TCOM_6324 Discussion
This assignment is taken from page 17 of Russell Willerton’sPlain Language and Ethical Action:A DialogicApproach to Technical Content in the 21st Century (in UHD e-library).Read the chapter and then think of a BUROC situation that you have faced. What was the situation? Which parts of the BUROC situation were most salient or prominent in the situation? What information did you get, and how was it used? How did you respond to the situation, and how do you feel now as you reflect on the situation?
1
UNDERSTANDING PLAIN LANGUAGE
AND OPPORTUNITIES TO USE IT
Over the past several decades, advocates around the world have urged people
writing for audiences of consumers and citizens to use plain language. According
to UK plain-language advocate Martin Cutts (2009), plain language is the writ-
ing 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 (xi). Steinberg (1991a)
writes that plain language reflects the interests and needs of the reader and the
consumer rather than the legal, bureaucratic, or technological interests of the
writer or the organization the writer represents (7). Advocates for plain language
around the world have identified principles of word choice, verb selection, sen-
tence construction, visual design, organization, and usability testing that make
complex technical documents easier for nonexpert consumers and citizens to
use (Cutts 2009; Steinberg 1991b). When constituents can use their documents
more quickly and effectively, companies and government agencies save money;
for example, Kimble (2012) provides 50 examples of plain-language projects
that saved readers time and money and that reached audiences effectively. While
people tend to use the terms plain language, plain English, and plain writ-
ing interchangeably (Greer 2012), plain language is the most inclusive of these
terms. Plain-language practitioners around the world apply key concepts from
the movement usefully in many languages and cultures.
Although plain language has grown in prevalence around the world, research-
ers have done little work to understand the degree to which plain language is a
means for technical communicators to do ethical work. Because theorists believe
that the broad field of technical communication is rhetorical and humanisticfor
example, see Miller (1979) and Ornatowski (1992), among many othersit
is important to continually assess and examine how technical communicators
Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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2 Plain Language and Ethical Action
face and respond to ethical situations. Two examples show how some disagree
over whether plain language is ethical. The first is from Brockmanns (1989b)
introduction to Technical Communication and Ethics, a collection of articles
and essays published by the Society for Technical Communication. Brockmann
explains why the collection does not address plain language: Plain language,
although a readability concern, is not necessarily an ethical concern. Identifica-
tion of plain language with ethical language mistakes the outward signs of eth-
ics, plain language, for true ethical actions (v). Writing more than two decades
after Brockmann, Graves and Graves (2011) state in their textbook on technical
communication that at its heart, plain language involves an ethical relationship
between the reader and writer. As a writer, you must want to communicate with
your audience clearly (71). In this book, I explore the extent to which a middle
ground exists between these two examples while reaffirming the humanistic con-
cerns of technical communication.
Over the past several decades, plain-language advocates around the world
have worked for clearer government forms, laws that citizens can readily under-
stand, and letters that clearly explain how to obtain government benefits. The US
now has its first federal law requiring plain-language activities in government
agencies, the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Perhaps this is an opportune time to
determine whether a new perspective on plain language and ethics exists between
the perspectives that Brockmann and Graves and Graves articulate. To that end,
this book focuses on two main questions:
Is plain language an ethical concern?
What processes and procedures can help plain-language writers do ethical
work that helps their audiences?
An Overview of the Worldwide Movement
toward Plain Language
Several authors and editors provide insight into the development of the
plain-language movement around the world. Concern for plain language has
often focused on documents produced by government agencies, but it now
extends to law, health and medicine, and many aspects of business. A review of
the plain-language movements history helps identify the social forces behind
the movement and demonstrates that concerns about confusing, bureaucratic
language are long-standing.
Early Developments in Plain-English Style
References to plain-English style date back to the fourteenth century. See table 1.1
for a brief list of developments in plain-English style between the fourteenth and
seventeenth centuries.
Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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Understanding Plain Language 3
Influences on the Plain-Language Movement
in the Early- and Mid-Twentieth Century
As table 1.2 shows, activities in the US and the UK influenced developments in
plain language in the early- and mid-twentieth century.
New Momentum in the 1970s
According to Redish (1985), before 1970 bureaucrats faced no mandates to write in
ways that consumers could understand. In the 1970s, presidential executive orders
and changes in federal and state laws helped give legitimacy to the plain-language
movement. Fervent consumer activism and an increase in government paper-
work brought new attention to the problems of unclear bureaucratic language.
Table 1.3 lists several developments from this decade in the US and the UK.
