Abstract In advertising for female beauty brands, there is a growing trend towards breaking with standardized, non-inclusive, and non-intersectional beauty canons regarding age, body size, and ethnic origin in the representation of femininities. This shift favours diversity in beauty and promotes messages that move away from an ideal of immaculate external beauty, instead reclaiming an inner beauty shaped by self-esteem and confidence, typical phenomenon of confidence culture (Gill/Orgad 2017). This trend falls within femvertising , a phenomenon coined in 2014, characterized by pro-female advertising messages that aim to challenge gender stereotypes and avoid ideological or sexist biases, with the goal of fostering women’s empowerment. This article aims to examine the discursive forms that female empowerment adopts in advertising and to determine whether such advertising achieves genuine social transformation towards normalized beauty or, on the contrary, may carry harmful and problematic implications. To this end, through a case study, four advertising spots from Shiseido’s Kintsugi campaign are analysed using an interdisciplinary methodology that combines the analysis of the five parameters defining femvertising (Becker-Herby 2016) with multimodal visual analysis (Kress/van Leeuwen 2006) and feminist critical discourse analysis (Lazar 2014). The combination of these approaches allows us to determine the degree of female empowerment encapsulated in an apparently pro-female advertising message, and to assess its position in relation to the oppression exerted by traditional beauty standards.
Abstract Theses leading to academic degrees have special features and thus form a text type in their own right. While there are numerous publications on writing German-language theses, their titles seem to have been of marginal interest only. That is surprising, because thesis titles are essential for identifying and describing the research done by the author(s). Thus, they are an important building block for learning and teaching academic writing. The present paper seeks to answer the following research questions: 1) What is the state of the art in writing German-language titles of theses according to the relevant specialist literature? 2) What recommendations can be derived from the relevant specialist literature for writing German-language titles of theses? The present paper is intended to address these questions by providing a literature-based overview and a corresponding set of recommendations for the academic writing classroom. The research questions are answered by means of a comprehensive literature review as well as quantitative and qualitative data analyses. The results of the present paper demonstrate that, according to the state-of-the-art literature, there are 10 main criteria for German-language thesis titles: informativeness; thematic focus; structure; promotional nature; vocabulary; conciseness; layout; comprehensibility; length; conformance and correctness.
Abstract This article explores the benefits of using automatic quality scores designed for machine translation (MT) to obtain an indicative quality estimation for individual segments of both automatic speech translation (AST) and human simultaneous interpretation (HSI). In a first step, a set of assessment metrics for interpreting (AMI) is set up using MQM as a starting point and completing and adapting it based on quality criteria from interpreting studies and practice. A sample human simultaneous interpretation and automatic speech translation are then assessed segment by segment using AMI and compared to the COMET scores calculated for these segments. A comparative analysis of the results explores potential correlations between the human quality assessment and the COMET scores, the focus being semantic deviations of the target from the source text. The study shows higher amounts of semantic deviations and grammar issues for lower COMET scores in both HSI and AST, suggesting that using automatic quality estimation scores as a pre-screening instrument for human experts to single out critical segments of a speech when assessing AST or HSI might be an avenue worth exploring.
Abstract Der wissenschaftliche Diskurs rund um Barrierefreiheit und Inklusion fokussiert gemeinhin auf inhärente Merkmale des Kommunikationsangebots sowie auf die Kontexte seines Einsatzes. Größen wie Verständlichkeit und Angemessenheit spielen hierbei eine große Rolle. Im Beitrag wird die barrierefreie Kommunikation aus der Rezipientenperspektive betrachtet und nach der Akzeptabilität gefragt. Hierbei stellt es sich als sinnvoll heraus, zwischen primärer und sekundärer Rezipientenschaft zu unterscheiden. Um die Akzeptanz von Leichte-Sprache-Texten zu erforschen, wird eine Analyse des Onlinediskurses hinsichtlich der Erstausstrahlung der tagesschau in Einfacher Sprache (am 12.06.2024) durchgeführt. Die Reaktionen auf X zeigen, dass mit der Erhöhung von Verständlichkeit nicht automatisch auch Akzeptanz verbunden ist. Während primäre Adressaten von der sprachlichen Vereinfachung profitieren können, stoßen diese Angebote bei sekundären Rezipienten mitunter auf heftige Ablehnung. Ein fehlendes Bewusstsein für die kommunikativen Bedürfnisse von Menschen mit Lernbehinderung und anderer Personenkreise ist nur einer der Gründe hierfür. Vielmehr dienen Diskurse um die Barrierefreiheit im Netz häufig als Projektionsfläche für bereits bestehende und ungelöste gesellschaftliche Spannungen. Der Beitrag plädiert für Sensibilisierungskampagnen, die sowohl die Legitimität barrierefreier Formate betonen als auch die Notwendigkeit einer differenzierten Berichterstattung hervorheben.
