that through Flesch Reading Ease Formula, the readability score for the whole texts of the English textbook entitled “Bahasa Inggris” is 76,35 (fairly easy) and through cloze test, the textbook has high readability which shown by its readability score 62,068. It means that “Bahasa Inggris” Textbook Published by medaiatama is readable and suitable for the seventh grade of SMP Negeri 1 Banjarmasin. Key Words : Reading, Readibility level, Bahasa Inggris Textbook Reading an English textbook is one of the key components of teaching English, since it generally serves as the basis for much of the language input that learners receive and the language practice in English teaching and learning processes, so that the high quality of textbook is required by every person involved in education. A teaching-learning process will run well if the material can fully comprehended by the student. A good English textbook is readable, understandable and comprehensible for students. The suitable difficulty text level will make students motivated and enjoy reading the material. Then, it will help them to catch the material. Too low readability text will make students bored. Otherwise, if it is too difficult, there will be lost of interest and students get frustrated. The way to know whether an English textbook is appropriate for students is using readability analysis. Readability analysis concerns on how easily written materials can be read and understood. Knowing that fact, the writer would like to try to analyse the readability level of reading materials found in “Bahasa Inggris” textbook for seventh grade of Junior High School Published by Mediatama and this analysis will be conducted to the seventh grade of SMP Negeri 1 Banjarmasin. The problems which are formulated by the writer are how is the level of readability of “Bahasa Inggris” textbook for seventh grade students published by Mediatama? and is “Bahasa Inggris” textbook readable for the seventh grade students of SMP Negeri 1 Banjarmasin?. The research is limited to explore the readability level of five reading texts that are taken from the textbook entitled “Bahasa Inggris” published by Mediatama. The readability analysis is carried out using cloze test and readability formula which is Flesch Reading Ease Formula. THEORETICAL REVIEW Reading in language learning plays an important role. It is one of four language skills which students have to learn. It is assumed to be the central means for learning new information and gaining access to alternative explanations and interpretations. Linguists give various opinions about reading. According to Hildreth written in his book “reading is a mental process involving the interpretation of signs perceived through the sense organs” (1959, p.2). Nuttal (1982, p.2) explained the meaning of reading as (a) understand, interpret, meaning, sense, etcetera, (b) decode, dechiper, identify, etc, (c) articulate, speak, pronounce, etcetera.. While Lado stated that “reading in a foreign language consist of grasping meaning in the language though its written representation” (1964, p. 132). To enable the students to master reading activity, teacher of English should provide materials. According to Harmer, reading texts provide opportunities to study language such as; vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and the way to construct sentence, paragraph and text (Harmer, 1998, p.68). Based on the definitions above, it is important for teachers to use a textbook when they teach a particular subject in order to help them when they conduct teaching and learning activities as well as to reach educational purposes. According to Thomson, “the textbook is a stimulus or instrument for teaching and learning”(Heinle, 2000, p. 175). In another definition, textbook is a manual of instruction or a standard book in any branch of study which is produced according to the demands of educational institutions (Wikipedia). Nuttall (1989, p. 170) states that a good textbook should fulfil some criteria such as suitability of content, exploitability and readability. a. Suitability of content The most important criterion is that the text should interest the reader – preferably enthral and delight them. It is suggested to look for motivating material implies the students’ interest. In addition to being interesting, some classroom text at least should represent the kind of material students will need to handle. b. Exploitability Exploitability - that is, facilitation of learning - is arguably the most important criterion after interest. When teacher exploits a text, teacher uses it to develop the students’ competence as the reader. c. Readability The term “readability” is often used to refer