Frequency of the indicators of local cohesion at different levels of text representation based on Kinch's construction-integration model: Evidence from Persian textbooks for primary school, first and second cycle secondary schools

Reading is an important language skill, as most learning occurs through it. To improve reading, the type and level of text difficulty should be in accordance with the mental ability of students. Therefore, determining the level of text difficulty (so-called readability) have been considered by researchers for a long time. One of the indicators of readability is related to text’s local cohesion. The present study aimed at investigating the significance of frequency of different types of indicators of local cohesion in Persian textbooks at different levels of its representation (surface, text-base and situation model) at primary school (6th grade), secondary school first cycle (9th grade) and second cycle (12th grade) based on Kintsch’s construction-integration model (1988-1998). It was a mixed-methods study. At the qualitative section of study, different types of local cohesion’s indicators of these textbooks were determined. Then, at the quantitative section of the study, the significance of their frequency was calculated by Chi-square. The results indicated a significant difference among the frequency of different types of such indicators in the Persian textbooks at all 3 levels of school education. As the text of books became longer from 6th grade to 9th and 12th grades, all indicators increased, however, such increase was not regular. Apparently, the educational approach of these textbooks is a skill-based one, meaning that they emphasize on education and strengthening the language skills (including reading), however, considering the results of the present study, perhaps it could be said that they have not been considered in practice, especially when developing the Persian textbooks.