Reading Easy Language texts written by public authorities

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en-US" xml:lang="en-US"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <title> Reading Easy Language texts written by public authorities | Finnish Journal of Linguistics </title> <meta name="generator" content="Open Journal Systems 3.2.1.4"> <link rel="schema.DC" href="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" /> <meta name="DC.Creator.PersonalName" content="Carina Frondén"/> <meta name="DC.Creator.PersonalName" content="Johanna Kaakinen"/> <meta name="DC.Date.created" scheme="ISO8601" content="2023-12-31"/> <meta name="DC.Date.dateSubmitted" scheme="ISO8601" content="2023-01-27"/> <meta name="DC.Date.issued" scheme="ISO8601" content="2024-01-11"/> <meta name="DC.Date.modified" scheme="ISO8601" content="2024-01-11"/> <meta name="DC.Description" xml:lang="en" content="Previous research has shown that word length, frequency and word repetition influence word reading times (Rayner 1998; 2009). Guidelines for Easy Language advise writers to use frequent and short words, and to repeat words instead of using synonyms. However, some of these guidelines are based on research that has been misinterpreted, simplified, or is outdated (Wengelin 2015), and studies focusing on effects of word length, frequency and word repetition among adult readers in the Easy Swedish target group are lacking. This eye-tracking study investigated the reading of Easy Language texts written by public authorities, as well as the effects of word length, frequency, and word repetition on readers in a day centre for people with intellectual disabilities. The results showed significant effects for word length and frequency in all readers. In addition, the effects were significantly greater in the target group than in the control group. The effects for word repetition were not as clear, affecting only one of the reading measures. Furthermore, the study revealed poor comprehension rates in the target group, i.e., when asked, they were not able to reproduce the main contents of the texts. The significantly greater effects of word length and frequency suggest that the related Easy Language guidelines are valid for this group of readers. The poor comprehension rates indicate that the texts were too difficult for these readers."/> <meta name="DC.Format" scheme="IMT" content="application/pdf"/> <meta name="DC.Identifier" content="126062"/> <meta name="DC.Identifier.pageNumber" content="7–36"/> <meta name="DC.Identifier.DOI" content="10.61197/fjl.126062"/> <meta name="DC.Identifier.URI" content="https://journal.fi/finjol/article/view/126062"/> <meta name="DC.Language" scheme="ISO639-1" content="en"/> <meta name="DC.Rights" content="Copyright (c) 2023 Authors"/> <meta name="DC.Rights" content="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"/> <meta name="DC.Source" content="Finnish Journal of Linguistics"/> <meta name="DC.Source.ISSN" content="2814-4376"/> <meta name="DC.Source.Volume" content="36"/> <meta name="DC.Source.URI" content="https://journal.fi/finjol"/> <meta name="DC.Subject" xml:lang="en" content="lättläst"/> <meta name="DC.Title" content="Reading Easy Language texts written by public authorities"/> <meta name="DC.Type" content="Text.Serial.Journal"/> <meta name="DC.Type.articleType" content="Articles"/> <meta name="gs_meta_revision" content="1.1"/> <meta name="citation_journal_title" content="Finnish Journal of Linguistics"/> <meta name="citation_journal_abbrev" content="FJL"/> <meta name="citation_issn" content="2814-4376"/> <meta name="citation_author" content="Carina Frondén"/> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="University of Helsinki"/> <meta name="citation_author" content="Johanna Kaakinen"/> <meta name="citation_author_institution" content="University of Turku"/> <meta name="citation_title" content="Reading Easy Language texts written by public authorities: Evidence from eye tracking"/> <meta name="citation_language" content="en"/> <meta name="citation_date" content="2023/12/31"/> <meta name="citation_volume" content="36"/> <meta name="citation_firstpage" content="7–36"/> <meta name="citation_lastpage" content="7–36"/> <meta name="citation_doi" content="10.61197/fjl.126062"/> <meta name="citation_abstract_html_url" content="https://journal.fi/finjol/article/view/126062"/> <meta name="citation_keywords" xml:lang="en" content="Easy Language"/> <meta name="citation_keywords" xml:lang="en" content="Easy Swedish"/> <meta name="citation_keywords" xml:lang="en" content="easy-to-read-texts"/> <meta name="citation_keywords" xml:lang="en" content="eye tracking"/> <meta name="citation_keywords" xml:lang="en" content="public authority communication"/> <meta name="citation_keywords" xml:lang="en" content="lättläst"/> <meta name="citation_pdf_url" content="https://journal.fi/finjol/article/download/126062/90173"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Finnish Journal of Linguistics"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Reading Easy Language texts written by public authorities: Evidence from eye tracking"/> <meta property="og:description" content=" Previous research has shown that word length, frequency and word repetition influence word reading times (Rayner 1998; 2009). Guidelines for Easy Language advise writers to use frequent and short words, and to repeat words instead of using synonyms. However, some of these guidelines are based on research that has been misinterpreted, simplified, or is outdated (Wengelin 2015), and studies focusing on effects of word length, frequency and word repetition among adult readers in the Easy Swedish target group are lacking. This eye-tracking study investigated the reading of Easy Language texts written by public authorities, as well as the effects of word length, frequency, and word repetition on readers in a day centre for people with intellectual disabilities. The results showed significant effects for word length and frequency in all readers. In addition, the effects were significantly greater in the target group than in the control group. The effects for word repetition were not as clear, affecting only one of the reading measures. Furthermore, the study revealed poor comprehension rates in the target group, i.e., when asked, they were not able to reproduce the main contents of the texts. The significantly greater effects of word length and frequency suggest that the related Easy Language guidelines are valid for this group of readers. The poor comprehension rates indicate that