other types of text in which each text has a common structure. It means that those two categories, literary and factual, are general. More
specifically, there are some categories of texts that are covered by them. The literary text types include narrative texts, poems, and drama
scripts.
24
Those three kinds of text have function to entertain or elicit an emotional response.
Further, the factual text types include explanation, information report, discussion, exposition, recount, factual description, procedure, and
procedural recount.
25
Those kinds of texts then have function to inform, instruct, or persuade the readers by giving facts and information.
From the explanation above, we can state that each category of the text has different function. Literary texts, according to Anderson and
Anderson, have function to entertain or elicit an emotional response by using language to create mental image while factual texts is to inform,
instruct, or persuade by giving facts and information.
26
Thus, texts that entertain the readers or listeners and finally create their mental image are
categorized as literary texts. Other texts that give the readers or listeners an information, instruction or facts are categorized as factual texts.
3. The Selection of Texts
Textbooks publishing are now handled by both government and public publishers. Thus, although the government provides the books for
all schools that apply curriculum 2013, the government also allows schools to use commercial ones. The difference is, students do not need to
pay for the textbooks published by government while they need to pay for
the commercial textbooks.
23
Anderson, loc. cit.
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid.
26
NSW Department of Education and Communities, Text Types Different Types of Writing, 2014, p. 1,
http:www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.auhomework-and-studyenglishenglish-a- to-z-english_glossarybZx81062factual+text+types
.
Selecting comercial textbooks carefully is important because teachers need to choose a suitable textbook for their students. They also need to
select a good one because students have paid for it. Since textbooks are not only published by our government but also other publishers, teachers need
to know the suitability of the textbook for their students. Furthermore, one aspect that support the selection of a suitable
textbook is the selection of the texts. Nuttal in his book Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language mentioned three points of view in selecting
texts. They are readability, suitability of content, and exploitability. ... we shall consider how to choose supplementary material for the
reading lesson. You will need to look at possible material from three points of view..... the combination of structural and lexical i.e.
vocabulary difficulty is readability.....One criterion for a class library therefore should be the inclusion of a variety of books on subjects
known to appeal to the students....you really need to carry out an investigation of what your own students like before you order many
books or select class reading materials.... We are using the term exploitation to mean facilitation of learning. When you exploit a text,
you make use of it to develop your students‟ competence as readers.
27
In selecting a text, teachers need to know if the text is readable for their students or not. Teachers also need to know if the text contains
something interesting for their students. Finally, teachers need to see if the text they select will be able to compr
ehend students‟ reading ability.
4. The Matching of the Texts to Students
It is important to match texts as the reading materials to the students as the readers. It deals with the purpose of readability assessment.
28
In readability assessment, beside the use of readability formula to measure
the readability of the texts, teachers also need to know the students‟
reading ability , students‟ background knowledge, and the purpose of the
texts in order to see the suitability between the texts and the students.
27
Nuttal, op. cit., p. 25-31.
28
Jeanne S. Chall and Edgar Dale, Readability Revisited: The New Dale-Chall Readability Formula, Cambridge: Brookline Books, 1995, p. 45.
..... to make a best match between readers and text it is necessary to obtain information about the intended readers, information about the
readability of the material, and information about the purpose for its use.
Information on the intended readers might include
– when available – their reading ability, their previous knowledge and interest in the
topic, and how the material is to be read – whether independently or
as part of instruction by a teacher. A students‟ reading ability may be estimated by scores or bands on a
recently administered reading test. If these are not available, estimates of reading ability may be made by noting readability of the books,
magazines, and newspaper they read.
29
Therefore, as there are some aspects that should be considered in readability assessment, the writer would like to focus only on one aspect, it
is the use of readability formula n measuring the readability of selected texts.
C.
Readability
1. The Understanding of Readability
Bidyarani Asem in her article Readability Assessment of Printed Materials: Going beyond Readability Formulas points out
, “Readability is a term used to determine the ease with which people read and understand a
particular text. It is one of the most important factors that depict the comprehensibility of the concerned text.”
30
Readability, according to Asem, is a term related to the comprehensibility of a text in which the
readers understand or not regarding to the ease of the text. Furthermore, DuBay defines
“Readability is what makes some texts easier to
read and understand than others.”
31
Readability, according to DuBay, is a factor that makes a text easy to be read and understood by
particular readers.
29
Ibid., p. 46.
30
Bidyarani Asem, Readability Assessment of Printed Materials: Going Beyond Readability Formulas, International Journal of Environment, Ecology, Family and Urban Studies
IJEEFUS, Vol. 2, Issue 4, Dec. 2012, p. 45.
31
William H. DuBay, the Principles of Readability, Costa Mesa: Impact Information, 2004, p. 3.
