Easy Language Research Articles

Pragmatics and cognition in Easy Language

Pragmatics and cognition in Easy Language

Urdu translation, cross-cultural validation and reliability of ECOS-16 questionnaire among post-menopausal women with osteopenia.

Escala de Calidad de vida Osteoporosis (ECOS-16) was originally developed in Spanish to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) in post-menopausal women (PMW) with osteoporosis or osteopenia based on the osteoporosis-specific QoL instruments. ECOS-16 has been translated into several languages, but the Urdu version is not yet available. To translate the ECOS-16 Questionnaire into Urdu and determine its validity and reliability in PMW with osteopenia. This was a linguistic validity and reliability study. ECOS-16 was translated into Urdu using Beaton's guidelines. Content validity was examined using Waltz's four-point ordinal scale. Twenty osteopenia-afflicted PMW aged 48-70 underwent pilot testing for face validity. Discriminant validity was determined by an independent T-test between PMW women with and without osteopenia. Convergent validity was assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Cronbach's alpha and Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1) assessed internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The factor analysis was used to describe the factors. Each question's content validity ratio (CVR) was 0.83-1.00, while the scale's S-CVR was 0.96. Each question's Likert scale content validity index (CVI) was 0.91-0.93, while the scale's S-CVI was 0.91. Significant discriminant validity was found between groups in weeks I and II (p-value < 0.001). A correlation coefficient of 0.89 and 0.96 (p-value < 0.001) between Urdu ECOS-16 total score and SF-36 and EQ-5D scores suggests convergent validity. One component explained 83.86% of Urdu ECOS-16's variance in factor analysis. Excellent test-retest reliability (ICC2,1 = 0.990, 95% CI, 0.985-0.994, p-value < 0.001). Cronbach's alpha for standardized items was 0.995. ECOS-16 translated in Urdu is a valid and reliable questionnaire to assess QoL in PMW with osteopenia. It has a simple and easy language that can be understood easily by the Urdu-speaking population.

‘Not that We’re not Hard-Working Ourselves, but Germans are the Model’: mediatising Germans as the national other in the video project Easy Languages

ABSTRACT The present paper focuses on the analysis of four videos which portray the ways British, Italian, French and Greek people talk about Germans as the national other, within the context of a video series project aiming to promote multilingualism and foreign language learning (Easy Languages). Contrary to traditional views on national stereotypes from social psychology, and on cultural categorisations of countries from intercultural communication as universally fixed entities, a Critical Discourse Studies perspective is adopted, which views them instead as hegemonic discourses, which sustain particular power relations with the excuse of ‘cultural’ difference. The analysis discloses that the mediatisation of Germans as the national other aligns with the well-known national stereotypes of competence and warmth, as well as with the widely held cultural categorisations distinguishing monochronic from polychronic countries. Yet, viewed as dynamic discursive resources, it is shown that discussing national matters is a delicate topic, requiring a positive impression management, especially within a context with ‘clear’ intercultural objectives. Moreover, these discourses lead to the neutralisation of politics through culturalisation.

Incorporating Easy Language in the ICF: Benefits, opportunities, and challenges

The World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), the international standard for the description of functioning and disability, completely ignores a specific form of accessible communication despite its potential to improve functioning and reduce disability: Easy Language, a form of standard language with substantially reduced linguistic complexity. Starting with a proposal for how and where Easy Language could be appropriately integrated into the ICF, the commentary then outlines the various benefits and opportunities for social policy that could be associated with doing so. It also notes several potential challenges involved in this process. If used correctly, the integration of Easy Language into the ICF could prove useful for both professional users of the ICF and Easy Language target groups.

