국가수준 학업성취도 평가와 중학교 영어 교과서의 읽기 지문 분석

Abstract

Abstract This study examined the reading sections of middle school English textbooks and the National Educational Achievement Tests(NAEA) in terms of the readability of their reading passages. First, in analyzing the continuity, it investigated the average readability and the vocabulary of each reading section of the textbooks and the NAEA. Secondly, it examined the readability of different chapters of each textbook from grades 1 to 3. Thirdly, it determined the average readability of reading sections of the NAEA. The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index was the tool used for measuring readability between the reading sections and the passages were analyzed in terms of Words Token using 2009RV-KBEWL-RANGE. The result showed that, first, the middle school textbooks of each grade had higher readability as they advanced to the next school year, whereas the readabilities of the NAEA, from 2012 to 2014, remained constant. Also, there was a gap between the average readability of the third grade's textbooks and that of the NAEA. This gap in readability between the textbooks and the NAEA could be attributed to differences in textbooks's continuity and readability. The textbooks from two independent publishers were markedly similar in readability while the textbooks from the third showed substantively lower readability. Secondly, among nine textbooks analyzed, only two textbooks showed gradational improvement of readability. Lastly, the average readabilities of the NAEA 2012 and 2013 were 6.1 and 6.0, but that of 2014 was 5.3. This drop-off appeared after changes in curriculum of 2009 as implemented in 2013. The results suggest that a guide line of textbook readability should be considered to publish or select textbooks and also recommend the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation(KICE) identify the gap of readabilities among the middle school English textbooks and adjust the readability gap of the reading sections between the middle school English textbooks and the NAEA.