National Adult Literacy Database

Authors: Karen Hammond

This document is housed on the Hammond & Associates website: http://www.hammondassociatesinc.com.

In this guidebook, the author describes an approach to analyzing the language demands of one occupation or occupational cluster and provides some tools for the task. Those tools are based on a broad range of benchmarking projects, and were developed through three pilot projects funded by Alberta Employment and Immigration.

This resource divides the approach into six phases: project planning; design and development; data collection; data analysis and interpretation; summarizing and reporting of results; and evaluation.

The author provides explanations of many of the terms used in the guidebook, including Canadian Language Benchmarks, a national standard and descriptive scale of communicative proficiency in English as a Second Language (ESL) expressed as 12 benchmarks or reference points.

It is also noted that the need to analyze the language demands of an occupation may be driven by many factors, including the desire to more effectively attract, integrate and retain workers from other cultural and language groups; to enable all workers, including those with limited English language skills, to meet their potential; and to avoid intercultural conflicts.

Funders:

• Government of Alberta

Added: 2011-08-30

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Authors: Sheelah Demetre

This narrative by Sheelah Demetre of the Western Quebec Literacy Council tells the story of Emma who just before Christmas feels like her world is falling apart. Family and personal issues are mounting and what is contained in the media is presenting an increasingly negative picture. Will Emma find the strength to cope?

The book is illustrated by Lesli Knoll and Teresa Popovich. At reading level 4, the work is a joint project of the following Laubach Literacy of Canada-Quebec Councils: Chateauguay, Gaspesie, Laurentian, Quebec City, RECLAIM, South Shore, St. Francis, Western Quebec and Yamaska.

Added: 2009-06-12

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Authors: Clear Language and Design (CLAD)

The acronym CLAD stands for Clear Language and Design. This clear-language thesaurus suggests simpler, plainer alternatives for a variety of relatively complex yet common English words. The more complex words are listed alphabetically on one side of a page and the plain-language suggestions are listed opposite them. This resource would be especially useful for anyone writing for an audience with a wide range of language skills or an audience with limited language skills and vocabulary. The plain-language alternatives would help ensure the writer's message is communicated clearly to all readers.

Added: 2008-08-06

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Part 1: Developing a Strategy for Clear Language in Municipal Communications

Series: The Clarity Kit

Authors: Ruth Baldwin, Sally McBeth

"Developing a Strategy for Clear Language in Municipal Communications" is the first part of the three-part "Clarity Kit," which was created to assist municipal workplaces to improve communication in the workplace by encouraging the use of clear language. The tools in this kit are designed to be used co-operatively by both management and union advocates and have been modeled on the process used to set up joint labour/ management workplace literacy programs in many Canadian municipalities. In this first part of the kit, the authors outline the steps to developing a workplace clear language initiative, discuss how to promote the initiative and get people's support, and introduce the clarity audit.

The Clarity Kit was developed jointly by the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), with support from the Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program, Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC).

Funders:

Added: 2007-09-24

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See also:

• Clair et simple! Communiquer plus efficacement dans le secteur municipal

Part 2: Promoting Clear Communications in Your Municipality

Series: The Clarity Kit

Authors: Ruth Baldwin, Sally McBeth

"Promoting Clear Communications in Your Municipality" is the second part of the three-part "Clarity Kit," which was developed to assist municipal workplaces to improve communication in the workplace by encouraging the use of clear language. In this part, the authors explain what is meant by "clear language," why it is of growing importance for the municipal workplace, and the problems caused by unclear language in the workplace. They also answer questions about the clear language approach and provide case studies, before and after examples, tips for clear writing and additional sources of information about clear language.

Funders:

Added: 2007-09-24

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See also:

• Clair et simple! Communiquer plus efficacement dans le secteur municipal

Part 3: Analyzing Municipal Communications: the Clarity Audit™

Series: The Clarity Kit

Authors: Ruth Baldwin, Sally McBeth

"The Clarity Audit" is the third part of the three-part "Clarity Kit," which was developed to assist municipal workplaces to improve their communication by encouraging the use of clear language. A clarity audit is a tool for gathering information about how an organization communicates, from the perspective of both management and unionized employees. It gives everyone a chance to comment on the clarity and quality of the communications they encounter in the municipal workplace. Analyzing the results helps the organization plan how to move forward with a clear language initiative.

This document contains the following sections:
- Seven important reasons to do a clarity audit
- How to carry out a clarity audit
- Analyzing your information
- Supports for moving forward
- The clarity audit tool: find out how your organization communicates

Funders:

Added: 2007-09-24

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See also:

• Clair et simple! Communiquer plus efficacement dans le secteur municipal

Authors: Hammond and Associates Inc.

This document is housed on the Hammond & Associates website: http://www.hammondassociatesinc.com.

In this guide, specifically aimed at the construction industry, the author offers a guide to preparing clear, readable workplace documents.

The guide is divided into five sections, summed up in the acronym CLEAR: Clarify the message; Learn about your readers; Expand your idea; Apply the principles; and Review your work.

The guide includes examples of documents rewritten according to the principles of clear language, along with numerous tips for clarifying the message in a document. In addition to hints for composing a clear message, there are also suggestions for using type size, fonts and capitalization to make documents easier to read.

The author explains that using clear language in the workplace provides real benefits by helping workers understand the message; lessening the chance that information will be misinterpreted; and increasing the chance that instructions will be carried out properly.

Funders:

• Government of Alberta

Added: 2011-09-06

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Authors: Hammond and Associates Inc.

This document is housed on the Hammond & Associates website: http://www.hammondassociatesinc.com.

Focusing specifically on the food services industry, this guide helps the user to prepare clear, readable workplace documents.

The author uses the acronym CLEAR to explain the message found in the guide’s five sections: Clarify the message; Learn about your readers; Expand your idea; Apply the principles; and Review your work.

The guide includes examples of documents rewritten according to the principles of clear language, as well as numerous tips for simplifying and clarifying the message in a document. For example, changing text from the third person (he/she) to the second person (you) can make a document much easier to understand.

Using clear language in the workplace provides real benefits, the author notes. It helps workers understand the message; lessens the chance that information will be misinterpreted; and increases the chance that instructions will be carried out properly.

Funders:

• Government of Alberta

Added: 2011-09-07

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Authors: Parashoot Productions Inc.

This video takes an amusing approach to the subject of clear writing for the workplace.

It begins with a writing “hit squad” bursting in on a manager as he writes another jargon-filled, overly complicated memo to his employees. The manager learns that while his writing is grammatically correct, it is anything but clear.

He learns the rules for getting his message across, including writing directly to his readers instead of using impersonal third person; using the active voice; writing instructions in their natural order; maintaining a positive tone if at all possible; avoiding jargon; and explaining difficult words in their context.

Funders:

• Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Added: 2012-05-17

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A Reader-Friendly Handbook

Authors: Literacy in Action

This is a handbook written in clear language about clear language.

Effective communication depends on a number of elements, including the use of language that is accessible to most people, and formatting that enhances the information and makes it easier to understand. In this clear language handbook, the authors present important reasons for choosing to write effectively and simply. They discuss readers and language levels and illustrate ways to simplify writing and organize information.

This handbook is divided into five chapters, which cover the following topics:

Chapter 1 - Writing for Everyone
Chapter 2 - Getting Started
Chapter 3 - Clear Writing
Chapter 4 - Design and Formatting
Chapter 5 - Editing and Proofreading

Added: 2009-01-08

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