Influência e limites da linguagem simples como ferramenta de comunicação pública

Abstract

The indices that measure literacy and reading proficiency of Brazilians present worrying results that highlight the difficulty in using public services by the population, as they do not understand the language used in texts published by government entities. This scene points to the need to create tools, such as plain language, that simplify texts and make citizens autonomous in the use of information and services. The present work was based on Lejano's (2012) experiential method to analyze the perception of those included in the 2022 Edital Ceará da Cidadania e Diversidade Cultural, regarding the influence of the text published in plain language on their participation in the contest in question, comparing with data from an experiment carried out by the same individuals. The experiment used the plain language measurement parameters used by Pires (2021) and compared the data obtained in the experiment with the participants' responses to the interview with a semi-structured script, which was based on discussions about the relationship between public communication, participation and plain language. The results indicate that, even for an audience accustomed to a textual genre that uses “bureaucratic” language, there are benefits in disseminating texts in plain language, mainly in terms of the time needed to read the text and use its information in the process of participating in the cultural notice (construction of the project and registration in the competition), as well as in terms of interpreting the information made available by the text. The results of the interviews also pointed to the use of plain language as a tool for democratizing notices, in the sense of presenting itself as an instrument towards communication focused on the precepts of participation, citizenship and public interest.