New Perspectives in Science Education

The ability to simplify complex concepts is essential in educational materials. Studies have shown that simplified, well-structured texts improve comprehension and learning outcomes, particularly for younger students [1], [2]. This is especially relevant for young school children, who are often required to engage with advanced topics at ages when their cognitive capacities are still developing [3]. This study analyses the linguistic complexity of Romanian 6^th grade textbooks in biology and physics, using ROTEX - the Romanian Corpus of School Textbooks [4], which includes widely used textbooks in Romanian education. The analysis is based on the linguistics-related textbook analysis framework (LTAF) [5], evaluating linguistic density (LTAF 1), the balance between textual and visual elements (LTAF 2), overall readability (LTAF 4), and disciplinary terminology complexity (LTAF 6). The findings indicate that all textbooks have excessive linguistic density, surpassing expected cognitive loads for 6th graders (LTAF 1). The balance between text and visuals is inconsistent, with some textbooks presenting excessive fragmentation, while others rely heavily on dense theoretical content (LTAF 2). Readability assessments (LTAF 4), employing the LEMI Readability Index [6] and additional international measures such as Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease and Gunning-Fog, to assess text accessibility show that most textbooks exceed recommended difficulty levels [3], often aligning with high school or even college-level texts. Additionally, disciplinary terminology is too complex (LTAF 6), with the premature introduction of specialised disciplinary terms that limit accessibility and engagement [7]. The contrast with international best practices highlights the misalignment between textbook design and student learning needs, indicating that Romanian science textbooks need to prioritise simplification over redundancy and improve their pedagogical effectiveness. The findings highlight the urgent need for linguistic validation in the design of Romanian school science textbooks, ensuring that disciplinary knowledge is presented in a structured, clear, and age-appropriate manner.

Keywords:  linguistics of textbooks, textbook corpus, science school textbooks, Romanian school textbook design, effective learning, Romanian education

REFERENCES

[1]   Berendes, K., Vajjala, S., Meurers, D., Bryant, D., Wagner, W., Chinkina, M., & Trautwein, U. (2018). Reading demands in secondary school: Does the linguistic complexity of textbooks increase with grade level and the academic orientation of the school track?. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(4), 518-543.

[2]   Hiebert, E. H., Pearson, P. D., Hiebert, E. H., & Pearson, P. D. (2010). An examination of current text difficulty indices with early reading texts. Reading research report, 10. TextProject, Inc.

[3]   Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285.

[4]   Oraviţan, A., Chitez, M., & Rogobete, R. (2023). A Linguistically-Informed Assessment Model for Multidimensional Competence Building in Romanian School Writing. Educatia 21, 85-91.

[5]   Chitez, M. (2024). Linguistic Overload in Secondary School Textbooks: A Corpus-Informed Case Study of Romanian 6th Grade Textbooks. In Proceedings of the International Conference Innovation on Language Learning 2024, available at: https://conference.pixel-online.net/files/ict4ll/ed0017/FP/3177-CDEV6983-FP-ICT4LL17.pdf.

[6]   Chitez, M., Dascalu, M., Udrea, A. C., Strilețchi, C., Csürös, K., Rogobete, R., & Oravițan, A. (2024, May). Towards Building the LEMI Readability Platform for Children’s Literature in the Romanian Language. In Proceedings of the 2024 Joint International Conference on Computational Linguistics, Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC-COLING 2024) (pp. 16450-16456).

[7]   O'Keeffe, L. (2013). A Framework for Textbook Analysis. International Review of Contemporary Learning Research, 2(1), 1-1.