Responses in the US to a Particular Type of Unclear Language
In the early 1970s, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) took a
stand against a particular type of unclear language. Advertisers, politicians, and
others in the media during that era intentionally used unclear language, called
doublespeak in reference to George Orwells novel 1984, to mislead public
TABLE 1.1 Early developments in plain-English style.
Century Development in plain-English style
Fourteenth
Century
The Host in Chaucers Canterbury Tales exhorts the learned Clerke
of Oxenford to speak plainly so the pilgrims may understand him
(McArthur 1991, 14).
Sixteenth
Century
Writers of technical books in English in the sixteenth century used
plain style for their audiences. But because writers used plain-English
style outside of traditional literary genres, this style choice did not
receive much attention (Tebeaux 1997).
Seventeenth
Century
The first person to refer to plain English as opposed to florid, ornate
English may be Robert Cawdrey, who compiled the first known
English dictionary in 1604. His Table Alphabeticall uses English
words to define difficult words borrowed from languages like Latin,
Greek, and Hebrew. Cawdreys stated audience for the dictionary
was women. Without formal education, women had no easy way of
appreciating the layer of Latinity that had formed, as it were, along
the top of traditional English (McArthur 1991, 13).
Francis Bacon prominently advocated for plain style in science, as did
the Royal Society. Women writers such as Margaret Cavendish and
Jane Sharp used plain style to reach their audiences (Tillery 2005).
Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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TABLE 1.2 Influences on the plain-language movement from the 1900s to the 1970s.
Area of activity Influence on the plain-language movement
US Government Maury Maverick, once chairman of the Smaller War Plants
Corporation, wrote a memo in 1944 to everyone in the
corporation requesting that lengthy memoranda and
gobbledygook language be replaced by short and clear
memoranda. Maverick coined the term gobbledygook after
recalling the sights and sounds of a bearded turkey strutting and
gobble-gobbling about (Greer 2012, 4).
In 1953, Stuart Chase wrote The Power of Words, which includes
a chapter bemoaning gobbledygook in bureaucracies, law,
and universities. In 1966, John OHayre of the Bureau of Land
Management released 16 essays on plain-English writing for
business and government in Gobbledygook Has Gotta Go (Redish
1985, 128).
UK Government Ernest Gowers advocated for civil servants to communicate
clearly. A training pamphlet he wrote in 1943 later grew into
the book Plain Words in 1948. Gowers published a companion
reference book, The ABC of Plain Words, in 1951. Gowers
combined those two books into The Complete Plain Words in
1954, a volume reprinted many times (Kimble 2012, 5152).
In 1946, British author George Orwell complained about the
slovenliness of writing about government and politics in
modern English. In his classic essay, Politics and the English
Language, which has appeared in writing anthologies for
decades, Orwell (2005) provides six succinct rules to help
writers remove vagueness and pomposity.
US Education
and Research
Although studies of factors affecting the readability of texts date
back as far as the 1890s in the US, research on readability increased
notably after researchers surveyed and tested adult literacy. The
military started literacy surveys in 1917; other agencies began
testing civilians and students soon after (DuBay 2004).
Prominent researchers from this era include Rudolph Flesch,
who released his Reading Ease formula in 1948 (Kimble 2012,
4950), as well as William S. Gray and Bernice Leary, Irving
Lorge, Edgar Dale and Jeanne Chall, Robert Gunning, Wilson
Taylor, and George Klare (DuBay 2004).
Researchers have developed hundreds of readability formulas
over time. Experts have long debated how and whether these
formulas should be used, especially because the formulas focus
on a texts surface featuresnumbers of syllables, words, and
sentences. Readability formulas are important in the history of
plain language because they have influenced understandings
of plainness and clarity and because some laws and regulations
require plain-language texts to meet particular readability scores.
Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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TABLE 1.3 Developments in the plain-language movement in the 1970s.
Government entity Development in the plain-language movement
US Government In 1972, President Richard Nixon decreed that the Federal
Register should use laymans terms and clear language
(Dorney 1988).
In 1977, the Commission on Paperwork issued a report strongly
recommending that the government rewrite documents into
language and formats that consumers could understand (Redish
1985, 129).
Congress also passed several laws that required warranties,
leases, and banking transfers to be clear and readable. These
included the Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade
Commission Act of 1973, the Consumer Leasing Act of 1976,
and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act of 1978 (Greer 2012, 5).
President Jimmy Carter issued executive orders requiring plain
language in 1978 and 1979. Executive Order 12044 set up a
regulatory reform program that required major regulations to
be written in plain English so that constituents could comply
with them. Executive Order 12174 required agencies to use
only necessary forms, to make the forms as short and simple as
possible, and to budget the time required to process paperwork
annually. President Carter also signed the Paperwork Reduction
Act, which took effect after he left office (Redish 1985, 129).
