Abstract:

The problem under investigation in this study is to determine whether readability is affected by manipulating the structure of phrases in reading material created for Basic State Exam in English, which the pupils of the Russian Federation take when finishing the secondary school. After the linguistic analysis of the structure of NPs (Noun Phrases), VPs (Verb Phrases), PPs (Prepositional Phrases), AdjPs (Adjective Phrases) and AdvPs (Adverb Phrases) in the texts of Basic (Russian) State Exam, we distinguished the common distributional patterns, which are characterized by a certain number of words and different degree of structural complexity. We produced an alternative variant of the text, reducing the number of words within the VPs and simplifying the structure of the phrases mentioned, preserving the vocabulary volume of the text the same. Both the texts along with the equal comprehension questions were offered to two groups (control one and experimental one) of pre-intermediate schoolchildren (according to the English as a Second Language Achievement Test suggested by Kazan International Linguistic Centre) of one of the Kazan schools aged from 13 to 14. The experimental group defined the text we had transformed on purpose as less comprehensible, which didn’t bring the expected result. The study aims at distinguishing the role of cohesion as major means of readability. To raise the syntactic competence at the exam, a set of exercises for Russian pre-intermediate schoolchildren has been suggested (as a part of preparation for Basic State Exam). The exercises are formed according to the corresponding distributional patterns of the texts of Basic State Exam.

Keywords:

Readability, syntax, phrase, distributional pattern, Basic (Russian) State Exam in English.