A Comparative Study of the Readability of Senior Secondary School Biology Textbooks Commonly used in Rivers State
- October 13, 2019
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: Education, IJRISS
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue IX, September 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186
EBULU, Chinwe Glory1, AHIAKWO, Macson Joshua2
1,2Department of Science Education, Faculty of Education, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Abstract: – The purpose of the study was to determine the readability of senior secondary school biology textbooks commonly used in Rivers State. Four research questions and eight hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study is a descriptive survey. The population of the study was all biology textbooks recommended for teaching and learning biology in senior secondary schools in Rivers State and 96 senior secondary school biology students from public secondary schools in Rivers State. The sample size were three biology textbooks commonly used in senior secondary schools in Rivers State and 96 senior secondary school biology students in Rivers State. The instruments used to collect the data for the study were senior secondary school biology textbooks and cloze test. The findings revealed that the biology textbooks commonly used in senior secondary schools in Rivers State were modern biology, essential biology and comprehensive biology textbooks; the biology textbook commonly used in Rivers State were readable by senior secondary school students (i.e., SSI, SSII and SSIII), but difficult to read by the students below SSI; and there was significant relationship in the readability of biology textbooks commonly used in Rivers State. The study recommended that: the authors and the publishers of Biology textbooks should revise their books so as to make them more readable; the teachers should adopt their instruction according to the learners’ levels so as to benefit both the high and low ability students among others.
I. INTRODUCTION
Readability can be viewed as the ease or difficult with which the text may be understood (Kasule, 2011). It can be used as a rough estimate of placing written material in appropriate grade level (Frank, 2006). Readability level of a (text) book can determine the understanding of the subject by the students (Fatoba, 2015). However, to understand biology, the biology textbooks must be readable. Fatoba (2015) asserted that the readability level of a textbook is one of the factors that determine the understanding of the subject by the students or readers. Moreover, for biology textbooks to be boring, according to Tekaya, Ozkan and Sungur (2001), it must contain too much new and unnecessary information. Therefore, to appeal to targeted audience, the biology textbooks need to meet their readability expectation.
