Readability and Comprehensibility Analysis of the English Language Comprehension Passages of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in Ghana

Abstract

In recent years, students in the high schools in Ghana continue to perform poorly in English Language examinations, especially for students at the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Various stakeholders in the education sector continue to deliberate to find answers to this unfortunate development. Some scholars have suggested that students' failure in the English Language examination is as a result of the readability and comprehensibility levels of the comprehension passages presented to students in their examinations. English language examination questions that cannot be read easily cannot be well understood. Determining the level of readability is of great importance if comprehension is aimed at. The authors made use of two Readability Indexes which include the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease and Gunning Fog Scale to carry out document analysis of the reading ease of seven comprehension passages presented to candidates from 2014 to 2020 in the WASSCE, to carry out the readability analysis and how that may have affected their Comprehensibility. The key findings from this study indicate that the readability of the comprehension passages analyzed between 2014 and 2020 was either very difficult or difficult for the students to comprehend. In conclusion, the researchers believe that the high level of readability of the comprehension passages has partly contributed to the low pass rate of the student in the English language at the WASSCE.