LEXICAL DENSITY OF READING PASSAGES IN AN EFL TEXTBOOK PUBLISHED BY THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT

This study investigates lexical density in the English textbook Life Today, published by the Indonesian government to support the Merdeka Curriculum. The study analyzes 18 reading passages from the textbook. The objectives of this study are: (1) to explore the lexical density in various reading passages, and (2) to identify which reading passage genre has the highest and lowest lexical density in the textbook. Using Ure’s (1971) formula to calculate the lexical density of each text, this study applies Flesch’s Reading Ease scale to define the density level based on the calculation. Additionally, the 18 reading passages were classified into six genres based on their generic structure: exposition, descriptive, narrative, argumentative, hortatory exposition, and discussion texts. The study found that the average lexical density in the Life Today English textbook was 56%, with both the highest and lowest lexical density found in the narrative text. Consequently, it is concluded that the Life Today English textbook has a moderate or average level of lexical density.