the texts were too difficult for these readers. "/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://journal.fi/finjol/article/view/126062"/> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://journal.fi/public/journals/153/cover_issue_10545_en_US.png"/> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2023-12-31"/> <meta property="article:tag" content="Easy Language"/> <meta property="article:tag" content="Easy Swedish"/> <meta property="article:tag" content="easy-to-read-texts"/> <meta property="article:tag" content="eye tracking"/> <meta property="article:tag" content="public authority communication"/> <meta property="article:tag" content="lättläst"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://journal.fi/finjol/gateway/plugin/WebFeedGatewayPlugin/atom"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rdf+xml" href="https://journal.fi/finjol/gateway/plugin/WebFeedGatewayPlugin/rss"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" 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class="pkp_screen_reader">Authors</h2> <ul class="authors"> <li> <span class="name"> Carina Frondén </span> <span class="affiliation"> University of Helsinki </span> <span class="orcid"> <a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3270-6310" target="_blank"> https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3270-6310 </a> </span> </li> <li> <span class="name"> Johanna K. Kaakinen </span> <span class="affiliation"> University of Turku </span> <span class="orcid"> <a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2970-826X" target="_blank"> https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2970-826X </a> </span> </li> </ul> </section> <section class="item doi"> <h2 class="label"> DOI: </h2> <span class="value"> <a href="https://doi.org/10.61197/fjl.126062"> https://doi.org/10.61197/fjl.126062 </a> </span> </section> <section class="item keywords"> <h2 class="label"> Keywords: </h2> <span class="value"> Easy Language, Easy Swedish, easy-to-read-texts, eye tracking, public authority communication, lättläst </span> </section> <section class="item abstract"> <h2 class="label">Abstract</h2> <p>Previous research has shown that word length, frequency and word repetition influence word reading times (Rayner 1998; 2009). Guidelines for Easy Language advise writers to use frequent and short words, and to repeat words instead of using synonyms. However, some of these guidelines are based on research that has been misinterpreted, simplified, or is outdated (Wengelin 2015), and studies focusing on effects of word length, frequency and word repetition among adult readers in the Easy Swedish target group are lacking. This eye-tracking study investigated the reading of Easy Language texts written by public authorities, as well as the effects of word length, frequency, and word repetition on readers in a day centre for people with intellectual disabilities. The results showed significant effects for word length and frequency in all readers. In addition, the effects were significantly greater in the target group than in the control group. The effects for word repetition were not as clear, affecting only one of the reading measures. Furthermore, the study revealed poor comprehension rates in the target group, i.e., when asked, they were not able to reproduce the main contents of the texts. The significantly greater effects of word length and frequency suggest that the related Easy Language guidelines are valid for this group of readers. The poor comprehension rates indicate that the texts were too difficult for these readers.</p> </section> <a href="http://www.tsv.fi/tunnus"><img src="https://journal.fi/plugins/generic/tsvVertu/images/prlabel-large.jpg" class="prLabelLarge" /></a> <section class="item author_bios"> <h2 class="label"> Author Biographies </h2> <section class="sub_item"> <h3 class="label"> Carina Frondén, <span class="affiliation">University of Helsinki</span> </h3> <div class="value"> <p>Scandinavian languages<br>Doctoral Researcher, Doctoral Programme in Language Studies<br>University of Helsinki</p> </div> </section> <section class="sub_item"> <h3 class="label"> Johanna K. Kaakinen, <span class="affiliation">University of Turku</span> </h3> <div class="value"> Associate Professor, Psychology University of Turku INVEST Research Flagship Centre PhD (Psychology) Fostering Finnish Science Capital consortium www.finsci.fi </div> </section> </section> </div> <div class="entry_details"> <div class="item cover_image"> <div class="sub_item"> <a href="https://journal.fi/finjol/issue/view/10545"> <img src="https://journal.fi/public/journals/153/cover_issue_10545_en_US.png" alt=""> </a> </div> </div> <div class="item galleys"> <h2 class="pkp_screen_reader"> Downloads </h2> <ul class="value galleys_links"> <li> <a class="obj_galley_link pdf" href="https://journal.fi/finjol/article/view/126062/90173"> PDF </a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="item published"> <section class="sub_item"> <h2 class="label"> Published </h2> <div class="value"> <span>2023-12-31</span> </div> </section> </div> <div class="item citation"> <section class="sub_item citation_display"> <h2 class="label"> How to Cite </h2> <div class="value"> <div id="citationOutput" role="region" aria-live="polite"> <div class="csl-bib-body"> <div class="csl-entry">Frondén, C., & Kaakinen, J. 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Reading Easy Language texts written by public authorities: Evidence from eye tracking. <i>Finnish Journal of Linguistics</i>, <i>36</i>, 7–36. https://doi.org/10.61197/fjl.126062</div> </div> </div> <div class="citation_formats"> <button class="cmp_button citation_formats_button" aria-controls="cslCitationFormats" aria-expanded="false" data-csl-dropdown="true"> More Citation Formats </button> <div id="cslCitationFormats" class="citation_formats_list" aria-hidden="true"> <ul class="citation_formats_styles"> <li> <a aria-controls="citationOutput" href="https://journal.fi/finjol/citationstylelanguage/get/acm-sig-proceedings?submissionId=126062&publicationId=86412" data-load-citation data-json-href="https://journal.fi/finjol/citationstylelanguage/get/acm-sig-proceedings?submissionId=126062&publicationId=86412&return=json" > ACM </a> </li> <li> <a aria-controls="citationOutput" href="https://journal.fi/finjol/citationstylelanguage/get/acs-nano?submissionId=126062&publicationId=86412" 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Reading Easy Language texts written by public authorities | Finnish Journal of Linguistics