Fry's Readability Graph: Clarifications, Validity, and Extension to Level 17.

TLDR

Fry’s readability graph has been published in several editions, yet inconsistencies remain about whether proper nouns should be counted, prompting a need for clarification. This article explains the rationale for including proper nouns in the word count and examines additional readability-related questions.

Abstract

Fry is currently director of the reading center at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. ■ I find myself in the somewhat untenable position of having several b oks in print (Fry, 1963, 1972, 1977) that give differing instructions regarding the inclusion of proper nouns when using the Fry readability graph. The latest book, a version of the graph in slide rule form (Fry, 1976), suggests that proper nouns should be included in the word count, and this article will discuss briefly the reasons for including them. In addition, I would like to take up some other areas related to readability estimates and the use of my graph. Specifically, a number of questions have been presented to me regarding somewhat detailed but very real problems such as what a syllable is and what a word isfor example, is stopped a two syllable word, and is 1945 or IRA a word? A third area