Volume 14, Number 1, Spring 2019“Readability” of Communication Sciences and Disorders Journals: A Method for Improving the Scholarly/Professional Writing Performance of Communication Sciences and Disorders Students AUTHOR(S):
ABSTRACT The Flesch-Kincaid Readability Scale was used to assess the readability of abstracts from peer-reviewed articles randomly selected from journals in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). It was postulated that the abstracts from professional journals, because of their peer-review or refereed standards, could serve as exemplars for students to model in trying to improve their scholarly or professional writing performance. The Flesch-Kincaid (F-K) was also used to evaluate writing samples from two groups of students: 1) freshmen communications students, and 2) graduate CSD majors. The results suggest that journal abstracts from CSD journals do reflect readability standards that are appropriate for a college-educated audience. Also, the results suggest a need to introduce scholarly/professional writing skills training to prospective CSD majors prior to their entry into graduate training programs where heightened writing performance is expected. DOI: DOWNLOAD FULL ARTICLE |