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While I have no doubt there are professional educators who could and
would take valid issue with that kind of sweeping dismissal, there is a
valid point in highlighting the fact that a purely mechanical
calculation of readability -- or grammar checking, for that matter
(oops, don't get me started on THAT) -- does not necessarily equate to
good prose. Both the infamous MS grammar checker and the Flesch
readability index can be tools. As such, they can aid and abet the
writer who judiciously uses them. Rely on them slavishly, though, and
you're asking for boring and sometimes inaccurate and ineffectual
results.
Jim
P.S. -- The paragraph above has a 13.6 grade level for readability and
the MS spell checker stopped to wonder about Flesch :)
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Geoff Hart
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 8:39 AM
To: TECHWR-L; VERKERKEN Wouter
Subject: MS Word readability index?
Wouter VERKERKEN wondered: <<Anyone ever used the readability index
feature (Flesch score etc.) and found that it seems to work on
some documents, but not on other? I mean: on some documents you get the
index, and on some documents you don't, while you have requested it in
exactly the same way. Weird.>>
It's a useless feature, and I wouldn't waste my time. Want proof?
Type a sentence. Now type the same sentence with the words rearranged to
completely obscure or even reverse the meaning. Guess what: you get the
same readability index. Now try typing random letters, hitting the space
bar occasionally. Oops! Same result. So much for readability indices.
If you want a bit more proof, I can probably find my photocopy of an
article that appeared in Technical Communication several yearsa ago that
formally and rigorously studied readability indices. The author found no
correlation whatsoever with reading comprehension.
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