1
00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:08,080
EASIT

2
00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:10,600
 EASY ACCESS FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION
TRAINING  

3
00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,280
This is Unit 2: 
Easy-to-understand language.

4
00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:16,760
In short: E2U.

5
00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,080
Element 4: The language of E2U.

6
00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:22,200
Video lecture: Lexical aspects of E2U.

7
00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:24,840
My name is Sergio Hernández Garrido. 

8
00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,160
I'm from the Hildesheim University.

9
00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:32,200
This lecture covers the lexical
aspects of E2U language. 

10
00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,000
How we have been doing in this unit,

11
00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:39,000
we will start from Easy Language 
and then move towards Plain Language. 

12
00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,760
   General characteristics 
of Easy Language vocabulary

13
00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,400
Unknown words are a hazard for
comprehensibility.

14
00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,520
Therefore, EL uses the central
vocabulary of a natural language.

15
00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,840
The words that may be used have the
following characteristics.

16
00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:57,480
They are short

17
00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:58,760
accurate 

18
00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:00,200
and frequently used.

19
00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:02,760
They occur in everyday language

20
00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,400
And can be assumed as known by the
groups

21
00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:11,760
 
They are learnt early in life or
when learning a second language.

22
00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:16,840
And they are unlearnt late in case
of language degradation processes.

23
00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:18,320
Like dementia.

24
00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:20,760
Words that do not match this list

25
00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,840
need to be explained 
or exemplified in the text.

26
00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,880
Vocabulary cannot 
be presupposed as known,

27
00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,560
if it is not present 
in the user's everyday life.

28
00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,160
This is often the case for expert
texts of all kinds.

29
00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:37,600
For example, on legal or health issues.

30
00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:39,920
But there are exceptions.

31
00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:45,200
People with disabilities often have
knowledge on the disability discourse.

32
00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:51,320
And they often know lexical items on
this topic beyond the basic vocabulary,

33
00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,680
because this topic 
belongs to their everyday life.

34
00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,720
Explanations and exemplifications of
vocabulary

35
00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,640
Vocabulary presumed 
to be unknown to the users

36
00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:04,960
must be explained or exemplified.

37
00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,960
This is especially true for printed
or online written texts.

38
00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,760
Easy Language in time-based media
formats can have other requirements.

39
00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:15,720
Subtitles, for instance,

40
00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:20,880
do not always allow explanations due
to time and space limits.

41
00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:22,640
In any text format,

42
00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,320
the number of explanations given in a
single text must be limited.

43
00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:30,120
They also must comply to the
processing capacity of the users.

44
00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,480
 This processing capacity may be
limited due to their condition.

45
00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,120
For example, 
due to a cognitive impairment

46
00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:43,600
Explanations can be given in or
against the reading direction. 

47
00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,160
In reading direction means, 
the unknown word comes first

48
00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,600
and is followed by the explanation.

49
00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,040
For example: 
The festival was in Hannover.

50
00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:57,960
Hannover is a town in Northern Germany.

51
00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,400
Against reading direction means a
concept is explained in the text.

52
00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:05,600
And the term is given in the end.

53
00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,720
The reader must find the explanation
of a term in what was said before.

54
00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,280
Thus, the reading direction changes.

55
00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:18,640
For example: 
Perhaps your arms and legs feel stiff.

56
00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:20,920
Or your muscles are aching.

57
00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,000
Your doctor calls this: rigor.

58
00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,560
Explanations can be singled out from
the text through the layout.

59
00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:30,480
For example with indents,

60
00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:32,880
like in the case 
of the Hannover example.

61
00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,120
 
Or through text boxes.

62
00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,160
In online-texts, 
there are other possibilities.

63
00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,080
Like mouse-over-boxes
 or drop-down lists.

64
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:44,200
Avoid synonyms 

65
00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:47,400
Easy-to-understand language 
avoids synonyms.

66
00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,000
The same concepts are rendered 
with the same words. 

67
00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,840
This is also true 
for verbs and text connectors.

68
00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,600
Always use 
"therefore" to express causality. 

69
00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,440
Do not exchange "therefore" 
with "that’s why" or "hence". 

70
00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:08,160
Stylistic variation is no strategy
to be followed for Easy Language.

71
00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,320
Use the same words for the same
concepts.

72
00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,600
This reduces the processing efforts
for the users.

73
00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:17,720
What to do about metaphors?

74
00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,960
Metaphors are linguistic images that
illustrate certain concepts.

75
00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:26,760
In standard texts, they are often
used as stylistic elements.

76
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:32,120
Don't use metaphors in Easy Language
if they are not known to the users.

77
00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,960
This also applies if they're not
intuitively clear from the content.

78
00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:43,360
Metaphors may be used if they
clarify abstract content for users.

79
00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,640
For example: 
"Plain Language" is a metaphor. 

80
00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,720
"Plain" literally refers 
to a surface that is even.

81
00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:55,680
"Plain" as in "Plain Language" 
is used metaphorically.

82
00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,800
This means "without heights and
depths, very simple and direct".

83
00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,160
Nonetheless, this metaphor is easy
to understand.

84
00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:08,520
And illustrates well the concept to
make complex content accessible. 

85
00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,600
Here, the metaphor is used to show a
language's degree of complexity. 

86
00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,440
This makes such an abstract concept
easy to grasp. 

87
00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:21,160
"To smell a rat" to say "to become
suspicious" is also a metaphor. 

88
00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,160
But in order to understand it, 
it has to be learnt.

89
00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,440
Its meaning cannot be derived
directly from the text. 

90
00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:30,600
Thus, it may cause difficulties.

91
00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,080
Such metaphors are only used if
central for the text. 

92
00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,880
This rules also generally apply for
Plain Language.

93
00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:42,520
 Here, a more extensive vocabulary
can be presupposed as known

94
00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:44,280
by the intended audience. 

95
00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:49,200
This is the end of this presentation
about lexical aspects about E2U.

96
00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:53,600
This lecture was prepared by 
Sergio Hernández and Christiane Maaß.

97
00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:55,520
From the University of Hildesheim.

98
00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:59,320
You can reach us at
easit@uni-hildesheim.de.

99
00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:03,000
The project EASIT
has received funding

100
00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:04,360
from the European Commission

101
00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,120
under the Erasmus+
Strategic Partnerships

102
00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:08,840
for Higher Education programme,

103
00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:15,840
grant agreement
2018-1-ES01-KA203-05275.

104
00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:18,160
The European Commission support

105
00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:19,720
for the production of this publication

106
00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,160
does not constitute
an endorsement of the contents,

107
00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,000
which reflect
the views only of the authors,

108
00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:27,280
and the Commission
cannot be held responsible

109
00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:30,840
for any use which may be made
of the information contained therein.

110
00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,240
This work is licensed
under a Creative Commons

111
00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:37,720
Attribution-ShareAlike
4.0 International License.

112
00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:40,600
Partners of the EASIT project:

113
00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,040
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,

114
00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:45,520
Università degli Studi di Trieste,

115
00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:47,320
Universidade de Vigo,

116
00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,800
Stiftung Universität Hildesheim,

117
00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:51,120
SDI München,

118
00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:52,640
Dyslexiförbundet,

119
00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:54,840
Radiotelevisija Slovenija,

120
00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:55,960
Zavod Risa.

121
00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,000
EASIT: Easy Access
for Social Inclusion Training.

122
00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:05,960
Subtitles by Sertap Gülsever.