Plain Language -- What a Democracy Needs: Experiences from the Swedish Government Offices and Authorities
Presentation by Bengt Baedecke and Eva
Thoren
Plain Swedish Group (Klarspråksgruppen)
Department of Justice
http://www.justitie.regeringen.se/klarsprak
Reported by Ron Scheer
Bengt Baedecke and Eva Thoren are plain language consultants working with the Swedish government and its agencies to modernize regulations, policies, and other documents to ensure that they are easy for the average citizen to read, understand and use.
Noting that plain language advocacy in Sweden has already a 30-year history, Mr. Baedecke reported that the number of full-time language experts appointed to work with ministries and cabinet offices increased from one in 1976 to 4 today. During that time, Stockholm University has introduced a 2.5-year training program which accepts up to 20 students in each class.
The course of study includes grammar, text analysis, and sociolinguistics, and graduates enter e.g.,the field of government, university teaching, and the media. Today, ESS, a growing professional organization of plain language consultants in Sweden holds regular conferences, publishes a magazine, and maintains a web site, http://www.sprakkonsult.org.
Ms. Thoren reported on the activities of the Plain Swedish Group (Klarspråksgruppen), which originated in 1993 as a forum for discussion of ideas on law and language, with the goal of building a bridge between the two. The group has produced a major report on the changing use of the Swedish language; it holds conferences and seminars, publishes a Plain Language Bulletin, and maintains the web site Klarspråk, http://www.justitie.regeringen.se/klarsprak.
The main forces driving plain language in Sweden, she reports, are a general wish to democratize government, extend legal rights, and encourage efficiency. Among the many government agencies adopting plain language are the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, the National Board of Student Affairs, and the Association of Local Authorities.
Working with the 10 ministries of the Swedish government and its cabinet offices, Mr. Baedecke's group provides email and phone consulting, text revision, handbooks and guidelines, training and seminars. Currently, as a special project, the group wishes to influence the language of regulations and policies in the European Union.
EU documents are many times written in a
bureaucratic style and modernization would surely benefit the
readers. The goals of this project are to:
- create an understanding within the EU that the documents ultimately are written for ordinary citizens
- make sure documents are written in plain language
- make sure there are resources in place for training and handbooks.
In addition, they want explicit agreement by EU members to adopt the principles of plain language. Mr. Baedecke sees a "window of opportunity" next year when Sweden will assume presidency of the EU for six months.
There will be a major conference in Sweden in June 2001, and the group hopes to get plain language issues on the agenda. To advance this objective, they are identifying and joining forces with like-minded people around Europe, including Fight the Fog, a group of English translators within the European Commission.