Exploring the Readability of Assessment Tasks: The Influence of Text and Reader Factors

Readability is the degree to which a text is matched to its intended and actual reader. The factors influencing readability, both text factors and reader factors, have been widely researched from the standpoint of attempts to maximise reader understanding of texts. The application of understandings in the area has not, however, always been applied systematically to the design and writing of assessment tasks and consequently test items are sometimes less accessible to the intended test takers than they might be.This paper is an attempt to provide a wide ranging review of literature which bears on the task of the assessment designer in ensuring that assessment items measure what they are supposed to measure, and not just the reading abilities of the test takers.