Discussion: View Thread

And who will be able to _write_ those 'plain English' texts? :)
Certainly not the writers of the non-plain English texts that aren't
satisfactory (at least to you) now.

I suspect the deeper problem is that communicating a technical
subject (textbook or otherwise) requires a certain set of words &
concepts. We would like to believe that an author is also concerned
with communication to people of a certain language level -- in fact,
preferably somewhat lower level than the author thinks they are
aiming at. This writing/communication in itself may require a
different understanding & insight than the specialty of the subject.

IMHO, the problem of writing & communication to others is not only
that of reaching the NNES, but of reaching many/most students. We
need the non-'plain English' words to deal with the technical
topics. Not everyone has lived with them daily for years, like most
instructors have done. Have all the 5+ syllable and Latinate words
been defined at first use? Are the definitions easily available for
referral, as in a glossary? Most important, are the words used
consistently to the definitions? throughout the text?

I don't care if you are speaking to introductory students or graduate
degree holders. I don't care if you are discussing bainite
precipitation in alloy steel (a key issue in the development of
strength & toughness of certain steels), or the organizational
development steps to engender the team camaraderie required for a
'highly effective' problem solving team. Some of the recipients of
our wisdom have a different understanding of the words we use than
others; some of the recipients may have _no_ understanding of the
words. How we communicate that such a condition of ignorance implies
personal failure, or that ignorance equals incomplete experience that
we are gathered to change, has a great deal to do with our success.

And success is what each of us wants, true?

Enough soap box for one day.

Jay
On Apr 5, 2009, at 9:55 PM, Terence Egan wrote:

> Can anyone give me references to work undertaken on textbook
> writing style?
> I'm particularly interested in how Non-Native English Speakers cope
> with this material and application of Flesch Readability scales (or
> similar scales).
>
> Do any publishers provide plain English texts for NNES students?
>
> Terence Egan
>
>
>
> Terence R. Egan
> Associate Professor
>
> Business School
>
> Central University of Finance and Economics
> Beijing, PR China
>
>
> The new Internet Explorer 8 optimised for Yahoo!7: Faster, Safer,
> Easier. Get it now..

Jay Warner
Principal Scientist
Warner Consulting, Inc.
4444 North Green Bay Road
Racine, WI 53404-1216
USA

Ph: 262.634.9100
FAX: 262.681.1133
email: quality@a2q.com
Temporary: jay.warner3@sbcglobal.net

web: www.a2q.com

The A2Q Method (tm) -- What do you want to improve today?

On Apr 5, 2009, at 9:55 PM, Terence Egan wrote: Can anyone give me
references to work undertaken on textbook writing style?

Stop presuming textbooks and think Learning Objects then see
http://cmap.ihmc.us
http://www.enge.vt.edu/pdf%20files/NAE%20Summit%20Poster%20Ricky%20Castles.pdf
http://www.slideshare.net/geoffcain/concept-maps-cain?type=powerpoint

OBTW, relieves High Cost of Textbooks pains, as well.

Onward,
Jack Ring