Evald 4.0
EVALD 4.0 software serves for automatic evaluation of surface coherence (cohesion) in Czech texts written by native speakers of Czech (click here for EVALD 4.0 for Foreigners that is designed for non-native speakers of Czech, and here for EVALD 4.0 for Beginners that is designed for beginning non-native speakers of Czech). For more information, visit the project web pages.
The software is created for assessing the surface coherence of authentic writing samples (essays) written by native speakers of Czech. In other words, it is trained to evaluate prosaic texts whose content and form correspond to the common school essays created as a comprehensive piece of writing on a given topic, e.g. during the lessons of Czech at secondary schools, at the highest grades of elementary schools or during the graduation exam of Czech. When evaluating a different type of text (poems, journalistic texts etc.), the software may not work reliably. The minimum length of the inserted text is 300 words – shorter texts do not provide enough linguistic material on which the real level of the text can be observed.
The evaluated texts can be used for scientific purposes, freely distributed and published.
Explanatory notes
Evaluating scale for surface text coherence:
| 1 | excellent |
| 2 | very good |
| 3 | good |
| 4 | satisfactory |
| 5 | unsatisfactory/fail |
Readability measures:
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Formula
The higher the number obtained by this metric, the harder the text reads; e.g., value 8 means that the text should be comprehensible to students aged 13–14; it is also a degree of comprehensibility for the general public: a text with the value of 8 should be understood by approximately 80% of the people.
Flesch Reading Ease1
| Score | School level | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 90 or more | 5th grade | Very easy to read. Easily understood by an average 11-year-old student. |
| 90–80 | 6th grade | Easy to read. Conversational language for consumers. |
| 80–70 | 7th grade | Fairly easy to read. |
| 70–60 | 8th & 9th grade | Plain language. Easily understood by 13- to 15-year-old students. |
| 60–50 | 10th to 12th grade | Fairly difficult to read. |
| 50–30 | College | Difficult to read. |
| 30 or less | College graduate | Very difficult to read. Best understood by university graduates. |
SMOG index (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook)
The higher the number obtained by this metric, the harder the text reads.
Coleman-Liau index
The higher the number obtained by this metric, the harder the text reads.
Automated readability index2
| Score | Age | Grade Level |
|---|---|---|
| 1 or less | 5–6 | Kindergarten |
| 2 | 6–7 | First/Second Grade |
| 3 | 7–9 | Third Grade |
| 4 | 9–10 | Fourth Grade |
| 5 | 10–11 | Fifth Grade |
| 6 | 11–12 | Sixth Grade |
| 7 | 12–13 | Seventh Grade |
| 8 | 13–14 | Eighth Grade |
| 9 | 14–15 | Ninth Grade |
| 10 | 15–16 | Tenth Grade |
| 11 | 16–17 | Eleventh Grade |
| 12 | 17–18 | Twelfth grade |
| 13 | 18–24 | College student |
| 14 or more | 24+ | Professor |
Variety of vocabulary:
Yule’s K characteristics
Richness of vocabulary: Yule’s K characteristics: The larger Yule’s K, the smaller the diversity of the vocabulary.
Simpson's Diversity Index (D)
Richness of vocabulary: Simpson's Diversity Index (D): The larger Simpson’s D, the smaller the diversity of the vocabulary.
Footnotes
1 Flesch, Rudolf. How to Write Plain English. University of Canterbury.
2 Senter, R.J.; Smith, E.A. (November 1967). Automated Readability Index. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base: iii. AMRL-TR-6620.