to the combination of structural and lexical difficulty. It forces on the easiness with which a text can be read. Since the language of a text may be difficult for one student and easy for another, it is necessary to assess the right level for the students. From the explanation above, it can be concluded that a good textbook is a textbook that fit to the curriculum, teachers, and students. Dealing with the students, the textbook has to have certain readability level that is appropriate with the students. Readability is derived from the root word “read”, “able” and “ity”. In Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Webster, 2003, p. 1035), readability is noun form of readable (adj) that means able to read easily. Readable is also defined as fit to read, interesting, agreeable, attractive in style and enjoyable. Readability is basically related to the level of ease of understanding of a text. A text which has high readability level is easy to understand. On the contrary, text having low readability level is difficult to understand (Sakri in Catur, 2010, p. 13). National Education Department in its website stated “Aspek Keterbacaan (readability) berkaitan dengan tingkat kemudahan bahasa (kosa kata, kalimat, paragraf, dan wacana) bagi siswa sesuai dengan jenjang pendidikannya...” (A Readability aspect is related to the ease level of language (vocabulary, sentences, paragraph, and text) for students based on their educational level ...) Richard in Murwati (2010, p. 36) asserts that readability has many factors, namely (a) the average length of sentences in a passage; (b) the number of new words a passage contain; (c) the grammatical complexity of the language used. Among those elements, the element of the difficulty of vocabulary and the length of a sentence determine intensively the readability level of a text. The readability of a textbook can be measured by using cloze procedure and readability formula. Cloze procedure is conducted by preparing one or more cloze passages taken from the material. W.L. Taylor is credited with being the investor of the cloze technique. Taylor in Murwati (2010, p. 39) introduces that actually the cloze procedure is an attempt to improve the existing readability measures. One approach which is focused on the reader’s process through a text rather than on the text itself is cloze procedure. In cloze procedure, students are given a text, which has several gapped spaces for word place that has been deleted from the original text. Then, it is scored. By scoring result, teacher can identify if the text is at independent, instruction, or frustration grade for students. Moreover, it can be known whether the text is suitable for them. Table 1. Cloze Scores: Material is too easy Independent Level 60% and above Material is about right Instructional Level 40%-60% Material is too difficult Frustation Level Under 40% While readability formula is computed by using some mechanical procedures involving use of average sentence length, vocabulary lists, and counts of syllable length. There are several types of statistical readability formulas, namely SMOG Readability Formula, McLaughhlin “SMOG” Formula, Fry Readability Graph, Gunning “FOG” Readability Formula, Flesch - Kincaid Formula, Powers, Summer, Kearl Readability Formula, Dale-Chale Formula, FORCAST Formula, and Flesch Reading Ease Formula. A readability formula which is used in this study is Flesch Reading Ease Formula because it is the best meant for school text and is a standard used by many U.S. government agencies. Moreover, it is the most widely used formula and the easiest formula to use. METHOD OF RESEARCH In this research, the writer uses descriptive quantitative method in which the writer tries to measure, describe, elaborate and analyze the readability level of textbook entitled BAHASA INGGRIS for SMP/MTS Grade VII. There were five text taken from BAHASA INGGRIS for SMP/MTS Grade VII which were examined in this study. The population of this research was the seventh grade of SMP Negeri 1 Banjarmasin. There are  210 students which are separated in seven classes. The sample of the research is about 20% of the population or 42 students. The sample is chosen by using random-sampling techniques which is taken 6 students in each class. