37.1712, Calls: ELAD-SILDA Studies in Linguistics and Discourse Analysis - "Special Issue: Easy Language and Easy Read Practices in the Nordic Languages" (Jrnl)

Fri May 8 11:05:02 UTC 2026

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1712. Fri May 08 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.1712, Calls: ELAD-SILDA Studies in Linguistics and Discourse Analysis - "Special Issue: Easy Language and Easy Read Practices in the Nordic Languages" (Jrnl)

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Date: 07-May-2026
From: Pierre-Yves Modicom [pierre-yves.modicom at univ-lyon3.fr]
Subject: ELAD-SILDA Studies in Linguistics and Discourse Analysis - "Special Issue: Easy Language and Easy Read Practices in the Nordic Languages" (Jrnl)

Journal: ELAD-SILDA Studies in Linguistics and Discourse Analysis
Issue: Easy Language and Easy Read Practices in the Nordic Languages
Call Deadline: 30-Sep-2026

Easy Language and Easy Read Practices in the Nordic Languages:
Exploring Informational Complexity Between Universal Models and
Discourse-Specific Variations
Special issue of ELAD-SILDA (ISSN 2609-6609)
Spring 2027
Deadline for draft submissions: Sept. 30th, 2026
Languages of submission : French, English or German
contact: sarah.harchaoui at sorbonne-universite.fr
Full call :
https://cel.univ-lyon3.fr/cel-elad-silda-15-falc-et-easy-languages-en-langues-nordiques
This special issue seeks to explore so-called “Easy-to-Read and
Easy-to-Understand” language, “Plain Language” or “Easy Language”
(henceforth EL) in the Nordic languages and, more broadly, in the
Germanic-speaking world, by treating them as norm-governed discursive
devices situated at the intersection of language policies,
communicative practices dedicated to reinforcing accessibility and
inclusion, and the socio-historical configurations determining what
can be said, understood, and used as relevant information.
Often described as adapted varieties of the standard language (if
indeed such a thing exists) and based on a set of principles aimed at
ensuring communicational accessibility, EL practices and varieties
cannot be reduced to mere linguistic simplification processes. The
principles behind EL are now formalized by the ISO 24495-1 standard on
Plain language. They revolve around four interdependent dimensions:
1. the relevance of information (selection and prioritization of
content based on the needs of the target audience),
2. its findability (textual and visual organization enabling quick
access to the sought-after information),
3. its intelligibility (lexical, syntactic, and discursive choices
that promote understanding),
4. and its usability (the recipients’ ability to effectively utilize
the information in specific social contexts) (ISO, 2023; Plain
Language Association International, 2021).
These criteria can be interpreted not only as functional features, but
also as principles of discourse regulation. They contribute to the
stabilization of a transnational standard of public communication, in
which readability becomes a guarantee for informational citizenship.
Easy Language and the reconfiguration of “standard language”
>From this perspective, EL practices and varieties can be analyzed as
controlled discursive varieties, resulting from a reconfiguration of
the standard language. This reconfiguration is achieved through
procedures of selection, reduction, reformulation, and textual
structuring. Such processes do not fall solely within the linguistic
domain but involve forms of communicative scenography (in the sense
that they define the respective positions of the enunciating
institution and the recipient constructed as a subject of reception);
they also rely on specific assumptions and rules of anticipation
concerning the interpretive competence of audiences.
Recent research shows that these discursive forms tend to become as
secondary norms of standardization, producing what might be called a
“standardization of the standard” (Bredel & Maaß, 2016; Maaß, 2020).
This evolution raises major theoretical issues and calls into question
the stability of the very notion of linguistic norm. In the wake of
this process, linguistic norms turn into norms of usage, readability,
and accessibility which are heavily dependent on public policies and
national institutional frameworks.
The current expansion of EL strategies and varieties to diverse kinds
of audience (older adults, non-native speakers, individuals with
visual or cognitive disabilities, readers unfamiliar with
institutional genres) implies permanent adaptation to the evolution of
the recipient’s profiles. In turn, this transforms the way in which
discursive otherness is constructed within EL practices. The audience
is no longer merely assumed to be deficient or struggling. It is
plural and variable. Its definition is context-dependent, which calls
into question the initial categorizations underlying EL (Lindholm &
Vanhatalo, 2021; Uotila, 2019; Haverinen, 2025). The concept of
language complexity can no longer be understood in a uniform manner,
