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Linguistic approaches to Swedish authorities' web-based information in English

Persbeck, Lena LU (2020) SPVR01 20201
English Studies
Master's Programme: Language and Linguistics
Abstract
Most authorities in Sweden provide an English language version of their web sites, in the form of a translation or an adaptation of the Swedish original text. The first part of this thesis includes an analysis of the linguistic quality of a selection of texts from authorities on three administrative levels: state, regional and municipal. The second part investigates the correlation between linguistic quality and how the presented information is perceived by potential readers. A questionnaire study with authentic sentence examples reveals that particularly grammatical inadequacies, found to be the most common in the first study, have a negative impact on comprehensibility, acceptance of wording and the perceived reliability of the... (More)
Most authorities in Sweden provide an English language version of their web sites, in the form of a translation or an adaptation of the Swedish original text. The first part of this thesis includes an analysis of the linguistic quality of a selection of texts from authorities on three administrative levels: state, regional and municipal. The second part investigates the correlation between linguistic quality and how the presented information is perceived by potential readers. A questionnaire study with authentic sentence examples reveals that particularly grammatical inadequacies, found to be the most common in the first study, have a negative impact on comprehensibility, acceptance of wording and the perceived reliability of the information. Correspondingly, sentences that are without inadequacies are generally viewed more positively. The results suggest that linguistic inadequacies are liable to lead to unwanted consequences, while accuracy enhances the comprehensibility and reliability of the informational content. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
De flesta svenska myndigheter tillhandahåller en engelskspråkig version av sina hemsidor, i form av en översättning eller omarbetning av den svenska originaltexten. Den första delen av denna uppsats analyserar den språkliga kvaliteten i ett urval av informationstexter från statliga myndigheter, regioner och kommuner. Den andra delen studerar sambandet mellan språklig kvalitet och hur informationen uppfattas av potentiella läsare. En enkätundersökning med autentiska exempelmeningar visar att i synnerhet grammatiska brister, vilka var vanligast förekommande i den första delstudien, har en negativ inverkan på förståelsen av och tilliten till informationen. På motsvarande sätt uppfattas meningar utan språkliga brister mer positivt. Resultaten... (More)
De flesta svenska myndigheter tillhandahåller en engelskspråkig version av sina hemsidor, i form av en översättning eller omarbetning av den svenska originaltexten. Den första delen av denna uppsats analyserar den språkliga kvaliteten i ett urval av informationstexter från statliga myndigheter, regioner och kommuner. Den andra delen studerar sambandet mellan språklig kvalitet och hur informationen uppfattas av potentiella läsare. En enkätundersökning med autentiska exempelmeningar visar att i synnerhet grammatiska brister, vilka var vanligast förekommande i den första delstudien, har en negativ inverkan på förståelsen av och tilliten till informationen. På motsvarande sätt uppfattas meningar utan språkliga brister mer positivt. Resultaten tyder på att språkliga brister riskerar att leda till oönskade konsekvenser, medan språkriktighet förstärker intrycket av begriplighet och trovärdighet. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Persbeck, Lena LU
supervisor
organization
course
SPVR01 20201
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
comprehensibility, acceptance of wording, reliability, informative texts, machine translation, cross-linguistic influence
language
English
id
9043297
date added to LUP
2021-04-27 10:43:43
date last changed
2021-04-27 10:43:43
@misc{9043297,
  abstract     = {{Most authorities in Sweden provide an English language version of their web sites, in the form of a translation or an adaptation of the Swedish original text. The first part of this thesis includes an analysis of the linguistic quality of a selection of texts from authorities on three administrative levels: state, regional and municipal. The second part investigates the correlation between linguistic quality and how the presented information is perceived by potential readers. A questionnaire study with authentic sentence examples reveals that particularly grammatical inadequacies, found to be the most common in the first study, have a negative impact on comprehensibility, acceptance of wording and the perceived reliability of the information. Correspondingly, sentences that are without inadequacies are generally viewed more positively. The results suggest that linguistic inadequacies are liable to lead to unwanted consequences, while accuracy enhances the comprehensibility and reliability of the informational content.}},
  author       = {{Persbeck, Lena}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Linguistic approaches to Swedish authorities' web-based information in English}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}