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Flesch Reading Ease The readability score is gained by counting the syllables, words, sentences and paragraphs which are in the texts. The writer analyses the syllables of each text by using Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary then counts the number of these syllables. Then, the writer counts words by using Microsoft Word. The number of sentences and paragraphs of the texts are counted manually. The results of the calculation are presented in the following table: Table 2. The Number of Syllables, Words, Sentences, and Paragraphs of the Five Texts. No Components Text 1 Text 2 Text 3 Text 4 Text 5 1 Syllables 291 349 348 348 203 2 Words 196 256 237 240 149 3 Sentences 13 27 24 26 23 4 Paragraphs 4 7 6 8 6 Then, the writer counts ASL and ASW. ASL is the result from the number of words divided by the number of sentence, while ASW is the result from the number of syllables divided by the number of words. 1) Text 1 13 196 ASL = 15,07 196 291 ASW =1,48 2) Text 2 27 256 ASL = 9,48 256 349 ASW =1,36 3) Text 3 24 237 ASL = 9,87 237 348 ASW =1,46 4) Text 4 26 240 ASL = 9,23 240 348 ASW =1,45 5) Text 5 23 149 ASL = 6,47 149 203 ASW =1,36 Then, the writer puts the calculation of ASL and ASW of the texts into the Readability Score formula as follows: Text 1 (Birthday Traditions around the World) = 206,835 – (1,015 X 15,07) – (84,6 X 1,48) = 66,32 Text 2 (Tiger) = 206,835 – (1,015 X 9,48) – (84,6 X 1,36) = 82,15 Text 3 (My Town, Wilson Creek) = 206,835 – (1,015 X 9,87) – (84,6 X 1,46) = 73,29 Text 4 (Elephants: The Amazing Animals) = 206,835 – (1,015 X 9,23) – (84,6 X 1,45) = 74,79 Text 5 (I Want to Be a Firefighter) = 206,835 – (1,015 X 6,47) – (84,6 X 1,36) = 85,20 Another way to know the average sentence length and word length of the text can be seen from readability chart below. Then, take a strightedge or ruler and connect the two figures. The intersection of the rler with the center column shows the readability scores. 206,835 – (1,015 x ASL) - (84,6 X ASW) Readability Chart 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 - 25 - 30 - 35 - 100 - 90 - 80 - 70 - 60 - 50 - 40 - 30 - 20 - 10 - 0 - Very easy Easy Fairly easy PLAIN ENGLISH Fairly difficult Difficult Very difficult 1.2 - 1.3 - 1.4 - 1.5 - 1.6 - 1.7 - 1.8 - 1.9 - 2 .0 - Word per sentence Readabilty score Syllabe per word Birthday Traditions around the World The chart shows that the text entitled “Birthday Traditions around the World” is in Plain English in which it has readability score of 66,32 Readability Chart 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 - 25 - 30 - 35 - 100 - 90 - 80 - 70 - 60 - 50 - 40 - 30 - 20 - 10 - 0 - Very easy Easy Fairly easy PLAIN ENGLISH Fairly difficult Difficult Very difficult 1.2 - 1.3 - 1.4 - 1.5 - 1.6 - 1.7 - 1.8 - 1.9 - 2 .0 - Tiger Word per sentence Readabilty score Syllabe per word The chart shows that the text entitled “Tiger” is in Easy Level in which it has readability score of 82,15. Readability Chart 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 - 25 - 30 - 35 - 100 - 90 - 80 - 70 - 60 - 50 - 40 - 30 - 20 - 10 - Very easy Easy Fairly easy PLAIN ENGLISH Fairly difficult Difficult Very difficult 1.2 - 1.3 - 1.4 - 1.5 - 1.6 - 1.7 - 1.8 - 1.9 - 2 .0 - My Town, Wilson Creek 0 - Word per sentence Readabilty score Syllabe per word The chart shows that the text entitled “My Town, Wilson Creek” is in Fairly Easy Level in which it has readability score of 73,29. Readability Chart 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 - 25 - 30 - 35 - 100 - 90 - 80 - 70 - 60 - 50 - 40 - 30 - 20 - 10 - Very easy Easy Fairly easy PLAIN ENGLISH Fairly difficult Difficult Very difficult 1.2 - 1.3 - 1.4 - 1.5 - 1.6 - 1.7 - 1.8 - 1.9 - 2 .0 - Elephants: The Amazing Animals 0 - Word per sentence Readabilty score Syllabe per word The chart shows that the text entitled “Elephants: The Amazing Animals” is in Fairly Easy Level in which it has readability score of 74,79. Readability Chart 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 - 25 - 30 - 35 - 100 - 90 - 80 - 70 - 60 - 50 - 40 - 30 - 20 - Very easy Easy Fairly easy PLAIN ENGLISH Fairly difficult Difficult Very difficult 1.2 - 1.3 - 1.4 - 1.5 - 1.6 - 1.7 - 1.8 - 1.9 - 2 .0 - I Want to Be a Firefighter 10 - 0 - Word per sentence Readabilty score Syllabe per word The chart shows that the text entitled “I Want to Be a Firefighter” is in Easy Level in which it has readability score of 85,20. To get score for the readability level of the textbook, the writer calculates the average results of each text. The readability of textbook = 5 20,8579,7429,7315,8232,66  = 76,35 The result shows that the five reading text get the level of 76, 35. It means that the readability level of the textbook is fairly easy level. The Cloze Test Procedure In the cloze test, the writer deletes every sixth (6th) word in the texts. The first and the last sentence of the texts are left intact. The writer give a cloze test to 42 students of the seventh grade of SMP Negeri 1 Banjarmasin. And then, the writer analyzed the score of their results in order to