This paper examines the social contexts in Thomas Mann’s novel Buddenbrooks where the North German dialect Plattdeutsch is spoken. Beyond the technical challenges of translating these passages, the analysis focuses on the literary representation of code-switching that functions primarily as socially and symbolically charged act. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological theory, the study interprets deviations from linguistic norms and dialect use as instances of double negation – a strategy that appears to challenge social conventions but, in reality, affirms the most valuable social capital in classical bourgeois society: the certainty that one’s high status remains unthreatened. The difficulty of translating such passages stems from the specific cultural parameters embedded in the novel. Ultimately, the paper argues that culture is not an immediate given but requires analytical frameworks from the social sciences for proper understanding and interpretation.
Abstract This article deals with the simplification of administrative documents addressed to people affected by intellectual disabilities in French language, by looking at the FALC ( français Facile À Lire et à Comprendre ) version of seven texts published on the website of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. The analysis takes into consideration both the European guidelines for easy and simple texts, and the French national recommendations published in the Charte d’accessibilité des services de l’État , in order to verify whether these rules are respected during the process of writing texts in FALC in the corpus, and which type of inclusion they show. The second objective of this research consists in examining the elements which allow a text to be more gender-inclusive as far as person nouns are concerned. This study will demonstrate that it is possible to adopt specific strategies with the aim of producing documents in FALC that are respectful of inclusion also at the level of gender identity. To this end, the analysis takes into account forms and levels of “neutralisation discursive” starting from the morphological domain (nouns and pronouns). By examining the corpus, some suggestions will be presented for improving documents written in FALC also regarding gender, contributing to a more inclusive simplified language.
Abstract Websites serve as the primary means by which people access information and engage with public authorities. Accessible web content is essential to empower citizens and facilitate their active involvement in the life of the community. Consequently, the uptake of inclusive and accessible language has become a key objective of current language policy in public administration. This study investigates features of linguistic accessibility on Swiss institutional websites. Through a combined quantitative and qualitative analysis of federal, cantonal, and municipal websites, the research identifies the presence of Plain and Easy Language, various types of accessibility, the use of standardized terminology, multilingual content availability, visual accessibility features such as logos, and web accessibility indicators, e. g., the WCAG standards. The study shows that, despite the increasing demand for enhanced linguistic accessibility and a notable push towards simplification practices, there is no uniformity in Swiss public administration websites. The online world, ever-changing by nature, offers a glimpse into the organized chaos of multilingual Switzerland.
This paper deals with the semantic description of so-called Janus-verbs, derived verbs bearing opposite readings and scattered in Germanic, Romance, and Classical languages. The semantic and morphosyntactic features of these verbs will be discussed in order to explain how they semantically emerged and work. The aim of this paper is to propose a formal-semantic representation that is capable of describing the semantic alternation. We are not concerned with the question of how these morphological structures arose, but only with the semantic mechanism underlying the semantic shift. The paper adopts a semantic-formal approach within the framework of Two-level Semantics. It is shown that there is an intrinsic relationship between ablative prefixes and Janus-verbs, and argued that the coexistence of the original locative meanings with their different aspectual interpretations explain the emergence of the semantic alternation.
