Die verband tussen kontekstuele en buitetekstuele faktore en verbruikers se omgang met gewone taal

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish how extratextual and contextual factors affect the understanding, usability and experience of plain language documents. In terms of extratextual factors, this study specifically looked at users of plain language documents’ educational level, income, home language variety of Afrikaans and involvement with the document. In terms of contextual factors, this research studied the medical, financial and legal contexts since plain language is often used in these contexts. In this study, eighteen existing plain language documents that occur in the above three contexts were tested. This was done by means of a quantitative questionnaire that measured the different variables of the study, and was completed by 506 respondents. The results of the study indicate that there is not a relationship between usability and the context in which the document occurs. However, when looking at understanding and the respondents’ experience of plain language documents, it appears that there is a relationship. In the study, the medical plain language documents did the best. In terms of extratextual factors, there is not a relationship between usability and any of the extratextual factors, but there is a relationship between understanding and educational level, variety of Afrikaans and involvement. In terms of experience, there is a relationship between experience and educational level, home language and involvement. Future studies can explore the nature of these relationships further.