find out the readability level reading texts in the textbook. The score of each student are presented in the following table: Table 3. The Scores of Seventh Grade Students of SMP Negeri 1 Banjarmasin Academic Year 2013-2014 No Number of Student Total Number of Right Answers Total Text 1 Text 2 Text 3 Text 4 Text 5 27 38 36 35 22 158 1 1 17 10 23 19 22 91 2 2 13 7 25 25 22 92 3 3 14 13 29 16 20 92 4 4 18 14 30 21 21 104 5 5 20 13 33 19 19 104 6 6 22 14 26 22 18 102 7 7 25 8 32 24 19 108 8 8 17 9 26 23 17 92 9 9 13 30 27 24 22 89 10 10 12 17 27 19 22 97 11 11 11 12 35 24 21 103 12 12 9 7 34 27 20 97 13 13 12 9 29 16 17 83 14 14 17 12 33 21 19 102 15 15 12 12 31 18 21 94 16 16 15 4 29 24 21 93 17 17 15 9 33 16 20 93 18 18 14 12 27 21 19 93 19 19 13 13 28 24 19 97 20 20 12 7 27 19 16 81 21 21 18 5 25 16 20 84 22 22 12 13 27 19 22 93 23 23 16 19 24 25 18 102 24 24 13 19 27 15 19 93 25 25 19 14 28 19 21 101 26 26 12 19 23 19 16 89 27 27 17 14 27 15 17 90 28 28 13 19 23 19 18 92 29 29 11 15 29 19 21 95 30 30 9 14 23 21 17 84 31 31 12 17 32 24 19 104 32 32 14 19 34 19 15 101 33 33 16 13 27 22 14 92 34 34 19 14 35 16 20 104 35 35 13 15 29 18 17 92 36 36 17 15 27 19 19 97 37 37 13 18 29 15 21 96 38 38 19 16 23 16 16 90 39 39 13 11 26 22 18 90 40 40 15 12 35 24 15 101 41 41 12 16 28 17 16 89 42 42 17 19 25 24 16 101 Total 621 541 1190 845 790 3987 Average 14,78 12,89 28,33 20,11 18,81 94,92 After giving the Cloze test to 42 students and correcting their answers, the writer percentages the students’ score by using this formula: %)100(SM n r S  Where S= Standard score SM= Standard Mark (100%) r= the number of the right answers n= the number item Table 4. Percentage of the Scores of the Seventh Grade Students of SMP Negeri 1 Banjarmasin Academic Year 2013-2014 No Name of Student Percentage of the Scores Text 1 Text 2 Text 3 Text 4 Text 5 27 38 36 35 22 1 1 62,96% 26,31% 63,89% 54,28% 100% 2 2 48,15% 18,42% 69,44% 71,43% 100% 3 3 51,85% 34,21% 80,56% 45,71% 90,91% 4 4 66,66% 36,84% 83,33% 60% 95,45% 5 5 74,07% 34,21% 91,67% 54,28% 86,36% 6 6 81,48% 36,84% 72,22% 62,85% 81,82% 7 7 92,59% 21,05% 88,89% 68,57% 86,36% 8 8 62,96% 23,68% 72,22% 65,71% 77,27% 9 9 48,15% 78,95% 75% 68,57% 100% 10 10 44,44% 44,74% 75% 54,28% 100% 11 11 40,74% 31,58% 97,22% 68,57% 95,45% 12 12 33,33% 18,42% 94,44% 77,14% 90,91% 13 13 44,44% 23,68% 80,56% 45,71% 77,27% 14 14 62,96% 31,58% 91,67% 60% 86,36% 15 15 44,44% 31,58% 86,11% 51,43% 95,45% 16 16 55,56% 10,53% 80,56% 68,57% 95,45% 17 17 55,56% 23,68% 91,67% 45,71% 90,91% 18 18 51,85% 31,58% 75% 60% 86,36% 19 19 48,15% 34,21% 77,78% 68,57% 86,36% 20 20 44,44% 18,42% 75% 54,28% 72.73% 21 21 66,67% 13,16% 69,44% 45,71% 90.91% 22 22 44,44% 34,21% 75% 54,28% 100% 23 23 59,26% 50% 66,67% 71,43% 81,82% 24 24 48,15% 50% 75% 42,86% 86,36% 25 25 70,37% 36,84% 77,78% 54,28% 95,45% 26 26 44,44% 50% 63,89% 54.28% 72,73% 27 27 62,96% 36,84% 75% 42,86% 77,27% 28 28 48,15% 50% 63,89% 54,28% 81,82% 29 29 40,74% 39,47% 80,56% 54,28% 95,45% 30 30 33,33% 36,84% 63,89% 60% 77,27% 31 31 44,44% 44,74% 88,89% 68,57% 86,36% 32 32 51,85% 50% 94,44% 54,28% 68,18% 33 33 59,26% 34,21% 75% 62,86% 63,64% 34 34 70,37% 36,84% 97,22% 45,71% 90,91% 35 35 48,15% 39,47% 80,56% 51,43% 77,27% 36 36 62,96% 39,47% 75% 54,29% 86,36% 37 37 48,15% 47,37% 80,56% 42,86% 95,45% 38 38 70,37% 42,10% 63,89% 45,71% 72,73% 39 39 48,14% 28,95% 72,22% 62,86% 81,82% 40 40 55,56% 31,58% 97,22% 68,57% 68,18% 41 41 44,44% 42,10% 77,78% 48,57% 72,73% 42 42 62,96% 50% 69,44% 68,57% 72,73% Average 54,76% 33,90% 78,70% 57,48% 85,50% The readability of the textbook can be measured by adding the average of each text which is presented in the table 4.7 above. The readability of textbook = 5 %50,85%48,57%70,78%90,33%76,54  = 62,068% It means that by using cloze test the readability level of the textbook for seventh grade students published by Mediatama is Independent Level. CONCLUSION Based on the research findings described previously, the conclusion is that through Flesch Reading Ease Formula, the readability score for the whole texts of the English textbook entitled Bahasa Inggris for seventh grade students published by Mediatama is 76,35. Based on the Flesch Reading Ease Scale, this score shows that the texts are fairly easy to understand. Furthermore, in the cloze test procedure, the textbook has high readability level which shown by its readability score 62,068. It means that the textbook is readable and suitable for students of the seventh grade of SMPN 1 Banjarmasin. REFERENCES Bay Du. The Principle of Readability. Retrieved February 13, 2014 from http//public.Ian/gov Brown. James W.(1959). A-V Instruction Materials Methods. 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