A Machine Learning Approach to Persian Text Readability Assessment Using a Crowdsourced Dataset

Abstract

An automated approach to text readability assessment is essential to a language and can be a powerful tool for improving the understandability of texts written and published in that language. However, the Persian language, which is spoken by over 110 million speakers, lacks such a system. Unlike other languages such as English, French, and Chinese, very limited research studies have been carried out to build an accurate and reliable text readability assessment system for the Persian language. In the present research, the first Persian dataset for text readability assessment was gathered and the first model for Persian text readability assessment using machine learning was introduced. The experiments showed that this model was accurate and could assess the readability of Persian texts with a high degree of confidence. The results of this study can be used in a number of applications such as medical and educational text readability evaluation and have the potential to be the cornerstone of future studies in Persian text readability assessment.