The Readability of Reading Materials in English Textbook "English for Nusantara" for Eighth Grade Students Based on Lexile Framework

Reading materials in English textbooks should provide an appropriate level of difficulty for students so that they can engage with texts and develop their reading skills. However, the readability levels of texts may vary within the same textbook. This study aimed to examine the readability of reading materials in the eighth-grade English textbook English for Nusantara using the Lexile Framework and to determine how well the texts aligned with the expected reading proficiency range for eighth-grade students. This research employed a quantitative descriptive design. The data consisted of 20 reading texts selected from the textbook, which was published in 2022. The texts were analyzed using the Lexile Text Analyzer, and the results were examined through descriptive statistics and classification based on the 540L–800L benchmark adopted in this study. The findings showed that the Lexile measures ranged from 390L to 890L, with an average of 576L. Nine texts (45%) were below the expected range, nine texts (45%) were within the range, and two texts (10%) were above it. These findings indicate that the textbook contains reading materials with varying levels of readability, suggesting the need for teachers to consider text difficulty when planning reading activities.