Increasing Comprehensibility of Language Classroom Learning Material Instructions

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The comprehensibility of written task instructions from language classroom learning materials is an important area to examine since language learners need to understand what is expected of them in order to perform classroom tasks successfully. This study describes how teacher-written instructions on classroom materials developed for a General English curriculum were analyzed and modified to improve comprehensibility. Written instructions were modified to simplify vocabulary, reduce sentence length, eliminate extraneous information, and reflect the sequencing of task performance. An analysis using three readability formulas showed that readability increased for all indices. Both the pre and post-change task instructions were then rated by language learners for comprehensibility; Rasch analysis and ANOVAs comparing the comprehensibility ratings on the pre- and post-change instructions revealed that 78% of the instructions were rated as easier to understand than their pre-change equivalent, illustrating that the modifications were effective at increasing both readability and comprehensibility.

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