Neural machine translation has fundamentally changed the practice of translation for more than a decade. The translation industry is now undergoing another fundamental transformation due to advances in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the form of large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT. For professional translators, however, automatically generated translations are primarily a productivity tool. This process is known as MTPE (machine translation post-editing) and involves combining machine translations with human expertise. This article identifies and categorizes the strengths and weaknesses of automatically generated translations using a series of examples. To this end, the neural machine translation systems DeepL and Google Translate were compared with ChatGPT’s GPT-4o large language model, both with the source text and with each other. The results show that the examined automatic translations offer numerous advantages and are changing the translation profession extensively. However, they are not yet capable of ensuring an accurate translation, meaning that checking or post-editing by a human translator remains necessary.
Abstract In this article, we show how our model of target audience orientation can be used for writing texts in Plain Language. The model describes target audience orientation as a text quality feature that encompasses the dimensions of comprehensibility, attractiveness and honesty. Of course, texts in Plain Language – like texts in general – should be understood by their target audience. However, texts that are orientated towards their target audience are also read (further) with pleasure (they are attractive) and are ultimately useful (they are honest). This ideal can be approached by keeping the target audience of a text in mind, considering general writing practice and paying attention to the coherence of texts.
Word formation enhances lexical diversity, and this phenomenon extends to adjectives as well. This study focuses on a group of German and Spanish adjectives containing body parts (referred to as “somatisms”), a topic that remains relatively understudied in the literature. It encompasses derivatives (e. g., “bärtig” or “cejudo, da”) and compounds (e. g., “herzlieb” or “manirroto, ta”). Moreover, German showcases distinctive word formations (called “Zusammenbildungen”) lacking direct equivalents in Spanish (e. g., “langhaarig” or “dickköpfig”). A noteworthy characteristic of these adjectives is their capacity to be interpreted literally or to undergo metaphorical transformations, thereby deviating from the original meaning of their parts. The complexities of these adjectives, particularly their idiomatic nuances, present challenges for learners of both German and Spanish. This paper aims to analyze the structural patterns and pragmatic implications of somatic-based adjectives in both German and Spanish, examining similarities, differences, and potential interlingual correspondences in their pragmatic usage.This research underscores the necessity for further exploration in language education and translation, emphasizing the intricacies of word formation processes that may not always straightforwardly derive from the semantic level of their constituent parts.
Abstract Ensuring the readability of texts is crucial for effective communication, particularly in public and institutional contexts. In Italy, the lack of standardized readability benchmarks for Plain and Easy Language complicates efforts to improve text accessibility. This study establishes empirical readability benchmarks for Italian texts by analyzing two distinct corpora: one of Plain Language texts and another of Easy Language texts. The research employs the Gulpease index, the primary readability measure for Italian, to assess text complexity and define reference values for both language varieties. The findings reveal that Easy Language texts achieve significantly higher readability scores than Plain Language texts, as expected, although they exhibit considerable variability due to interpretable guidelines and diverse user needs. By contrast, Plain Language texts maintain lower but more consistent readability scores. The study proposes ideal readability thresholds based on sentence length and word complexity to enhance text standardization and accessibility. The results contribute to establishing practical readability benchmarks for Italian and highlight the necessity of refining readability guidelines to improve public communication. Future work should focus on integrating user feedback and machine learning models to enhance the precision of readability assessment tools and support inclusive communication practices.
Abstract The aim of this paper is to draw attention to factors that have not yet been systematically taken into account in the formulation of rules for easy language. On the basis of a clearly different interpretation of the European accessibility standards in French and German texts in easy language, a plea is made for a stronger focus on language-specific factors. Using the example of the two recommendations to avoid subordinate clauses and the passive voice, which are implemented with varying degrees of tolerance, it can be shown that regular deviations from the standards in texts written in easy language are motivated by language-specific factors. The reason given is that speakers are familiar with the deviating form through its occurrence in spontaneous everyday speech and through its discourse-traditional and typological appropriateness. The findings should stimulate further empirical research.
