A Comparison of the Readability of Texts in B1 Level Textbooks Used for Teaching English, German, and Turkish as Foreign Languages

Abstract

In this study, the texts in textbooks prepared for B1 level students in the foreign language teaching of English, German, and Turkish were examined according to readability formulas; the obtained results were analyzed by comparing them. The Flesch, Amstad, and Ateşman readability formulas were used for English, German, and Turkish texts, respectively. In the study, which utilized the document analysis method, a total of 63 texts were analyzed from a selected textbook for each of the three languages. According to the results, the English textbook had a readability score of 74.99 (fairly easy), the German textbook scored 67.32 (standard), and the Turkish textbook scored 70.25 (easy). The study emphasizes the importance of readability analysis in the selection process of language teaching materials. It also suggests that, considering the impact of each language’s structural features on readability formulas, tools should be developed for each language in this field.