Publicación: Exploring the Effect of Plain Terminology on Processing and Comprehension of Administrative Texts in Spanish: A Self-Paced Reading Experiment
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Fecha
2025-11-13
Autores
Núñez Cortés, Juan Antonio
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Derechos de acceso
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Título de la revista
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Editor
Wiley
Resumen
Clear communication between government administrations and citizens is a challenge in democratic societies. Public administration texts often contain technical legal terms, essential to convey specialized knowledge with precision but often impenetrable to non-experts. The plain language movement provides guidelines for simplifying legal-administrative texts, recommending avoiding, explaining, or replacing technical terms with more transparent synonyms. This study assesses the effect of plain terminology on the processing and comprehension of administrative texts in Spanish. We conducted a self-paced reading experiment in which participants (N = 117) read texts with legal-administrative terms and their plain synonyms and answered comprehension questions. Results showed that plain terms significantly improved comprehension but did not reduce reading times. Mixed linear regression analysis revealed that other term properties—length, frequency, and comprehensibility—also influenced reading speed and comprehension. These findings suggest that these factors should be considered when proposing clear alternatives to legal terminology.
Descripción
The registered version of this article, first published in International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2024; 0:1–13, is available online from the publisher's website: Wiley, https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12650
La versión registrada de este artículo, publicado por primera vez en International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2024; 0:1–13, está disponible en línea en el sitio web del editor: Wiley, https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12650
La versión registrada de este artículo, publicado por primera vez en International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2024; 0:1–13, está disponible en línea en el sitio web del editor: Wiley, https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12650
Categorías UNESCO
Palabras clave
comprehension, legal-administrative texts, legal Spanish, plain language, processing difficulty, self-paced reading, terminology
Citación
Fernández-Silva, S. and Núñez Cortés, J.A. (2024), Exploring the Effect of Plain Terminology on Processing and Comprehension of Administrative Texts in Spanish: A Self-Paced Reading Experiment. Int J Appl Linguist.. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12650
Centro
Facultad de Filología
Departamento
Filologías Extranjeras y sus Lingüísticas