EASIT: Easy Access for Social Inclusion Training.
This is unit 2, Easy-to-understand language,
in short E2U.
Element 1: Understanding Easy-to-understand language.
Video lecture: Easy-to-understand language,
Easy-to-read and Plain language, an overview.
My name is Christiane Maaß from the University of Hildesheim.
In this short video lecture I will give an overview
about the topic easy-to-understand language,
or short, E2U.
We will talk about the origins of E2U
and then go into an introduction
and into the two language varieties for comprehensibility enhancement:
Easy-to-read, short E2R and Plain language, short PL.
In recent years the discourse about language varieties
for comprehensibility enhancement
has been growing worldwide.
But the discussion about the use of a comprehensible language
in different fields is not new.
Already in the 1920s,
several approaches were developed to increase the readability of texts.
During this time,
different readability tests were developed,
that are partly still in use today.
In the 1960s,
several attempts to develop
comprehensibility-enhanced language varieties
have been made,
especially in the political and technical fields.
In the Anglophonic world,
two concepts have become firmly established:
Easy-to-read, short E2R.
And Plain Language, short PL.
In order to define E2R and PL,
we can imagine that all language varieties
can be situated within a continuum
of comprehensibility enhancement.
E2R is on the one end of the continuum.
It represents the highest comprehensibility enhancement
possible in the spectrum.
On the other end,
there is the language variety
used in expert contexts.
Plain language is right of E2R,
still being a language variety
optimized for comprehensibility enhancement,
but not as much as E2R.
E2R, Easy-to-read Language,
is a term predominantly used
in the fields of accessible communication and inclusion.
Comprehensibility-enhanced language varieties, such as E2R,
help vulnerable groups
contribute to independent social participation.
E2R addresses primarily persons
with reading difficulties
caused by cognitive or sensory impairment.
E2R is the language variety
with maximally enhanced comprehensibility
in the framework of the standard language grammar.
It is strictly normed.
These norms strongly limit
the grammatical structures that can be used.
This encompasses a certain and recognizable linguistic feature
and typical visual layout.
However, the term E2R is to narrow
as it is linked to written language.
It is therefore not suited for audio-visual formats.
We therefore use the term Easy Language instead.
The term Plain Language, or PL, comes from its equivalent
in the English-speaking world: “Plain English”.
PL, Plain Language,
is not as strictly normed as E2R.
It allows a broader grammatical and lexical inventory,
depending on the group of people that is being adressed
and the situation in which it is used.
This language variety is more comprehensible than the standard.
Its primary users are not persons with reading limitations
caused by cognitive or sensorial disabilities,
but rather non-experts in a given context.
The EASIT project has decided to use the umbrella term
“Easy-to understand-language”
short E2U,
to cover all language varieties for comprehensibility enhancement.
Easy Language (EL), including E2R,
and Plain language (PL)
are covered by this concept.
The different national languages have varying terms and delimitations
in the area of Easy and Plain Language.
So please check which terms are in use for your language.
More details about Easy Language, including E2R and PL,
will be represented in the following videos of Unit 2.
This video lecture has been prepared
by Sergio Hernandez and Christiane Maaß,
from the University of Hildesheim.
You can reach us at easit@uni-hildesheim.de.
The project EASIT has received funding from the European Comission
under the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships
for Higher Education programme,
grant agreement 2018-1-ES01-KA203-05275.
The European Comission support for the production of this publication
does not constitute an endorsement of the contents,
which reflect the views only of the authors
and the Comission cannot be held responsible for any use
which may be made of the information contained therin.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attributions ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Partners of the EASIT project:
Universita Autònoma de Barcelona,
Universita degli studi di Trieste,
Universidade de Vigo,
Stiftung Universität Hildesheim,
SDI München,
Dyslexiförbundet,
Radiotelevizija slovenija,
Zavod Risa.
EASIT: Easy Access for Social Inclusion Training.
Subtitles by: Nora Achilles.