President Ronald Reagan rescinded Carters orders requiring
plain language. Reagan did, however, support regulatory
reform and the Paperwork Reduction Act (Redish 1985,
12930). Reagans secretary of commerce, Malcolm Baldridge,
argued for using plain language in business and industry
(Bowen, Duffy, and Steinberg 1991).
State of New York In 1975, Citibank shocked the financial community by
dramatically simplifying a loan document. The original loan
note had about 3,000 words, but the revised note had 600
(Redish 1985, 130).
In 1977, New York became the first state to enact a law requiring
plain language. Named the Sullivan Law for its sponsor,
Assemblyman Peter Sullivan, it requires businesses (including
individual landlords) to write contracts with consumers using
words with common, everyday meanings (Felsenfeld 1991).
At least ten other states later followed New Yorks lead. Critics
predicted a wave of lawsuits over the new contracts, but few filed
lawsuits (Kimble 2012, 5456).
(Continued)
Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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6 Plain Language and Ethical Action
audiences. While many bureaucratic documents embody sloppy thinking, con-
voluted vocabulary, and poor efforts at communication, writers carefully craft
doublespeak to mislead audiences and distort reality (Lutz 1988, 41). Table 1.4
provides a brief list of responses to doublespeak in the US.
Important Research on Plain Language and Document Design
Schriver (1997) discusses important collaborations between experts from indus-
try and academia that led to research and practical knowledge about how read-
ers understand plain-language documents. These studies brought attention to
documents that, while ubiquitous, researchers had rarely analyzed systemati-
cally. Table 1.5 lists some milestones in research on plain language and document
design.
Government entity Development in the plain-language movement
UK Government The 1974 Consumer Credit Act became the first British law to
require plain English. It requires credit-reference agencies to
give consumers, upon request, the contents of their files in plain
English they can readily understand (Cutts 2009, xvii).
In a 1979 protest in Parliament Square, campaigners for
plain English publicly shredded unclear government forms.
The event helped persuade the incoming Margaret Thatcher
administration to issue new policy about government forms.
Agencies had to count their forms, remove unnecessary forms,
revise the rest for clarity, and report their progress to the prime
minister annually. Many local governments also followed suit
(Cutts 2009, xvxvi).
TABLE 1.3 (Continued)
TABLE 1.4 Responses to doublespeak in the US.
NCTE formed the Committee on Public Doublespeak to educate students and teachers
about the dangers of doublespeak and to expose those who manipulated language. The
committee published the Public Doublespeak Newsletter, which eventually became the
Quarterly Doublespeak Review (National Council of Teachers of English 2009).
Amid such lying and deliberate obfuscation, Perica (1972) argued that the Society for
Technical Communication (STC) needed a strong code of ethics.
In the aftermath of another 1970s scandal, the Watergate hotel break-in and cover-up
that cost Richard Nixon the US presidency, STC drafted a code of ethics and offered it
to the membership (Malone 2011).
Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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Understanding Plain Language 7
Plain-Language Movement in the US in the 1990s
In the 1990s, the plain-language movement gathered significant momentum
in the US. Table 1.7 summarizes major events.
Interest in Plain Language in the Legal Community
Kimble (2012) identifies important publications that promote the use of plain
language by lawyers, judges, and law professors. Table 1.6 lists the books and
journals prominently promoting plain legal language.
TABLE 1.5 Milestones in research on plain language and document design.
The National Institute of Education funded the Document Design Project (DDP)
between 1978 and 1981. The American Institutes for Research (AIR), certain Carnegie
Mellon University faculty, and the firm Siegel & Gale joined together in the project.
DDP provided training to personnel in many federal agencies.
DDP produced two books that strongly influenced the field of document design:
Document Design: A Review of the Relevant Research (Felker 1980) and Guidelines for
Document Designers (Felker et al. 1981).
After 1981, research continued at AIRs Document Design Center and at Carnegie
Mellon Universitys interdisciplinary Communication Design Center. AIRs Document
Design Center became the Information Design Center in 1993. Although the
Communication Design Center (CDC) was by all accounts successful, it closed after
1990 in the wake of changes among Carnegie Mellon administrators.
TABLE 1.6 Publications promoting interest in plain language among the legal community.
Year Book
1963 David Mellinkoff s The Language of the Law gave scholarly weight and
undeniable validity to criticisms of legal writing going back for centuries; it
provided the intellectual foundation for the plain-language movement in law
(Kimble 2012, 47).
