Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 998

Part of Session 104: Microlinguistics and language planning (Other abstracts in this session)

The Danish plain language ideology and plain language campaigns in Danish public institutions

Authors: Kjærgaard, Anne
Submitted by: Kjærgaard, Anne (The Danish Language Council, Denmark)

In this presentation, plain language campaigns in organizations will be addressed as examples of (very local) attempts of language planning. The overall aim is to throw light on the connections between the micro level, i.e. the ways in which concrete examples of language campaigns are interpreted (cf. Alvesson’s & Svenningsson’s (2008) work on interpretations) among groups of employees in two Danish public institutions, and the macro level, i.e. the plain language ideology (cf. Silverstein’s (1979: 193) definition of language ideology) in the Danish state administration and generally in Danish society.

In line with many other countries, the plain language ideology plays a central (but not uncontested) role in the Danish discussion of how public institutions should address citizens; as an example, the guidance concerning the law of administration from 1986 says that "the authority should keep in mind that anyone to whom a given text is addressed should be able to read and understand it easily. Furthermore it ought to be formulated in a kind and considerate tone" (own translation). The question of plain language has also been discussed in two national reports on the Danish language "Sprog på Spil" (Language at Stake, 2003) and "Sprog til tiden" (Language in Time, 2008). Both reports assess the quality of language in public institutions and private organizations from what could be characterized as a plain language point of view.

The focus on plain language has influenced a vast number of public institutions who, during the last 30-40 years, have initiated language campaigns to improve the writing skills of their employees in order to make them write texts that are (assumed to be) comprehensible to the recipient and give the reader the impression of a obliging sender.

The presentation (based on Kjærgaard 2010) reports from two case studies investigating the language campaigns implemented in The Municipality of Copenhagen and in The Courts of Denmark. The following questions will be discussed:

Which role did the macro level plain language ideology play when the language campaigns were initiated in the two organisations?

Which textual effects did the language campaigns have?

How were the language campaigns interpreted by different groups of employees in the organisations, and which other factors than the plain language ideology influenced the ways in which the language campaigns were interpreted on the micro level, i.e. by employees in the two organizations?

References

Alvesson, Mats and Stefan Sveningsson (2008): Changing Organizational Culture. Cultural change work in progress. London: Routledge.

Kjærgaard, A. (2010): “Sådan skriver vi – eller gør vi?” (PhD thesis on the textual effects of language campaigns in the Courts of Denmark and the Municipality of Copenhagen and the causes of their effects, a summary in English can be found at http://dsn.dk/om-os/medarbejdere/anne-kjaergaard-1/Summary%20in%20English%20Annes%20afhandling.pdf).

Silverstein, M. (1979): “Language structure and linguistic ideology” in Paul R. Clyne, William F. Hanks and Carol L. Hofbauer (eds). The Elements: A Parasession on Linguistic Units and Levels. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society, pp. 193-247.

Sociolinguistics Symposium 19

Programme: accepted abstracts

The Danish plain language ideology and plain language campaigns in Danish public institutions