Why don't you simply run the writing through any grammar checker? The
final statistics will yield some readability index in terms of readability
or grade level. The formula itself is based on number of polysyllabic
words, number of sentences per paragraph, and number of words per
sentence.  The calculation isn't entirely reliable.  People who use
incredible numbers of acronyms and abbreviations are likely to get great
grammar-checker results and yet still produce extremely difficult writing.
The advantage of this system is that almost all writers have a grammar
checker at their fingertips; any other method is going to be either too
abstract or too cumbersome.

==Reinhold

On Wed, 24 Jan 2001, Ed Keer wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I hope this question is not too off topic. I am
> working as an editor in a marketing department and as
> part of their style some communications must be
> written at a 6th grade reading level.  What they mean
> by this is that they should be fairly simple.
> Unfortunately they do not define what they mean by 6th
> grade level.  Since I have a background in
> linguistics, I volunteeered to try to come up with
> some substantive guidelines for what is a 6th grade
> reading level.   Can anyone point me to relevant
> references that address issues of reading difficulty
> or levels or even make some suggestions about what
> guidelines I can reccomend?
>
>
> Ed Keer
>
>
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