Spoken Easy Language for Social Inclusion: Needs & Resource Mapping

Communication is known to be the utmost important and most effective skill for human survival: we need it to maintain contact with the world on an everyday basis, and to do so we rely considerably on oral communication (Ali 2018). In the framework of accessible communication, Easy Language has proliferated in the last few years as a phenomenon to fulfil different functions in society (Maaß 2020; Lindholm and Vanhatalo 2021; Perego 2020; Peruzzo and Rocco 2022). However, until recently, the field has majorly consisted of national initiatives, still lacks an established research tradition (Lindholm and Vanhatalo, 2021), and has mainly focused on written Plain or Easy Language. In fact, thus far, Easy Language in its spoken mode has largely remained unaddressed irrespective of its paramount importance in the everyday life of a large sector of the population, including people with cognitive difficulties, as well as second language learners and people who are poorly literate (Ali 2018; Bernabé and Orero 2021; Rubin 2012; Rubin et al. 2000) . Up to date, there are no European standards for spoken Easy language available. One of the main challenges in the field is the development of a regulated speaking methodology and means of linguistic support that can be followed by speakers who must deliver clear information to interlocutors who need linguistic assistance. These speakers include adult educators communicating directly with target groups and primarily facilitating the education of adult learners (e.g. in adult education organizations); professional working with users in contexts where two-way communication with target groups occurs, like in educational or health care settings; and professional producing oral content (e.g. broadcaster, media producer, voice talent, audio narrator, journalist, etc.). Recommendations and guidelines for speakers are therefore a prerequisite for inclusion and participation in all fields of life, education and training, as well as in many other oral-based environments, such as counselling, health or social services, and the media. In these contexts, where either one-way or two-way oral communication is used, the ''more competent speakers'' must adapt their speech to a level that is understandable for their co-participant or listener who need linguistic support. The European project SELSI (Spoken Easy Language for Social Inclusion, 2022-2024) aims to fill this gap, and to develop flexible and effective recommendations for spoken Easy language to primarily support adult people with additional needs in gaining important skills in most oral-based environments. In November 2022, the SELSI team started mapping the needs of both professionals and end-users who have to resort to spoken Easy Language in everyday communication. The results of this mapping activity carried out in Europe will constitute the starting point for the future research activities of SELSI, whose final aim is to develop new innovative recommendations for oral communication in spoken Easy Language in the form of an open-access online tool. The mapping activity has been the main objective of Work Package (WP) 2, led by Elisa Perego and Piergiorgio Trevisan from the University of Trieste. As part of the WP2 activities, a multilingual (English, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovene, Spanish and Swedish) questionnaire in Plain and Easy language has been prepared and administered online (via the Web Survey Creator platform) and on paper to European professionals and end-users. The questionnaire included several open and closed questions exploring 1) textual and conversation-enhancing strategies; 2) linguistic strategies; 3) listener-engaging strategies; 4) non-linguistic strategies; 5) use of supporting materials. The results of the survey, which reached overall 446 respondents from 15 European countries, will be made available in the form of a standard language and an Easy Language project report, and they will be thoroughly detailed during the KLAARA 2023 conference. Although they mainly reflect the state of the art in project partner countries (Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Sweden), these results offer a first research-based contribution to a subject that needs to be explored further.