This study examines the language demands of a textbook chapter and a journal article from the course readings for first-year students in a hospitality degree. The classroom teacher and an academic developer compared the language demands of the two texts using the “Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy” (Tertiary Education Commission [TEC], 2008), a framework of steps in literacy development, and explored vocabulary frequency using the “Web Vocabprofile” (Cobb, n.d.). This paper presents the results of the study and compares the teacher’s criteria for selecting reading materials with the students' evaluation of the materials. The process described should help university teachers make more informed decisions about their selection of readings.