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Clarity Number 67 May 2012 Journal of the international association promoting plain legal language In this issue Neil James Advocating plain language in the media 5 Miriam Vincent and Kathryn Catania Plain language: no budget—no problem! 10 Catharina Nyström Höög How do public authorities address the citizens? An attempt on a new understanding of textual categories 13 Anne Kjærgaard A campaign for plain language in the municipality of Copenhagen—from textual effects to organisational context 17 Jennie Spetz and Eva Olovsson The Swedish Language Act—impact, experiences and challenges 22 Víctor González-Ruiz A plain perspective on legal translation 27 Hakkie Jang The Korean initiative for easy-to-understand laws 32 Asbjørg Westum Language Consultancy Training in need of interaction between universities and practitioners 37 Editor in chief: Clarity and general news Julie Clement This issue 3 Guest editor for this issue: Contributing to the journal 21 Anki Mattson How to join Clarity 26 Member and other news 39 Guest editors for Clarity 68: Conference news 41 Christopher Balmford and Meet the Clarity committee members 43 Annetta Cheek Message from the President 47 Patrons The Rt Hon Sir Christopher Staughton; The Honorable Michael Kirby AC CMG; and Sir Kenneth Keith, ONZ, KBE, and QC Founder John Walton Committee President: Candice Burt ([email protected]) Members: Country Representatives plus Simon Adamyk, Michèle Asprey, Peter Butt, Sir Edward Caldwell, Richard Castle, Annetta Cheek, Julie Clement, Gerald Delabre, Robert Lowe, John Pare, John Walton. Country representatives Argentina Israel Portugal Maximiliano Marzetti Myla Kaplan Sandra Fisher-Martins maximiliano.marzetti@ [email protected] [email protected] erasmusmundus-alumni.eu Italy Slovak Republic Australia Christopher Williams Ing. Ján Rendek Christopher Balmford [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Japan South Africa Bangladesh Kyal Hill Candice Burt A.K. Mohammad Hossain [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Lesotho Spain Belgium Retsepile Gladwin Ntsihlele Cristina Gelpi Oliver Beaujean [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Malaysia Sweden Canada Juprin Wong-Adamal Helena Englund Hjalmarsson Nicole Fernbach [email protected] helena.englund@ [email protected] Mexico sprakkonsulterna.se Chile Salomé Flores Sierra Franzoni UK Claudia Poblete Olmedo [email protected] Daphne Perry [email protected] The Netherlands [email protected] Finland Hélène Butijn USA Heikki Mattila [email protected] Prof Joseph Kimble [email protected] New Zealand [email protected] France Lynda Harris Zimbabwe Jenny Gracie [email protected] Walter Zure [email protected] Nigeria [email protected] Germany Dr. Tunde Opeibi Other European countries: Siegfried Breiter [email protected] Catherine Rawson [email protected] Peru [email protected] Hong Kong Ricardo León-Pastor All other countries: Eamonn Moran [email protected] Please contact the USA [email protected] Philippines representative India Victor Eleazar Dr. K.R. Chandratre [email protected] [email protected] Honor roll of donors to Clarity Clarity is managed entirely by volunteers and is funded through membership fees and donations. We gratefully acknowledge those financial supporters who have contributed to Clarity’s success: $2,500+ Plain English Foundation, one anonymous donor, Christopher Balmford $1,000+ Joseph Kimble, Julie Clement $500+ Nicole Fernbach $100+ None 2 Clarity 67 May 2012 An international association promoting plain legal language www.clarity-international.net Clarity … the journal This issue Published in May and November In June 2011, the PLAIN conference came to Stockholm, Sweden. It was the first time we hosted an international plain-language confer- ence of this magnitude, and we were thrilled to welcome so many prominent plain-language practitioners and advocates. In spite of Sweden’s international reputation as a pioneer country when it comes to plain official language, many Swedes were surprised by the keen interest in our methods and results. The fact is that most Swedes have no idea that we are successful in this area, but rather find the everyday plain language work both hard and tiresome. So our President native participants learned not only a lot about Candice Burt plain language from an international perspec- [email protected] tive, but about their own success as well. A Editor in chief pleasant but unexpected twist for many. But the conference was not about Sweden; it was a Julie Clement truly international event. PO Box 13038 Lansing, Michigan 48901 The theme of PLAIN 2011 aimed to highlight Fax: 1 517 334 5781 the framework—or the five cornerstones—of [email protected] plain language, i.e. elements in society or in an organization that are necessary to make plain language happen. The framework was defined as subject matters for the seminars: practicing Advertising rates plain language, research on plain language, educa- Full page: £150 tion and training in plain language, laws and