Abstract In Germany, the demand for providing translations in Easy Language exceeds the supply due to legislative measures. Similar to interlingual translation, AI-supported solutions are also available for intralingual translation based on large language models and prompt engineering. These are linked to the question of whether acceptable text production in this special rule-based language variety is possible at all and which prompting strategies could be successful. In this study, two medical texts with different levels of difficulty are translated into Easy Language using ChatGPT-4o and four different prompts. One prompt only contains the translation task, another prompt explicates different linguistic levels (morphology, terminology, complex syntax etc.), the next prompt refers in particular to the Easy Language rules, and finally, a chain prompt aims to generate the best possible output by means of successive, interactive prompts. Initial analyses show that specifying the task and interacting with the AI have substantial influence on the quality of the target texts, whereas the best results are achieved with chain prompting and, furthermore, that less post-editing of the output is required if more work is invested in prompting in advance. Based on these study findings, a change of paradigm in Easy Language translation appears conceivable.
Abstract Serving as an introduction to the special issue, this paper first aims to contextualise text- and language-design practices developed to enhance comprehensibility in connection with the establishment of Easy and Plain Language across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts. It then highlights current trends in scholarly approaches to and discourse on Easy and Plain Language. In this context, it also demonstrates how the contributions to this issue are positioned within the contemporary research landscape and which new perspectives they offer.
Abstract FALC ( Facile à lire et à comprendre ) is a variety of French, designed to make texts more accessible. The French government promotes the use of FALC for health communication and electoral campaigns. Although societal awareness is increasing and research interest is growing, data scarcity remains a problem. This paper presents one of the first large corpora on FALC, containing over 100,000 words and compiled based on a clear corpus design. The corpus is analyzed with a focus on lexis and syntax, and the results are compared to standard French reference corpora. This analysis reveals several linguistic features of FALC that partially align with the recommendations in the guidelines published by Inclusion Europe, but in some cases also contradict them. For example, while sentences are indeed shorter, the number of negations is higher.
Abstract Even if grammar knowledge makes the learning of foreign languages easier, not everybody enjoys learning grammar. Indeed, learning the grammar of a foreign language can be influenced by various factors, which may either facilitate or hinder the process. This paper addresses one of such factors, i. e. the comprehensibility of grammar writing. For foreign language learners, grammatical comprehensibility entails that rules are presented in an accessible manner, that the register used appropriately bridges expert and non-expert communication, and that the level of complexity aligns with the reading proficiency of non-native speakers. This paper presents a knowledge transfer project that explores how writing strategies from plain language ( Einfache Sprache ) can be applied to grammar instruction for learners of German as a foreign/second language. It offers and discusses examples of how elements of plain language can be integrated into digital grammar modules, tailored to learners with varying levels of language proficiency.
Abstract The simplification of language – particularly with regard to administrative discourse – has long been a central concern within Italian linguistics. Over the past few decades, significant progress has been made, including the development of consolidated and widely accepted lists of linguistic features – both morphosyntactic and lexical – that influence textual simplicity and accessibility (cf. Fiorentino/Ganfi 2024). These advances contributed to the early creation of a readability index, the Gulpease index , in the 1980 s (cf. Lucisano/Piemontese 1988). Within this framework, the authors have developed a software for the automatic simplification of administrative texts, supported by QWEN3 (a large language model, LLM), entitled SEMPL-IT (cf. Russodivito et al. 2024; Fiorentino/Russodivito 2025; Ganfi/Russodivito 2025; Fiorentino et al. forthcoming; Fiorentino/Russodivito forthcoming). As part of this project, a corpus named ItaIst (Fiorentino et al. 2024b) 1 was compiled and subjected to automatic simplification using the BASIC approach , resulting in a parallel corpus of simplified texts. This simplified corpus was then compared to the source corpus and evaluated in terms of improved readability and Semantic similarity (cf. Chandrasekaran et al. 2021), with the objective of validating the effectiveness of the simplification process. In this contribution, we introduce and validate a new methodology – the CHAIN approach – applied to a different corpus, ItaRegol (Fiorentino et al. 2024a). 2 Although smaller in size than ItaIst , ItaRegol comprises rules and regulations, i. e., legally binding texts that create, modify, or extinguish subjective legal positions. Due to the legal nature of these texts, simplification must be carried out with caution to avoid altering their legal effects. This paper compares the two simplification approaches – BASIC and CHAIN – by evaluating the parameters adopted, assessing the quality of the simplified output, and drawing conclusions regarding the differing impact of these strategies in enhancing the readability of administrative versus regulatory texts.