Learning Arabic Language Improves Student's Memorization of the Al-Qur’an

Learning Arabic for non-Arab people still has many obstacles and problems to face because Arabic is not an easy language to master completely. But studying it is something that cannot be ignored. The need for Arabic for the world community is currently quite high, both for Muslims and non-Muslims.The specificity of the language of the Al-Qur'an has given people enthusiasm and willingness to learn Arabic. The efforts made are to make it easier to memorize the Al-Qur'an. Apart from that, understanding Arabic allows a person to easily understand and understand the contents of the Al-Qur'an. An interest in memorizing the Al-Qur'an and the ability to speak Arabic can be an influence on someone's achievement in memorizing the Al-Qur'an. This research was conducted at Ma'hadRubbaht Al-Futuhat Jepara, Central Java. This research aims to determine the effect of Arabic language mastery and the ability to memorize the Al-Qur'an of Santriwati Ma'had Rubbaht Al-Futuhat Jepara, Central Java.So this research is expected to provide good benefits for Santriwati, namely increasing motivation in memorizing and mastering the Al-Qu'ran, for teachers it is hoped that it can provide benefits in helping provide easy learning motivation for Santriwati in mastering and memorizing the Al-Qu'ran. The research method used is a quantitative approach, namely interview guides, test papers, observation guides and archives.Keywords: Learning, Arabic, Memoriation, Al-Qur'an.

Sąmoningumo lengvai suprantamos kalbos atžvilgiu svarba socialinei įtraukčiai Latvijoje, Lietuvoje ir Slovėnijoje

Easy Language serves as a communication tool designed for use by a broad spectrum of individuals within our society. Like any tool, it requires development, adjustment, and application standards. Some of these standards are common across languages and societies, while others are unique to specific languages, groups of people, or needs. This implies that language users, developers, and researchers can benefit from cooperation but also need to develop their own language- and situation-specific tools and standards of communication.The aim of this research is to compare the change in Easy Language awareness from 2021 to 2022 among societies in Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia within a year, using such tools as surveys, in-depth interviews, and statistical analysis. The findings suggest that awareness levels vary across different countries and social groups. Furthermore, it takes more than two years to reach the levels of legal structures and political readiness necessary to embrace the needs of the entire society.

Prevalence of Transitional Vertebra in Lumbar Disc Herniation in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University

Background: Lumbosacral transitional vertebrae (LSTV) occur as a congenital anomaly in the segmentation of lumbosacral spine that occur during intrauterine life. LSTV includes lumbarization and sacralization of the lumbosacral region. A transitional vertebra(TV) may have varying formations, the common feature being an atypical lumbosacral articulation between transverse process of the most inferior lumbar vertebra and the sacrum. There has been a lot of discussion regarding the prevalence of LSTV in lumbar disc herniation(LDH). Most of the studies showed increased prevalence while other studies showed TV is an incidental finding and there is no increased prevalence in LDH. LDH is a quiet common ailment encountered in neurosurgical practice. Numerous causes have been attributed to it. LSTV might have great importance in patients who clinically seem to have LDH where it’s presence in plain X-ray might provide a supportive evidence for diagnosis and it can help to counsel the patient. We will be able to recommend a plain x-ray of lumbosacral spine first, having history and clinical findings suggestive of LDH and can save the cost of MRI investigation until decision for operation. Beside this LSTV is an important entity for spinal surgeons , radiologists and also for those who do interventional procedures in the spine. For this reason the prevalence of TV in LDH should be known. This study was not carried out in our country yet. So this study will enrich our demographic information and will also help the spinal surgeons to counsel the patients about their congenital spinal morphological variation and different facts related with this. Objectives: General objective of this study is to observe the prevalence of LSTV in patients with LDH. Specific objective of this study was to identify the diathroidal joint or fusion between transverse process of last lumbar vertebra and ala of sacrum, to count the vertebral number from C2 to S1 in whole spine screening film, to identify the transitional vertebra as sacralization or lumbarization or absence of TV, to predict the future possibility of development of LDH from plain X-ray of lumbosacral spine. Methods: This study was a cross sectional type of observational study and was conducted in Department of Neurosurgery, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). The patients (N=45) who fulfilled the selection criteria was enrolled in this study. Patient’s data were recorded in a predetermined data sheet. Patients were informed in details about the study, its merits and demerits in easy and understandable language and then informed consent was taken. Also assurance was given that all the information and records would be kept confidential and the study result would help the neurosurgeons to counsel the patients with LSTV about future possibility of development of LDH from plain X-ray of lumbosacral spine. This study was not responsible for any additional harm to the patient and study had no potential risk to the patient and no experimental drugs were used in this study. Results: A total of 45 patients of LDH were studied to see the prevalence of lumbosacral TV in LDH. Based on history and clinical findings, 100% of patients presented with low back pain, 100% of patients presented with sciatica, and 62.2% presented with gait difficulty and 02.2% of patients presented with cauda equina syndrome. Mean age of patients having LDH herniation was 38.08 ± 10.15 years. LSTV was found in 31.11% of patients with LDH. In this study, LSTV was diagnosed by plain X ray of Lumbosacral spine (A/P view) and supplemented with MRI of L/S spine with screening of whole spine (in most cases). Diagnosis of transitional vertebra was done by researcher and was further confirmed by guide and faculty members of BSMMU. In relation to gender, prevalence of LSTV in male was 25.9% and in female was 38.9% which indicated higher prevalence of TV in female but this is not statistically significant (p value 0.356).Incidence of disc herniation in patients with TV was at the space above the transition in 85.7% of cases. The most likely explanation for this is that the motion segment cephalad to the LSTV has to bear additional stresses by virtue of it being juxtaposed to a relatively non-mobile segment Conclusion: This study reveals that the prevalence of LSTV in LDH is 31.11% which is near the upper limit of its prevalence(according to literature). Association of TV with LDH can not be obtained as a control group of patient without LDH was not considered. So further study should be carried out incorporating large number of patients with control group with long study period to generalize the findings to target population. Bang. J Neurosurgery 2023; 12(2): 76-85

