7th Grade Science Textbook Readability and Compatibility with the Target Age Level

Abstract

Textbooks are of special importance as fundamental teaching materials. The readability feature of texts which are constructed by an author is one of the most important features to be analysed in science text books. The purpose of this study is to assess the 7th grade science textbook (new), which was prepared based on the middle school sciences syllabus updated by the Ministry of National Education in 2013, in terms of its readability and compatibility with the target age level. The readability of the texts was calculated separately based on the Flesch-Kincaid formula, Gunning fog index, Sonmez formula and a Cloze test method in line with this purpose. It was concluded that the Flesch-Kincaid and Gunning formulae were not suitable for the structure of the Turkish language, that students could understand the texts only through the teacher’s support according to a cloze test method, and that the Sonmez formula gave more accurate results in measuring the readability of books and texts written in the Turkish language. Suggestions are presented in light of these results.