10
Drop the corporate
droning
E-learning consultant Clive Shepherd says
do your learners a favour and write like a
human
Words are one of our most useful tools as
designers of digital content. We could use
them to show how knowledgeable and
articulate we are or we could put ourselves in
the learner's shoes and communicate in a
way that makes their job much easier. In this
article, I will argue for the latter: plain, simple
English, written by friendly, considerate
people who want to help people learn.
People will learn better if you use
plain English
The Plain English Campaign has been
campaigning for crystal-clear communication
since 1979. Sara Perkins explains: 'There is
plenty of evidence to support what common
sense tells us anyway: that communications
written in plain English are more successful
than ones that baffle readers with verbiage
and jargon. That does not mean you can't use
technical terms or long words, as long as
you're confident your readership will
understand them. But you still have to write
clearly so you can be understood first time.'
You should use plain English whether your
topic is technical or not, and whether your
learners are beginners or advanced. It's a
common fallacy that plain English means
dumbing down your content for the sake of
the ignorant, but in fact everyone benefits
from simple language. Of course, you will
need to use unfamiliar technical terms from
time to time - just make sure you define them
carefully and provide examples of how they
should be used.
Note that plain English is not necessarily
more colloquial, just simpler. You should be
careful using colloquial expressions when
communicating with people for whom
English is a second language or who may
have a different cultural background.
People will learn better if you use
a friendly, conversational tone
The 'personalisation principle' holds that you
will achieve better results by adopting a
friendly, conversational tone than you will with
a more formal approach. Ruth Clark and
Richard Mayer's research demonstrated that
learning improved when a conversational
style was used, which they attributed to the
fact that this more closely resembled a
person-to-person interaction.
Share:
Clive Shepherd
Partner
The More Than Blended Learning
Company
Read more