Translating into Easy Italian : an analysis of health-related texts and their impact on comprehension by people with intellectual disabilities

Recent studies show that low literacy affects large segments of the adult population, both in Switzerland and Italy. Easy Language is an essential instrument of inclusion for people who would otherwise be excluded from access to written information and full participation in society. In Italy, high readability and comprehensibility of texts of public interest have been the focus of academic research since as early as the mid-1970s. Nonetheless, in recent years, little experimental research has addressed the impact of Easy Italian on text comprehension by people with intellectual disabilities (ID). This thesis aims to fill this gap. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used to address the following research questions: (1) What strategies do translators employ when translating from Standard into Easy Italian?, and (2) Do translators’ strategies facilitate reading comprehension of Easy Italian texts to people with ID? Three health-related texts in Easy Italian are analysed in the context of their adherence to the European standards for Easy Language. A reading comprehension test is then conducted to assess the degree of readability and comprehensibility of the texts. The test is administered to 26 participants with mild to moderate ID. The analysis shows that all texts contravene several European guidelines. Furthermore, the test results suggest that non-compliance with guidelines hinders respondents’ comprehension of the texts. It is concluded that, on the one hand, standards for Easy Language are essential to guide the translator’s work. On the other hand, high comprehensibility can only be achieved through a careful consideration of the target communicative situation. Recenti studi dimostrano che bassi livelli di competenze alfabetiche funzionali interessano ampie fasce della popolazione sia in Svizzera sia in Italia. La Lingua facile è uno strumento essenziale di inclusione che può garantire l’accesso universale all’informazione scritta e, dunque, la piena partecipazione alla società. In Italia, l’alta leggibilità e comprensibilità dei testi di pubblica utilità sono state oggetto di ricerca accademica sin dalla metà degli anni Settanta. Tuttavia, negli ultimi anni, non si riscontrano attività di sperimentazione sulla reale comprensibilità dei testi in Lingua facile da parte di persone con disabilità intellettiva. Il presente lavoro si propone di colmare questa lacuna. Utilizzando metodi sia quantitativi sia qualitativi, la tesi mira a rispondere alle seguenti domande di ricerca: (1) Quali strategie vengono adottate dai traduttori nel processo di traduzione da Italiano Standard a Lingua facile? e (2) Le strategie adottate dai traduttori hanno un impatto sulla reale comprensione dei testi da parte di persone con disabilità intellettiva? Si analizzano tre testi inerenti alla salute e se ne verifica il grado di adesione agli standard europei per la Lingua facile. Successivamente, si conduce un test di comprensione scritta per valutare il reale livello di leggibilità e comprensibilità dei testi stessi. Il test viene somministrato a 26 partecipanti con lieve o moderata disabilità intellettiva. L’analisi dimostra che tutti i testi in esame disattendono, in maggior o minor grado, le linee guida europee sulla Lingua facile. Inoltre, i risultati del test suggeriscono che la non conformità alle linee guida influisce negativamente sulla comprensione dei testi da parte dei partecipanti. Si conclude che, da un lato, gli standard per la Lingua facile sono essenziali per guidare il lavoro dell’autore o del traduttore. Dall’altro lato, un’alta comprensibilità del testo può essere raggiunta solo attraverso un’attenta considerazione della situazione comunicativa di ricezione

Transient Effects of Snow Cover Duration on Primary Growth and Leaf Traits in a Tundra Shrub

With the recent climate warming, tundra ecotones are facing a progressive acceleration of spring snowpack melting and extension of the growing season, with evident consequences to vegetation. Along with summer temperature, winter precipitation has been recently recognised as a crucial factor for tundra shrub growth and physiology. However, gaps of knowledge still exist on long-living plant responses to different snowpack duration, especially on how intra-specific and year-to-year variability together with multiple functional trait adjustments could influence the long-term responses. To fill this gap, we conducted a 3 years snow manipulation experiment above the Alpine treeline on the typical tundra species Juniperus communis, the conifer with the widest distributional range in the north emisphere. We tested shoot elongation, leaf area, stomatal density, leaf dry weight and leaf non-structural carbohydrate content of plants subjected to anticipated, natural and postponed snowpack duration. Anticipated snowpack melting enhanced new shoot elongation and increased stomatal density. However, plants under prolonged snow cover seemed to compensate for the shorter growing period, likely increasing carbon allocation to growth. In fact, these latter showed larger needles and low starch content at the beginning of the growing season. Variability between treatments slightly decreased over time, suggesting a progressive acclimation of juniper to new conditions. In the context of future warming scenarios, our results support the hypothesis of shrub biomass increase within the tundra biome. Yet, the picture is still far from being complete and further research should focus on transient and fading effects of changing conditions in the long term

Hydraulic traits of Juniperus communis L. along elevations and European populations

Plant hydraulics play an important role in determining plant distribution and performance, by influencing their growth and productivity. Knowledge of the hydraulic amplitude and plasticity of species is thus a prerequisite for estimating future performance under climate change. We investigated hydraulic safety and efficiency in Juniperus communis L. to estimate its intra-specific hydraulic variability. We analysed plants growing along an elevational transect (700-2000 m a.s.l., Tyrol, Austria) and plants grown in a common garden experiment from seeds collected in various European regions (France, Austria, Ireland, Germany and Sweden). Vulnerability to drought-induced embolism (i.e. hydraulic safety) was assessed via Cavitron and ultrasonic acoustic emission techniques while specific hydraulic conductivity (i.e. hydraulic efficiency) was measured with a flow meter. Hydraulic safety (water potentials inducing 12, 50 and 88% loss of conductivity) and efficiency did not differ significantly neither across elevations nor between European provenancies. Common juniper proved to a be a species with high resistance to drouht stress and showed surprisingly homogenous hydraulic traits, despite sub-species are formed at higher elevation and plant morphology differed widely across provenancies. Due to its overall high hydraulic safety, this species can be considered as less susceptible to the effects of a warmer climate

The case for Easy Italian : an empirical study on the impact of translators’ strategies on text comprehensibility

Easy Language is an essential instrument of inclusion for people who would otherwise be excluded from access to written information and full participation in society. Translation into Easy Italian is still under-researched. This study aims to fill this gap and advocates for greater attention from the academic community. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used to analyse (1) what strategies translators employ when translating from Standard into Easy Italian, and (2) whether these strategies facilitate reading comprehension of Easy Italian texts to people with intellectual disabilities. It is concluded that, on the one hand, standards for Easy Language are essential to guide the translator’s work. On the other hand, high comprehensibility can only be achieved through a careful consideration of the target communicative situation

Obesita'

Video da CorriereTV sull'aumento dei casi di obesita' in eta' evolutiva in Italia

Obesita': attivita' di ascolto e comprensione

Attivita' di preparazione all'ascolto ed esercizio di comprension