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EASIT: Easy Access 
for Social Inclusion Training

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This is unit 2:
Easy-to-understand language,

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in short E2U. 
Element 4:

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The language of E2U.

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Video lecture: 
Pragmatic aspects of E2U. 

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My name is Sergio Hernandez Garrido
from the University of Hildesheim.

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In this video lecture, 

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I will talk about pragmatic aspects
of E2U.

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So far, we have talked 
about comprehensibility. 

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But this is not enough 
to make content accessible.

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It is necessary to design 
accessible texts in a way

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that the users are able to act 
on the basis of these texts. 

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To achieve this,

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readers will not only have 
to be able to find a text offer, 

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 to perceive the text, 

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to comprehend and recall it, 

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but also to accept it. 

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Texts that are not acceptable 
to the users

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are usually not action-enabling. 

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Acceptability is 
a pragmatic category.

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Easy-to-understand language, 
that is,

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Easy or Plain Language, 

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is a tool 
for accessible communication.

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In order to be able to act 

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on the basis of a text offer, 

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users have to perform 
different steps. 

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According to Rink and Maaß, 

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in their books published in 2020

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content that is accessible 
should be:

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Retrievable: 

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Target groups should be able 
to retrieve the content.

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Perceptible: 

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They should be able 
to perceive the content 

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with the sensory channels 
at their disposal.

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Comprehensible:

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Target groups should be able 
to comprehend the content.

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Linkable: 

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They should be able to link
the content to previous knowledge. 

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This way it is easier 
to recall information.

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Acceptable: 
The content should be presented 

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in a way that is acceptable 
for the target groups.

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And only if

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it has all these qualities, 

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it is action-enabling: 

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Target groups are then able to act 

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on the basis of the accessible
content.

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The comprehension process requires
cognitive capacity from the users. 

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All the described actions

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- retrieve, perceive, comprehend,
recall, accept - 

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draw on
the overall cognitive capacity. 

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If the capacity of the text users 

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is not enough to master 
all these steps,

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these users will not be able to 
act on the basis

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of the content given in a text.

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Each single step can be obstructed
 by communication barriers. 

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We talked about the barriers 
in the lecture on the target groups.

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If a text is not acceptable, 

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users might quit reading it 

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or consume a lot of their
comprehension capacity 

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to deal with 
the acceptability issue.

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Reduced acceptability 
is therefore harmful 

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to the usefulness of a text offer. 

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But reduced acceptability is also 
a burden to inclusion. 

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Accessible communication products

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should facilitate inclusion; 

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not add to the stigma of
communication impairments. 

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Therefore, it is of great importance

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to consider the text quality
 of being acceptable 

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for 
accessible communication products.

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Acceptability of
easy-to-understand language.

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Among the 
easy-to-understand languages,

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it is especially Easy Language 

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that has an acceptability issue. 

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For that reason, 
in this presentation, 

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we focus on acceptability.

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Texts may have 
an acceptability issue 

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on different levels. 

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The problem may be on the side 
of the target text.

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In this case, 
the Easy Language version 

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has features
that reduce its acceptability

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for parts 
of the primary target groups

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and - or 

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for the secondary target groups,

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that is, for the majority society
or for professionals,

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that work 
with the primary target groups,

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for example doctors 
or administrative staff.

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But also, the source texts, 

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that is the original version

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of a text in standard language

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or expert language,
may have an acceptability issue. 

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These issues need to be identified

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and addressed 
for Easy Language version. 

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Reduced acceptability 
of the source texts.

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The source texts may have 
an acceptability issue.

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According to Lang, 

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for people with reading
difficulties,

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written texts usually represent 
a motivation barrier. 

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Often, they have lived 

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through many years 
of frustrating experiences 

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with written texts,

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for example from the legal or
medical context. 

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Those texts are often too hard 
for them to understand. 

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Such texts are barriers

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to those readers 
for a number of reasons: 

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they contain a linguistic barrier,

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but also an expert barrier, 

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an expert language barrier

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and perhaps a cognitive barrier.

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We addressed the topic 
of communication barriers 

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when talking about the target groups

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of easy-to-understand language. 

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What is more, they might have had 

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negative previous experience

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in trying to communicate 
with the authorities. 

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They might have been inadequately
addressed. 

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Authorities might have stressed
the power gap in the communication. 

