Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Room 211
Proposal
See presentation description.
Short Description
Research on Plain Language (PL) has shown that readers have improved comprehension and higher preference levels for documents written in PL. The intended purpose of PL guidelines is to eliminate legalese in public policy and governmental documents. Our study will specifically examine the effects of implementing PL guidelines for headings (statement format, question format) and personal pronouns (present, absent) in financial aid documents on students’ comprehension and perception. The results will have implications for teachers and instructors who create documents that are used by students, promoting students’ ability to access and use relevant information. In addition, this examination of the effects of PL will encourage instructors and other knowledge-workers to focus on using PL guidelines and standards in the documents the design for students, which in turn, may encourage students to do the same in the documents that they create.
Keywords
Information literacy, Plain language, Comprehension, Legalase
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Derthick, Katie and Jones, Natasha, "Implementing Plain Language Guidelines in Student Documents" (2009). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 8.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2009/2009/8
Implementing Plain Language Guidelines in Student Documents
Room 211
See presentation description.