1979 Richard Wydicks Plain English for Lawyers provided concrete advice on
removing surplus words, choosing familiar words, and crafting effective
sentences. More than 800,000 copies of five editions have sold over 30 years
(Kimble 2012, 48).
1984 Michigan Bar Journal first produced its column on plain language. Kimble called
it the longest-running legal-writing column anywhere (Kimble 2012, 49).
1990 Australian lawyer Michle Asprey first released Plain Language for Lawyers.
Kimble calls itnow in its fourth editionthe single most comprehensive book
on the subject and says it has influenced lawyers around the world (2012, 54).
2001 Bryan A. Garner first published Legal Writing in Plain English, a text with
exercises for legal professionals.
Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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8 Plain Language and Ethical Action
Progress for Plain Language in Other Countries around the World
The US was not the only country supporting a burgeoning plain-language move-
ment. Table 1.8 summarizes developments in countries around the world.
Recent Developments in the US
Since 2000, major US government agencies have significantly increased their
commitments to using plain language. The Federal Aviation Administration,
the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Agriculture are among
those agencies with the strongest plain-language programs (Locke 2004).
More recently, US lawmakers wrote plain language into federal law. The Plain
Writing Act of 2010, which President Barack Obama signed into law, requires
federal agencies to demonstrate awareness of plain language, offer plain-language
training, and write new public documents in plain language. Agencies must also
TABLE 1.7 Developments in the US plain-language movement in the 1990s.
Years Development in the US plain-language movement
Mid-1990s Federal employees in the Washington, DC, area began meeting to
discuss plain-language issues. Originally called the Plain English
Network, the group is now the Plain Language Action and Information
Network (PLAIN). PLAIN hosts regular meetings and offers training on
plain-language writing to federal agencies (Plain Language Action and
Information Network 2013).
Mid-1990s The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) offered a shorter
review period to corporate volunteers willing to file plain-language
disclosure documents. In September 1996, Bell Atlantic and NYNEX,
which were planning to merge, mailed what was probably the first joint
proxy statement written in plain language. During that project, the SEC
also drafted its Plain English Handbook, which is publically available. In
1998, the SEC adopted rules requiring companies to write investment
prospectuses in plain English (Kimble 2012, 56).
Late 1990s President Clinton revived plain language as a major government initiative.
Clinton issued a memorandum that formalized the requirement for
federal employees to write in plain language (Locke 2004). Clintons
memo directed leaders of executive departments and agencies to use plain
language in all new documents (other than regulations) that explain how
to obtain a benefit or service or how to comply with a requirement they
administer or enforce. Vice President Al Gore monitored this initiative.
Vice President Gore presented monthly No Gobbledygook awards to
federal employees who turned bureaucratic messages into plain language
for citizens. The iconic statement Plain language is a civil right came
from Gore (Dieterich, Bowman, and Pogell 2006).
Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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TABLE 1.8 Developments in the plain-language movement around the world.
Country Development in the plain-language movement
Australia In the 1970s, Australia featured the first plain-language car
insurance policy. In 1984, the government adopted plain-language
policy for its public documents; this policy now extends to the
language of the law itself (Cutts 2009, xxi).
In the early 1990s, two influential reports shaped the content and
design of Australian legislation (Kimble 2012, 75). From 1990 to
1996, the grant-funded Centre for Plain Legal Language at Sydney
University published regular columns and conducted research on the
economic benefits of plain-English documents (Kimble 2012, 99).
Canada The Alberta Law Reform Institute has encouraged plain language
in the law since 1968 (Kimble 2012, 85).
From 1973 to 1992, the Canadian Legal Information Centre worked
to improve the legal information and public legal literacy. A national
nonprofit coalition, it created a Plain Language Centre to promote
legal documents in plain English and plain French (8384).
The Plain Language Service at the Canadian Public Health
Association (CPHA) offers plain-language revisions of health
materials and training on clear communication. Once funded
by the federal government, the Plain Language Service is now an
innovative, self-financed part of the CPHA (8687).
European Union A 1993 EU directive requires businesses to write consumer
contracts in plain language and to negotiate them in good faith.
Many member countries have written this directive into their own
national legislation (Kimble 2012, 59).
In 1998, the European Commission, which runs the EU, started
the Fight the Fog campaign to promote plain language. This effort
relaunched in 2010 as the Clear Writing Campaign. It offers a
booklet, How to Write Clearly, in all 23 official languages of the EU
(Kimble 2012, 9192).
The European Commission is developing an interdisciplinary
training course in clear communication through the IC Clear
consortium. The course will combine training in plain language,
information design, and usability (International Consortium for
Clear Communication 2011).
