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Readability and Plain LanguageLecture 4.3
University of Alberta
ALES 204
Nancy Bray
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Housekeeping
Mid-term exam
Practice exam
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Lecture Outline
1.How you say it matters
2.What is readability?
3.How to write in plain language?
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1. How you say it matters
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Unplain language
BonesScene from Season 1, Episode 8
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How you say it matters
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Success story #1
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Source: Kimble, J. (2012). Writing for dollars, writing to please: The case for plain language in business, government, and law Durham, N.C: Carolina Academic Press.
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Success story #2
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Alan Siegel: Let’s simply legal jargonTED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/alan_siegel_let_s_simplify_legal_jargon.html
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2. What is readability
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Readability
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Readability movement
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Decrease in sentence length
Professor L. A. Sherman, in his Analytics of Literature, Boston, 1892.
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Average sentence length today
Miscellaneous: government 25
Learned and scientific 24
Press: reports 21
Humour 18
Romance fiction 14
Science/detective fiction 13Source: Cutts, M. (2009). Oxford guide to plain English. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
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Readability movement
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Example #1
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Example #2
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Readability measures Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
formula
Flesch Reading Ease Score
Can check the score of your documents with MS Word or http://www.readability-score.com/
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Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula
Tests word length and sentence length
Result = number of years of education required to understand a text
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Readability statistics
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Example
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Flesch Reading Ease Score
Also tests word and sentence length
Higher score = more understandable
Reader’s Digest has a score of 65
Time a score of 52
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How to increase readability
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Recommendations
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3. What is plain language?
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Plain language
“The writing and setting out of essential information in a way that gives a cooperative, motivated person a good chance of understanding it at first reading, and in the same sense that the writer meant it to be understood.” -- Oxford Guide to Plain Language
Also called plain English
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Plain language movement
1960s U.S. consumer groups ridicule language in government documents and forms
1978 New York State passes law requiring leases and consumer contracts to be clearer
1978 President Carter required regulations to be written in plain language
1998President Clinton required all documents about
government services to be written in plain language
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Four main features of plain language
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Example #1: Common words
Before
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a half hour or more of moderate physical activity on most days, preferably every day. The activity can include brisk walking, calisthenics, home care, gardening, moderate sports exercise, and dancing.
After
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Example #2: Pronouns
Before:
A performance system will allow for the development of new and innovative training techniques and methodologies and allow companies added flexibility in tailoring their training to the specific job duties of their employees.
After:
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Example #3: Pronouns
Before:
Copies of tax returns must be provided.
Loan applications will be reviewed to ensure that procedures have been followed.
After:
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Example #4: Active voice
Before:
Consumer messages have been developed to educate the public about the Key Recommendations in the Dietary Guidelines and will be used in materials targeted for consumers separate from this publication.
After:
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Exercise #5: Short sentences
Before
A performance system will allow for the development of new and innovative training techniques and methodologies and allow companies added flexibility in tailoring their training to the specific job duties of their employees.
After
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Limitations of plain language
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Take away
Know why plain language is important
Know the benefits of plain language
Know what readability is
Know how readability is measured
Know how to improve readability
Know what plain language is
Know the four elements of plain language 35
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Photo Credits
books by Arslan paper by Hacklock words by ninasaurusrex newspapers by leww_pics air force recruits by Nina_Haghighi grade 9 by Boston Public Library the reader by grewlike reading ease by sapheron Green Eggs and Ham cover the reader by murphyeppoon the reader by adwriter reading newspaper by KC Toh reading by applejan veteran by KennethMoyle ge by Eric Leslie china airlines by Roberto Verzo