A Corpus-Based Comparative Study of Readability of Passages in Compulsory Chinese English Textbooks and Exams for Middle School Students

This study explores the text difficulty, or readability, of middle school English textbooks and the high school entrance exam in China known as ZhongKao in light of the impact of a recent educational ‘Double Reduction’ policy from the Chinese central government, which introduces regulations designed to reduce the workload imposed on students. Using the Coh-Metrix L2 Reading Index, three corpora were quantitatively analyzed. Results revealed lower readability in Zhongkao exam passages compared to textbooks, with no significant change post-policy. Stakeholders are urged to address this gap, focusing on the design of teaching materials and teacher education.