The most interesting and easy to use app I found was Flesh (not a typo). I wanted one so that I could calculate the readability of my short stories and novels. I came across your post while doing a search for an app to use on my Mac. ![]() PS–I analysed readability formulae as part of my PhD thesis in text linguistics. But where they go wrong is in suggesting that word and sentence length are the only elements that affect how readers comprehend what they read. Readability formulae are fine as a rough guide, i.e., to check word and sentence length. ![]() In this case particularly, readability depends primarily on the readers’ ability to 1) locate and 2) understand a complex argument, which will have main topics backed by supporting material. ![]() ![]() For example, they count the word ‘elephant’ as being more difficult to understand than the short but more technicalterm ‘tort’.Ī PhD dissertation contains complex, technical information and its readers are experts (i.e. The formulae are usually based on the unproven idea that longer words and sentences are harder to comprehend than shorter words and sentences. Most give an overly simplified view of how easily readers may comprehend a document. Hi, I’d like to point out a weakness with most popular readability formulas.
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