but must be considered in relation to reader profiles and contexts of
use.
Easy Language in the Scandinavian and Germanic context
In the Nordic countries, this evolution is supported by highly
institutionalized language policies. By prescribing a language that is
“clear, simple, and understandable,” Norwegian and Swedish legislation
(Språkloven, §9; Språklågen §11) contribute to the establishment of a
normative regime of discursive transparency, where clarity becomes an
administrative and democratic imperative. These normative frameworks
reflect an institutionalization of plain language and raise the
question of a possible international convergence of practices, while
leaving open the issue of linguistic, discursive, and cultural
variations.
In this context, this issue invites us to examine Germanic EL
standards and varieties as products of discursive mechanisms focused
on granting accessibility, and integrating linguistics, discourse
analysis, cognition, and sociology. The aim the thematic issue is to
examine how EL contribute to the institutional production of
readability, and to what extent they participate in the constitution
of specific regimes of informational truth and social intelligibility.
Some questions to be addressed in the issue
A first series of questions regards the existence of a universal model
of “accessible language,” or, conversely, the variability of
readability standards across Germanic and Nordic languages: are there
structural convergences, or distinct discursive configurations linked
to linguistic traditions and administrative cultures? Particular
attention may be paid to how clarity standards fit into national
discursive traditions, how they circulate across linguistic spaces,
and the tensions they generate between standardization and adaptation
to contexts of use.
Contributions may also explore the linguistic and discursive
variations observable across Germanic EL varieties. To do so,
contributions can analyze the lexical, syntactic, and textual choices
that underpin the production of accessible texts across different
genres (administrative, media, literary, digital). From a cognitive
perspective, it is also important to examine information processing
mechanisms, regarding the management of complexity, the disambiguation
strategies, and the hierarchization of knowledge, considering the
interfaces between language, cognition, and culture (Vanhatalo &
Lindholm, 2022; Nisbeth Jensen, 2018). This may lead to an examination
of the forms of reader anticipation constructed in EL texts. These
mechanisms shape frameworks of comprehension, in which readability is
simultaneously a textual property, an institutional norm, and an
assumption about the interpretive capacities of audiences.
Furthermore, contributions may address the diversification of the
target audience and the corresponding evolution of EL usages.
Contributors may want to highlight the role of EL in the dynamics of
social inclusion, language policies, and educational practices,
particularly in contexts of migration and multilingualism (Hurtado &
Lindholm, 2020).
Finally, special attention may be given to the multimodal dimensions
of accessible communication, analyzing the interplay between text,
image, and formatting, as well as the links with augmentative and
alternative communication (AAC) and digital environments.
Selected References:
Bredel, U., & Maaß, C. (2016). Leichte Sprache: Theoretische
Grundlagen. Orientierung für die Praxis. Berlin: Dudenverlag.
Haverinen, V. (2025). Easy Language and Reading Practices among Young
Readers. Journal of Accessible Communication, 12(1), 45–62.
Hurtado, B., & Lindholm, C. (2020). Easy Language and Migration:
Linguistic Inclusion in Multilingual Societies. Multilingua, 39(4),
451–470.
Inclusion Europe. (2009). Information for All: European Standards for
Making Information Easy to Read and Understand. Brussels.
International Organization for Standardization. (2023). ISO 24495-1:
Plain Language — Part 1: Governing principles and guidelines. Geneva:
ISO.
Lindholm, C., & Vanhatalo, U. (2021). Easy Language in Finland: Theory
and Practice. Helsinki: Kehitysvammaliitto.
Maaß, C. (2020). Easy Language – Plain Language – Easy Read: A
Comparative Perspective. Berlin: Frank & Timme.
Nisbeth Jensen, M. (2018). Cognitive Accessibility and Text
Simplification in Scandinavian Contexts. Nordic Journal of
Linguistics, 41(2), 213–230.
Plain Language Association International. (2021). What is Plain
Language?
Uotila, E. (2019). Selkokieli ja kognitiivinen saavutettavuus.
Helsinki: Kehitysvammaliitto.
Vanhatalo, U., & Lindholm, C. (2022). Easy Language as a Standardized
Variety: Linguistic and Discursive Perspectives. Journal of
Pragmatics, 195, 1–12.

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis
                     Pragmatics
                     Semantics
                     Text/Corpus Linguistics

Language Family(ies): North Germanic

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