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EASIT: Easy Access For Social
Inclusion Training.

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This is unit 2: Easy-to-understand
language. In short E2U.

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 Element 2: Legislation, 
standards, and guidelines.

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Video lecture: Easy-to-understand
language in Germany:

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Easy and Plain Language research and
rulesets. 

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My name is Christiane Maaß from
the University of Hildesheim.

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In the first video, 
we gave an overview 

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about the German concept of
easy-to-understand language.

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We also gave insight into the fields

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 where easy-to-understand language
is already used

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and where more easy-to-understand
material is needed.

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The first video ended 

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with an overview 
on important legal milestones.

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The second video,

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is on the German research situation.

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We will talk about the existing
practical and scientific guidelines.

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Then we will go into more detail 

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with regard to the German
easy-to-understand language rules.

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This topic covers more aspects 
than the other videos 

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and treats the situation of
easy-to-understand language 

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in Germany  
from different viewpoints

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Therefore, 
we have created two videos 

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to cover this topic.

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Research on
 Easy and Plain Language in Germany 

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has considerably
 stepped up in the last 10 years. 

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Meanwhile, 
Accessible Communication 

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and Easy as well as Plain Language,

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have become 
multidisciplinary research topics 

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and we have a rich 
publication landscape. 

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This very active landscape
 has contributed 

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to the development of Easy Language.

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A major promoter of Easy and Plain 
Language Research in Germany 

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is the 
Research Centre for Easy Language 

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that is situated 
at the University of Hildesheim. 

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This research centre is also part
of the EASIT consortium.

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It has put forward research results

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with the focus on 
Easy and Plain Language, 

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among which scientifically founded
Easy and Plain Language rules.

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Other research groups 
are the LeiSa team 

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around Prof. Bettina Bock 

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with an inclusive approach 

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and the TracoLab 

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of Prof. Silvia Hansen-Schirra 

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with the user centred approach. 

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More research is being done 

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for example 
in the area of psychology, 

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second language acquisition, 
and educational studies. 

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Plain Language
 is being researched primarily

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from the perspective of 
specialised communication 

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and translation studies.

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And so, we move into the next topic
which is guidelines. 

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In Germany, 
there are practical guidelines 

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as well as 
scientifically founded rulebooks. 

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On the side 
of the practical guidelines 

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there is the German version 
of the Inclusion Europe guidelines,

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the rules
 from the empowerment movement 

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Netzwerk Leichte Sprache,

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which is Network Easy Language, 

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 and those from the Accessible
Information Technology Regulation 

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we already talked about.

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The scientifically 
founded rulebooks are 

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Leichte Sprache. Das Regelbuch.
Or: Easy Language. The rulebook.

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and the three volumes of 
the Duden Leichte Sprache. 

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Duden is a publisher
 that is perceived to be 

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the most
 influential and standard-setting

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publisher with regard 
to the German language.

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It provides sets of rules 
on German grammar, 

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spelling, and language use. 

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With the Duden Easy Language, 

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this institution has positioned 

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 as a supporter of Easy language. 

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Both materials, the rulebook 
as well as the Duden books, 

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were drafted at the
University of Hildesheim.

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In 2020-21, 

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the German Institute for
Standardisation is developing a norm

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to harmonise the different rulesets.

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In the following, we will discuss

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 the scientific rules developed by  

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the Research Centre for Easy
Language and published by Duden.

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Concerning the rules 
for Easy Language, 

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 the basic rules on
easy-to-understand

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 already presented also apply 
to the German language.

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 Therefore, we will not repeat them
in this presentation.

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You can access this information
 in the presentation: 

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Unit 2: Easy-to-understand language.

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Element 1: Understanding E2U.

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Video Lecture: Basic rules of
Easy-to-understand language. 

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But there is one rule on the word
level that especially applies 

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for the German language and it
concerns the German compound nouns.

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The German Language is famous 
for its long compound nouns. 

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Theoretically, 
they can expand indefinitely. 

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Here is the example 
of such a long compound noun:

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Tageskurbeitragsautomat.

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This means: One-day 
spa tax (ticket) vending machine.

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These very long compounds 

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are difficult for 
the target groups to process.

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Especially, if the compound consists
of more than two lexical items.

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As is the case in our example. 

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Easy Language rules 
propose to separate long words 

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in order
 to make them easier to process. 

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For the separation,

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hyphens and 
the mediopoint may be used. 

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Tageskurbeitragsautomat

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using the mediopoint 
would look like this: 

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Tages∙kurbeitrags∙automat. 

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This separation makes 
the single compounds stand out 

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so that they can be 
perceived more easily.

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Plain Language is not strictly
normed in the German context. 

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Translators can depart from 
Easy Language and enrich 

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the Easy Language ruleset 
according to the users 

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and the target situation.

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For example, if the subject is
situated in an expert context 

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with many new concepts 
that are introduced in the text, 

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the syntactic structures should
remain very simple. 

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On the contrary, if the subject of
the text is very down-to-earth

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 and well-known to the
readers, the syntactic structures

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may be a little more complex with
simple compound sentences 

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or longer stretches of text.

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An example of the first case 
is the Apotheken Umschau, 

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 a widely known offer in the field
of public health communication. 

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They inform on health issues 

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that may well be 
somewhat technical. 

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Accordingly, the syntactic structure
 remains very simple.

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As we can see in the example. 

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I read the English translation
 of the German example:

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"What is 
an acute middle ear infection?

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In the case of 
an acute middle ear infection, 

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the affected person 
has a severe ear ache. 

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This is because 
the middle ear is inflamed. 

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The middle ear is 
behind the eardrum inside the ear. 

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Persons affected by 
a middle ear infection 

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often have a cold. 

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Small children are 
particularly frequently 

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affected by a middle ear infection."

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This is the end of the section about

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easy-to-understand 
language in Germany.

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This video lecture has been
prepared by Sergio Hernández

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 and Christiane Maaß 
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
the production of 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 for any use 

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which may be made of 
the information contained therein.

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This work is licensed under a

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Creative Commons Attribution 

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ShareAlike 4.0 
International License.

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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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Universidad de Vigo,

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Stiftung Universität Hildesheim,

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SDI München,

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Dyslexiförbundet,

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Radiotelevisija Slovenija,

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Zavod Risa.

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EASIT: Easy Access 
for Social Inclusion Training

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Subtitles: Iruya Ehrler