Teachers' Perceptions of Text Readability in Integrated Social Studies Textbooks

The purpose of the present study is to analyze the level of text readability of first-year high school Integrated Social Studies textbooks based on the 2015 revised curriculum and to explore teachers’ perceptions of text readability in these textbooks. For the purpose of this study, texts were extracted from a total of five Integrated Social Studies textbooks, and a pair of high school social studies teachers independently evaluated the readability level of each text. Next, four of the teachers who participated in the text extraction and evaluation process were interviewed to explore their perceptions of text readability in Integrated Social Studies textbooks. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. First, the readability evaluation of the Integrated Social Studies textbooks revealed that about 58.62% of the texts were at the appropriate grade level (10th grade), and there were more texts below the appropriate grade level (about 34%) than above the appropriate grade level (about 7.38%). Second, texts related to law and economics were identified as particularly challenging for students due to complex concepts and difficult terminology. Third, presenting texts in a familiar structure, such as dialogue, did not make it easier for students to read and understand. This finding suggests that the content of the text, rather than the structure or organization of the text, may have more influence on the perception of text readability. Fourth, to address readability issues in teaching and learning with Integrated Social Studies textbooks, various pedagogical strategies can be employed, including targeted vocabulary instruction and reading techniques tailored to social studies material.