A Study on the Difficulty of Reading Passages in Senior High School English Textbooks in China, Japan, and Republic of Korea

Yan Wu; Rong Liu

doi:10.47297/wspiedWSP2516-250036.20261004

PDF
Export
Share
Collection
Album

A Study on the Difficulty of Reading Passages in Senior High School English Textbooks in China, Japan, and Republic of Korea

Volume 10, Issue 4

Views: 0 Downloads: 0

A Study on the Difficulty of Reading Passages in Senior High School English Textbooks in China, Japan, and Republic of Korea
A Study on the Difficulty of Reading Passages in Senior High School English Textbooks in China, Japan, and Republic of Korea
School of Humanities and Foreign Languages, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030600, China
Vol. 10, Issue 4, Pages: 166-171(2026)
Published：30 April 2026
DOI：10.47297/wspiedWSP2516-250036.20261004
Accepted：

Scan QR Code

Yan Wu,Rong Liu.A Study on the Difficulty of Reading Passages in Senior High School English Textbooks in China, Japan, and Republic of Korea[J].Journal of International Education and Development,2026,10(04):166-171.
DOI：

Yan Wu,Rong Liu.A Study on the Difficulty of Reading Passages in Senior High School English Textbooks in China, Japan, and Republic of Korea[J].Journal of International Education and Development,2026,10(04):166-171. DOI： 10.47297/wspiedWSP2516-250036.20261004.

摘要

Abstract

This study compares reading difficulty in high school English textbooks used in China

Japan

and Korea. Drawing on a cross-national corpus of textbook reading passages

it integrates the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and NeoSCA to examine difficulty from two complementary perspectives: macro-level readability and micro-level lexical and syntactic complexity. The results show that Japanese textbooks are positioned at a significantly lower readability level than Chinese and Korean textbooks

while the latter two are broadly comparable. At the lexical level

Chinese and Japanese textbooks tend to show greater lexical diversity and broader use of higher-level vocabulary

whereas Korean textbooks rely more heavily on repeated use of a concentrated core vocabulary. At the syntactic level

Chinese and Korean textbooks generally employ longer and denser structures

while Japanese textbooks favor shorter and less embedded constructions. The findings show that textbook difficulty is a multidimensional configuration rather than a single uniform property.

关键词

Keywords

references

Benjamin R G . Reconstructing readability: Recent developments and recommendations in the analysis of text difficulty [J ] . Educational Psychology Review , 2012 , 24 ( 1 ): 63 - 88 .

Bulté B , Housen A , Pallotti G . Complexity and difficulty in second language acquisition: A theoretical and methodological overview [J ] . Language Learning , 2025 , 75 ( 2 ): 533 - 574 .

Li C , Wang X , Qian L . Exploring syntactic complexity and text readability in an ELT textbook series for Chinese English majors [J ] . SAGE Open , 2025 , 15 ( 1 ): 1 - 17 .

Crossley S A , Allen D B , McNamara D S . Text readability and intuitive simplification: A comparison of readability formulas [J ] . Reading in a Foreign Language , 2011 , 23 ( 1 ): 84 - 101 .

Zhang X , Lu X . Testing the relationship of linguistic complexity to second language learners' comparative judgment on text difficulty [J ] . Language Learning , 2024 , 74 ( 3 ): 672 - 706 .

Zhang X , Lu X . Aligning linguistic complexity with the difficulty of English texts for L2 learners based on CEFR levels [J ] . Studies in Second Language Acquisition , 2025 , 47 ( 5 ): 1407 - 1434 .

Crossley S A . Developing linguistic constructs of text readability using natural language processing [J ] . Scientific Studies of Reading , 2025 , 29 ( 2 ): 138 - 160 .

Lu X . Automatic analysis of syntactic complexity in second language writing [J ] . International Journal of Corpus Linguistics , 2010 , 15 ( 4 ): 474 - 496 .

Lu X . Meaning and function dimensions of linguistic complexity in second language writing [J ] . Research Methods in Applied Linguistics , 2025 , 4 ( 1 ): 100191 .

Lu X . The relationship of lexical richness to the quality of ESL learners' oral narratives [J ] . The Modern Language Journal , 2012 , 96 ( 2 ): 190 - 208 .