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They might have used language 

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that was too hard 
to understand or impolite. 

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They might have urged users 
to comply with their decisions

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without telling them what 
other choices they might have had.

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This may lead to negative emotions. 

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In this situation,
 the negative emotions 

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draw on the cognitive capacities 

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in the comprehension process 

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and make it even harder for 
the users to comprehend 

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and act on the basis of a text. 

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E2U can be a way out: 

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It can open a communicative channel

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with users in their communication
with experts, 

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for example, 
in the legal or medical field.

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Enhanced acceptability
 of the E2U texts.

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One of the tasks 
of easy-to-understand texts is 

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to make communication or even
reading itself more acceptable. 

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This is done by making the texts
amicable and approachable

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through their layout and imagery. 

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You will learn more 
about this in lectures

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in this unit about the discourse 
and visual presentation of E2U.

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Plain Language lays a major focus 
on acceptability,

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sometimes even more 
than on comprehensibility. 

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This is the context of efforts on
“citizen-oriented language”, 

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a subconcept in the framework 
of the Plain Language concept. 

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“Citizen-oriented language” is 
a German Plain Language approach

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that makes public authorities
approachable 

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by using Plain Language 

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that is meant to be comprehensible,

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but most of all client- and
service-oriented. 

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There are similar concepts
in many other languages, 

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such as “lenguaje ciudadano”

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or “lenguaje claro” 
in the Spanish-speaking world; 

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just to cite one example. 

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Such E2U texts do not stress 
the asymmetry

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in the communication process. 

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They address citizens 
with great politeness. 

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They are very careful 
to tell the users if they must, 

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can or should carry out an action.

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They explain and give reasons

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instead of postulating 
and demanding. 

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At the same time, 
Plain Language texts 

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adhere to standard expectations 
with regard to layout and imagery.

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They do not use 
all available strategies 

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to enhance comprehensibility. 

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Plain Language texts are often 
quite close to the standard.

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They are often not perceptible 
and comprehensible enough

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for persons with communication
impairment.

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Reduced acceptability may trigger
stigmatisation processes.

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Easy Language is used in the context
of communication impairment. 

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Communication impairment 
is exposed to stigmatisation. 

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Easy Language texts can trigger
stigmatisation processes. 

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This is especially true

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if they are not executed 
in an acceptable way.

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This is regularly the case 
if texts look 

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very different 
from the standard. 

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For example, 

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if they are directed towards 
a grown-up audience 

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but use images 
that rather address children.

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We will go 
into this lecture of this unit

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about images in E2U

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or if they reduce grammar 

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 and lexical structures so much  

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that the texts come into conflict
with orthography or grammar rules. 

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Such texts can 
really stigmatise the users 

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and trigger 
a very negative response 

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from the secondary target groups.

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Such instruments have to be used
very carefully or not at all, 

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even if they are part of practical
Easy Language guidelines.

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Plain Language texts are usually

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much more acceptable 
in this respect.

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Users often do not even note that
they are comprehensibility-enhanced.

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But they are not easy enough 
for all users, 

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especially not for those with more
pronounced forms of impairment.

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Maaß proposes in her book 
published in 2020 a language variety

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that balances comprehensibility 
and acceptability: 

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Easy Language Plus. 

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Easy Language Plus is very close 
to Easy Language, 

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but avoids the features

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known to reduce acceptability.

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This video lecture has been prepared

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by Sergio Hernández 
and Christiane Maaß 

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from the University of Hildesheim. 

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You can reach us 
at easit@uni-hildesheim.de.

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The project EASIT has received
funding from the European Commission

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under 
the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships 

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for Higher Education programme, 

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grant agreement
2018-1-ES01-KA203-05275. 

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The European Commission support 
for this publication 

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does not constitute an endorsement
of the contents, 

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which reflect 
the views only of the authors,

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and the Commission 
cannot be held responsible 

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for any use which may be made of 
the information contained therein.

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This work is licensed under 
a Creative Commons 

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Attributio-ShareAlike 4.0
International Licence.

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Partners of the EASIT project:

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Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

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Università degli Studi di Trieste,

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Universida de Vigo,

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Stiftung Universität Hildesheim,

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SDI München

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Dyslexiförbundet,

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Radiotelevizija Slovenija,

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Zavod Risa.

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EASIT: Easy Access
for Social Inclusion Training

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Subtitles by Friederike Günther