Responsible ownership and health education can reduce the time of sporotrichosis treatment in domestic cats

Sporotrichosis is a widespread fungal infection that affects skin and subcutaneous tissues in humans and animals. In cats, it is displayed as nodules, ulcers and lesions on the nasal and respiratory mucosa. Antifungal treatment of cats is crucial but many cases are difficult, thus resulting in discontinue of the treatment, with disastrous consequences for the animal, encouraging contamination of the environment, other animals and people. The effects of responsible ownership education and health education for owners of cats with feline sporotrichosis as well as the interval between veterinary consultations on treatment outcomes for three groups of owners and their pet cats were evaluated in this study. The responsible ownership education and health education strategies consisted in videos in easy and accessible language for people with any level of education and were presented during consultations for two of the three groups included. The time between appointments was two weeks for two of the groups, and four weeks for one of the groups. The median of treatment time for the group without educational activities was 138 days, while for the other two groups it was 77.5 days and 86 days. It was found a significative reduction in the treatment time in the groups exposed to Responsible ownership education videos. There was no contamination of those responsible for home treatment, and the interval between monthly appointments did not impact on cure or death rates compared to the interval between fortnightly appointments. All these results can be applied to feline sporotrichoses treatment protocols increasing the owners treatment adherence and reducing either, the treatment discontinuation and the treatment costs and helps to control zoonotic sporotrichosis. The importance of attractive and comprehensible educational strategies as part of the feline sporotrichosis treatment protocol for the promotion of one health was highlighted.

Coupled Vibration Analysis of a Beam-Arch Composite Continuous Rigid Structure with Parallel Traffic Flow

To investigate the structural dynamic characteristics of a beam-arch composite continuous rigid structure bridge under the action of parallel moving loads on a multi-lane highway, a joint simulation analysis program based on Easy Language and ANSYS was developed. This study was conducted using a six-span beam-arch composite continuous rigid structure bridge located in Shaanxi Province as the reference project. The research focused on the most adverse dynamic coupled responses of the main beam midspan, arch crown, and suspension rods caused by double-axle cars, double-axle trucks, and three-axle trucks on a single-direction three-lane road surface.

Flashcards Based Learning Model in Learning German Vocabulary

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;In today's era, especially after the pandemic, the education sector in every school is being revitalized. The author observes that in the refreshment of education, particularly for learners, there is a need for a better or enhanced learning medium during instruction. The author wants to specifically highlight other useful and alternative options of the learning medium and prove that it is possible to reintroduce old and engaging learning materials in every foreign language class. Especially, the focus is on the learning medium of flashcards.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;The author conducts this scientific writing through theoretical research and exploration from various journals, theses, and online sources. In summary, the author can conclude that it is possible to refresh the learning materials with new styles or forms, which could provide diverse new or alternative learning opportunities. Not least, it is also possible, particularly in German language instruction, to preserve or enable practical and easy language acquisition for learners using flashcards.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Language Lateralization by Passive Auditory fMRI in Presurgical Assessment for Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

