Content-Based Readability Assessment: A Study Using A Syllabic Alphabetic Language (Thai)

Text readability is typically defined in terms of “grade level”; the expected educational level of the reader at which the text is directed. Mechanisms for measuring readability in English documents are well established; however this is not in case in many other languages, such as syllabic alphabetic languages. In this paper seven different mechanisms for assessing the readability of syllabic alphabetic language texts are proposed and compared. The mechanism are grouped under three headings: (i) graph ranking, (ii) document ranking, and (iii) hybrid. The presented comparison was conducted using the Thai language with respect to the reading age associated with secondary school, high school, and undergraduate students in the context of scientific abstract.