New Zealand The Law Commission has produced influential reports on
making legislation more accessible and understandable. The
Parliamentary Counsel Office has adopted many Law Commission
recommendations in New Zealand statutes and regulations
(Kimble 2012, 100104).
(Continued)
Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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10 Plain Language and Ethical Action
post annual reports on their compliance with the Plain Writing Act on their
websites (Plain Language Action and Information Network 2013). Critics note
that the Plain Writing Act is neither subject to judicial review nor enforceable by
administrative or judicial action, nor does it address federal regulations.
Early drafts of the Plain Writing Act contained a provision requiring federal
agencies to write regulations in plain language, but supporters dropped that pro-
vision after some legislators opposed it. Iowa congressman Bruce Braley, who
introduced the Plain Writing Act, has authored the Plain Regulations Act to
require federal regulations in plain language (Cheek 2012). Braley introduced the
bill in both the 112th and 113th sessions of Congress, but it did not advance out
of committee. Because federal regulations affect many citizens, especially small
business owners, advocates hope the bill will continue through the legislative
process.
Organizations Promoting Plain Language
Around the world, many organizations advocate for plain language in informa-
tion provided to citizens and consumers. Some organizations and initiatives
Country Development in the plain-language movement
Nordic
Countries
Advocates in Sweden have influenced language in legislation; a
group of reviewers within the ministry of justice must vet bills
before they can be printed. A government-sponsored group,
Klarsprksgruppen, encourages agencies to write in plain language
(Cutts 2009, xxii).
Similar projects in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway
encourage government agencies and officers to write public
documents in clear language that constituents can understand
(Kimble 2012, 9295).
Swedens Stockholm University is probably the first in the world
to offer a degree focused on plain language. Graduates from the
Swedish Language Consultancy work in public and private sectors
(Kimble 2012, 97).
South Africa The South African Constitution (Republic of South Africa 2014) is
a crucial government document written in plain language. Many
parties developed the principles of the Constitution through
dialogue before South Africas first democratic elections (Kimble
2012, 6061).
South Africas Consumer Protection Act of 2008 requires business
and agencies to give information to consumersnotices,
documents, and visual representationsin plain language that an
ordinary consumer can understand. Penalties for failing to comply
are substantial (Kimble 2012, 6263).
TABLE 1.8 (Continued)
Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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Understanding Plain Language 11
are listed in tables 1.7 and 1.8. In the US, the Center for Plain Language (CPL)
advocates for plain-language laws and regulations. (It was actively involved in
the effort to pass the Plain Writing Act.) CPL also provides training and educa-
tion and gives annual awards. CPLs ClearMark awards go to the best examples
of plain language from government, nonprofits, and private businesses while
its WonderMark awards go to poorly written documents. CPL also provides an
annual report card to grade federal agencies on the quality of their public commu-
nication and their compliance with the Plain Writing Act. Clarity International is
an international group advocating for plain language in legal documents. Clarity
hosts a biennial conference at sites around the world, and it publishes a journal,
Clarity, twice each year. Plain Language Association International (also known
as PLAIN but different from the Plain Language Action and Information Net-
work in the US) is another international organization promoting plain language
in all areas of business and government. Formed in 1993 as the Plain Language
Consultants Network, PLAIN hosts conferences around the world every two to
three years.
Resistance against Plain Language
While the advocates of plain language are quick to identify its benefits, some
believe the approach has shortcomings. Although no organizations or formal
coalitions campaign against plain language, critics have documented their con-
cerns. Both Mazur (2000) and Kimble (2012) compile and respond to common
concerns about plain language such as these:
Plain language is a concept too broad to be useful.
Plain language involves following rules slavishly.
Plain language is only about shortening texts and dumbing them down.
Plain language means writers cannot use technical vocabulary.
Plain language relies on readability formulas that have questionable validity.
Plain language is not as precise as typical bureaucratic or legal language.
Readers of legal and bureaucratic documents do not like or want plain
language.
Mazur (2000) and Kimble (2012) address each complaint in their respective
works. Some complaints, such as plain language involves following rules slav-
ishly, quickly lose merit after a review of the plain-language literature. Others,
such as plain language is not as precise as typical bureaucratic or legal language,
often come from people who believe changes to the status quo will threaten their
sources of income; as a professor of law and legal writing, Kimble has spent a
career challenging such entrenched positions.
Some have raised concerns that plain English might present problems to
nonnative English speakers. For example, many plain-language guidelines sug-
gest selecting simple English words (often with Germanic roots) over more Willerton, Russell. Plain Language and Ethical Action : A Dialogic Approach to Technical Content in the 21st Century,
Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uhdowntown/detail.action?docID=2057975.
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