Background: In temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), estimating the potential risk of language dysfunction before surgery is a necessary procedure. Functional MRI (fMRI) is considered the most useful to determine language lateralization noninvasively. However, there are no standardized language fMRI protocols, and several issues remain unresolved. In particular, the language tasks normally used are predominantly active paradigms that require the overt participation of patients, making assessment difficult for pediatric patients or patients with intellectual disabilities. In this study, task-based fMRI with passive narrative listening was applied to evaluate speech comprehension to estimate language function in Japanese-speaking patients with drug-resistant TLE. Methods: Twenty-one patients (six with intellectual disabilities) participated. Patients listened to passive auditory stimuli with combinations of forward and silent playback, and forward and backward playback. The activation results were extracted using a block design, and lateralization indices were calculated. The obtained fMRI results were compared to the results of the Wada test. Results: The concordance rate between fMRI and the Wada test was 95.2%. Meaningful responses were successfully obtained even from participants with intellectual disabilities. Conclusions: This passive fMRI paradigm can provide safe and easy presurgical language evaluation, particularly for individuals who may not readily engage in active paradigms.

Reading Easy Language texts written by public authorities

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.

Lengvai suprantama kalba socialinei įtraukčiai – atvejo aprašymas

The research is devised as a case study focused on the study course “Easy Language for Social Inclusion” developed within the ERASMUS+ project “Promoting Easy-to-Read Language for Social Inclusion/PERLSI”. The discussion is contextualized within a broader discourse on the training opportunities available for translators in the project countries (Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia). The macro-level of analysis introduces the socio-political frame of discourse on inclusion and information accessibility. The meso-level discussion evolves around the Easy language translator’s profile, based on the best practice offered by German scholars (Maaß and Rink 2020) and the immediate experience acquired during the project. Micro-level analysis offers insights into the course syllabus, the study materials developed to ensure the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for reducing cognitive load at lexical, syntactic, and textual levels as well as the visual language of the text.

Design of Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) on Smart Fertilizer Distribution System

The control system in agriculture is an important study to regulate the application of fertilizers to plants. The control system can use PLC control system which has good system robustness and easy program language. The purpose of this research is to design a simulated fertilizer irrigation system based on a programmable logic controller (PLC) system. The PLC program used is CX-program and the simulator circuit uses Fluidsim simulator. The system components used are the main reservoir, pump, solenoid valve, valve, level sensor, and light indicator. The system is organized by dividing inputs and outputs that are directly integrated into the PLC system. The components are arranged using fluidsim and the PLC control system using CX-Programmer using ladder logic language. The control system integration and system circuitry are connected using KeepServerEX. The output of this system is a successful operation function and a digital system response to the time of the system. From the results of the system response provides a fairly good timeliness so that this irrigation system can be considered in the implementation of fertilizer delivery system

Focus on Text Producers: Plain and Easy Language in the Swiss Multilingual Institutional Context

This paper was carried out as part of the MACSI project (Multilingual Accessible Communication in Swiss Institutions) and focuses on a case study carried out with the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The broad aim of this cooperation with the FSO is to evaluate ways of implementing multilingual accessible expert-lay communication on statistics. Switzerland boasts a long-established tradition of clear writing at institutional level. Being a multilingual country, accessible communication is institutionally mandatory in all its official languages.&#x0D; While most of the research on accessible communication is text and recipient-based, in this study we focused primarily on drafters, who are specialized experts in different domains, as well as on translators, who have to face the challenges of interlinguistic transfer of both specialized and plain communication. This paper presents the results from a questionnaire on accessibility submitted to drafters and translators within the FSO. The answers show that drafters address several target groups with the same text and or they produce different texts for different target groups. Moreover, both drafters and translators have little knowledge and experience with plain and easy language, although most of them are interested in putting more effort into writing lay-friendly texts. Thus, there is a need for sensitising and training drafters and translators so that they are able to adapt content, level of technicality and language to the different levels of expertise when producing different multilingual accessible texts.

