Automatic text adaptations for students with different types of reading difficulties

The purpose of this project is to understand what makes texts difficult to comprehend for students with reading problems.

We do this using novel techniques that measure text complexity and automatically adapt texts in a unique cooperation between researchers in education science and language technology. In two studies we will collect data on student’s ability to read and comprehend texts on various topics. The texts have been made easier to read using automatic text adaptation techniques.

In the first study, group adjusted adaptations are developed by iterative testing of cognitive and language skills, reading comprehension and preferences in our target groups. In the second study, we evaluate if group adjusted adaptations improve reading comprehension. During 2021 we will do preparations on the adaption, selection of materials and pilot work.

Study 1 will be completed in 2022, study 2 in 2023 and final analysis and writing of papers during 2024.

The project will contribute with a precise description of difficulties experienced by our target groups, and also determine if customized adaptations improve reading comprehension. This is important to inform education and can be used in many different contexts.

The automatic adaptation techniques can be applied on any text which gives access to new texts that are not manually simplified. This helps teachers find suitable texts to support various reading needs.