Experimenting the BNP formulas' effectiveness in Estimating EFL Learners' Reading times: Hassani EL HADJ Middle School Learners in Tiaret as a Case Study

Abstract

This action research investigates the effectiveness of BNP readability formulas in estimating compatible reading times for Algerian middle school EFL learners in Tiaret. It also aims at exploring middle school EFL teachers‟ views on the use of BNP formulas as predictive readability tools. Adopting a mixed-method approach, the researchers made use of 06 teacher‟s interview and fieldwork experiments with 108 target learners. Both positive and negative feedback were provided by participating practitioner teachers on the usefulness of BNP formulas. Moreover, experiments‟ results demonstrate both minor and major variations between predicted and real reading times among the different categories of learners of the four middle school levels confirming the need for further research to improve the feasibility of BNP formulas to provide compatible reading times for all categories of Algerian middle school learners.