Vietnes mammadaba.lv tulkojums vieglajā valodā: leksikas analīze

The article “Translation of the website mammadaba.lv in easy language: lexical analysis” aims to evaluate the use of the easy language lexicon to determine which solutions must be applied to reduce the cognitive load on the lexical level. In the study, only texts validated in the target group were used. When creating a text in easy language, verbosity should be avoided, the use of nouns should be carefully considered, the principle “one word – one concept” should be followed, and a concrete lexicon should be used. The keyword of the synonym list should be used to reduce the reader’s cognitive load. Moreover, the most appropriate strategy for handling foreign words and terms should be selected: replacement, explanation, or leaving. It is also important to consider the grounding of using the means of expression. There are no strict borders for easy language writing style – it has official business and publicist style characteristics. The solutions that ensure text functionality for an Easy language reader do not cover all potentialities. However, each Easy language parameter on the lexical level completely corresponds to the norms of standard Latvian.

Selkokielellä kriisiä rakentamassa: koronadiskurssit selkomediassa ja tukijärjestöjen viestinnässä

In this article, we consider a fundamental but so far little-investigated area of crisis communication: Easy Language journalism and public communication. Specifically, we focus on Easy Finnish material related to the Covid-19 pandemic. By adopting a Discourse Analytic perspective, we look at the ways in which the pandemic is constructed as a crisis across genres and ideological discourses operating in the overall ecology of Finnish Easy Language mass communication. As a result, we identify and describe four discourses that are foregrounded in our data: responsibility discourse, equality discourse, trust discourse and coping discourse. Our results highlight the importance of Easy Language communication in supporting the social inclusion of its target groups during a time of global crisis further severed by the so-called infodemic. The data covers the years 2020 and 2021 and includes material from the media and third-sector organizations.

Enabling text comprehensibility assessment for people with intellectual disabilities using a mobile application

In research on Easy Language and automatic text simplification, it is imperative to evaluate the comprehensibility of texts by presenting them to target users and assessing their level of comprehension. Target readers often include people with intellectual or other disabilities, which renders conducting experiments more challenging and time-consuming. In this paper, we introduce Okra, an openly available touchscreen-based application to facilitate the inclusion of people with disabilities in studies of text comprehensibility. It implements several tasks related to reading comprehension and cognition and its user interface is optimized toward the needs of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs). We used Okra in a study with 16 participants with IDs and tested for effects of modality, comparing reading comprehension results when texts are read on paper and on an iPad. We found no evidence of such an effect on multiple-choice comprehension questions and perceived difficulty ratings, but reading time was significantly longer on paper. We also tested the feasibility of assessing cognitive skill levels of participants in Okra, and discuss problems and possible improvements. We will continue development of the application and use it for evaluating automatic text simplification systems in the future.

Inter-rating reliability of the Swiss easy-read integrated palliative care outcome scale for people with dementia.

The Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale for People with Dementia is a promising instrument for nursing home quality improvement and research in dementia care. It enables frontline staff in nursing homes to understand and rate the needs and concerns of people with dementia. We recently adapted the measure to include easy language for users from various educational backgrounds. In this study, we examine the inter-rating reliability of the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale for People with Dementia for frontline staff in nursing homes. In this secondary analysis of an experimental study, 317 frontline staff members in 23 Swiss nursing homes assessed 240 people with dementia from a convenience sample. Reliability for individual items was computed using Fleiss Kappa. Because of the nested nature of the primary data, a generalisability and dependability study was performed for an experimental IPOS-Dem sum score. The individual Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale for People with Dementia items showed kappa values between .38 (95% CI .3-.48) and .15 (95% CI .08-.22). For the experimental IPOS-Dem sum score, a dependability index of .57 was found. The different ratings and time between ratings explain less than 2% of the variance in the sum score. The different nursing homes make up 12% and the people with dementia make up 43% of the sum score variance. The dependability study indicates that an experimental IPOS-Dem sum score could be acceptable for research by averaging two ratings. Limited research has been conducted on the measurement error and reliability of patient-centred outcome measures for people with dementia who are living in nursing homes. The Swiss Easy-Read IPOS-Dem is a promising instrument but requires further improvement to be reliable for research or decision making. Future studies may look at its measurement properties for different rater populations or at different stages of dementia. Furthermore, there is a need to establish the construct validity and internal consistency of the easy-read IPOS-Dem.

Communication of risks in Easy Language and in Plain Language

Communication of risks in Easy Language and in Plain Language