Smaller area: pro rata regulations about plain language, and plain lan- Minimum charge: £20 guage organizations. In this issue, some of the Contact Joe Kimble, [email protected] speakers of PLAIN 2011 elaborate on the seminars they gave at the conference. They Copyright policy represent the different subjects to give an Authors retain copyright in their articles. overview of the framework. Anyone wanting to reproduce an article in whole or in part should first obtain the Neil James of Australia writes about the impor- author’s permission and should acknowledge tance of advocating plain language in all Clarity as the source. available media. He gives useful advice on how to really get across in a broad sense, in order Submissions to get the attention we need to find patrons We encourage you to submit articles to be and resources. We can’t do it all by ourselves; considered for publication in Clarity. Send we need external powers as well. How to get submissions directly to editor in chief Julie along almost without resources is the subject Clement. Please limit submissions to approxi- matter of Miriam Vincent and Kathryn Catania mately 1,500 or 3,000 words. Clarity 67 May 2012 3 of the U.S. Plain Language Action and Infor- Finally, this issue addresses the question of mation Network (U.S. PLAIN). They give us how to ensure the availability of plain lan- the inside of how to make the whole of the U.S. guage knowledge and competence to the governmental plain language work without “cause”. Sweden was the first country that we almost any resources, but with their wit and know of that started a university programme ingenuity. for plain-language consultancy to supply the market with a competence it was just barely But how do we define plain language, and aware it needed. But things have changed since what are the results of our efforts to achieve it? the 1980s, when about 20 plain-language con- There are two articles on this subject. Professor sultants graduated every second year. Until a Catharina Nyström Höög of Dalarna University few years ago, Stockholm University was the lets us in on her attempt to map the voices only university to offer the programme. Now within the discourse of public authority in the first two classes of Umeå University have Sweden, and Anne Kjeargaard, PhD of the Dan- graduated, and this fall Gothenburg University ish Language Council, writes about the results will start its first class. And it doesn’t stop there; of a plain language project at a municipality in Lund University will start its programme in Copenhagen. The results and discussions 2013. So in the light of a growing market, it is found in a scientific approach to plain language interesting to read the article by Asbjørg Westum, and communication can be of great use when PhD and programme coordinator for the practicing, teaching, learning and arguing for Swedish Language Consultancy Programme plain language. at the Department of Language Studies, Umeå But we also need our society to support us and University. supply us with enough muscles to be able to This is what this issue of Clarity offers from stand firmly on the ground of research, experi- PLAIN 2011. If you are interested in the other ence and our own conviction. The most explicit speakers (there where almost 70 of them), you way to provide this support is for society to can find their Powerpoints and handouts at issue plain-language laws. And laws are be- plain2011.com. ginning to be passed. But what happens then, once you have your Plain Language Act in Stockholm, March 2012 place? Sweden got its Plain Language Act in the summer of 2009, and Eva Olovsson and © Anki Mattson Jennie Spetz of the Language Council of Sweden [email protected] write about supervising the law, and its effects Plain Language Consultant, Sweden so far. Managing Director at Språkkonsulterna And speaking of laws. There are two very dif- ferent articles in this issue about making laws more comprehensive for the public. I find it interesting how plain language in spite of great variation in circumstances is both applicable and desired universally. One of these articles is by Victor Gonzales-Ruiz of University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain). He talks about how to teach students who are training to be legal translators to take a plain perspec- tive. The other article, by Hakkie Jang of the Korean Ministry of Government Legislation, presents a different kind of problem, but still the same old story. He writes about solving the problem that Korean legislation is so strongly influenced by Chinese and Japanese characters that it is hard for the public to un- derstand. 4 Clarity 67 May 2012 Advocating plain language in the media Neil James present plain language in the media? Which media channels are most receptive and which Executive Director Plain English Foundation have the greatest impact? What are the costs Australia and benefits of media advocacy and should plain language practitioners develop a media Next time you are travelling in a taxi, try a little presence? test.