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aii 10:learn to read.

= pe be: matched” with: a
people. now :: taking :

tutor ‘training through Project -
Litétacy ‘Terrace’s. storefront

operation ae The. Reading”

Ed'¢ AG Fy ‘Tread. Now-he’s’
forward to Of Mice and

Steinpec ~

The". change. ‘came when,
urer fiployed. ‘because of a back
injury; ‘Ed heard about The
Reading Place and overcame an
aversion to admitting he needed

‘had nothing else,’’ he said.

I, wldn’t get back to work
and: [had to-get’ into something.
I’m trying to: get so I’m not sit-
ting around-the house doing
nothing. It’s. either I do this or
yousisit’ back and.-say,. well,
could do it! but I.don’t want 10.
one’ {o Know.”

Where he used to spend hours
in front of. the television,: he
now spends free time reading.

"In that hot- weather I took |

my family out to the lake and I
brought my book with me — |
never did that before,'” he says.

“I’ve: found I’m not too

continues. ‘1 used to be what
you call a. couch: potato. In the
“PH look in the

on. Before, all i'd read was the
want ads.”

After quitting school in
Grade 8 for.a job in the logging
indublry,cEd‘says -he-hadlitte:>
use for’ reading; apart” from in-
structions ‘for the machines: he
used. . . wh tesa

His: wife - completed all: his
paperwork and he avoided
situations where he would be
obliged to. read in front of

By MAUREEN GORDON:

“TERRACE ~ = There isa mass .

of incomprehensible. literature

circulating through the province
‘and the:Plain® Language In--

stitute is determined to find out
why.

Established by the attorney-
general's ministry in April 1990,
it is the answer to the Justice
Reform Committee's plea for
‘clear language i in the justice and
‘governmental system.

“One of the complaints (the
committee) heard was the
laxiguage ,. ‘of law and govern-
ment is « “alienating, confusing
and frustrating,’ says Phil
‘Knight of the institute, ‘‘There
is this tendency to speak i in lard-
ed:language.” .

“Long * “words OF. convoluted
phrases : often - replace” simple,

. Clear: ‘words ‘In office memos,

legal briefs and public informa-

tion, bewildering. those they are;

“meant to inform...
“There's a classic anectode,"

“and. there. ‘encountered _ ‘a male
“caucasian,” and the response is
“Xu, mean you went to.a house

- and it'll be followed ty another

group in January, says project
co-ordinator Nat. Purcell: .
**Based.on our short history,

‘there’s been. a fot: happéning’ in

the space of the three months

we’ve been open,” said ‘Purcell a
* are. telling people, The first bat-
tery of learners ‘are telling peo- :
ple they know,’”-he continued.: :-
Getting the word out can bea. .
challenge, Purcell said, ‘Because :

last week.

_ We have 28, students either “
ae | in classes or on ‘One-to-one’ in-
nS sruetns he continued.

Those. ‘taking classes sare:

C D Car ng
1ew worlds

others,

But Ed’s attitude towaid nS

reading changed when back and

leg injuries forced him to give” ai
‘up his logging job. ° ve os

“The way the: world i is. 5 going
you've got to read,’"* he ‘says; *

“There’s no labour jobs. left, :
the way I see it.’ &

Now the boy who thought he
was “too big for the seat’’ in

school plans -to attend college: :

reveiving. neteuetion i in n English
asa second language. :

‘Most encouraging :t9 ‘Purcell

4s"that- news of: The - ‘Reading’
Place © and::what’ it offers, is.
spreading by word of ‘mouth,

‘Family members or:-friends .

culate about The Learning:
Place.

The Learning Place is also a
conducting a survey of |

- businesses and unions to deter-:

mine the need for literacy train-
ing or English as a second
language instruction . in the
workplace.

From, ‘that Purcell hopes to

it takes time for word to cir- -

employees will be able to take
classes.

“= A. study, done by the provin “hy
i ciat government. in the last cou-.
ple of years eslimated that close:

to 8, 000 adults in the northwest
can’t read or write,

To draw attention to literacy, .

Sept. 8 has been declared World
Literacy Day.

and get his General Education; “|.” °
Diploma, the equivalent tova’ |"

Grade 12 diploma.

Ed says many most people ob
support what he’s doing, -
‘although some are hesitant : _

about the program.

“I've been talking to. a: ‘few.
people and some are interested
‘and some are kind of skeptical.

They-don’t really say they can’t
read. or they’re illiterate,” .he
says.

Ed spends three hours a week

with Ann, a tutor with the
. Reading Place.

muchinto TV anymore,” he —
‘the hardest part of learning. ..

He says reading out loud is

‘<1 still have problems with

-that because I hate to be a
failure, It’s hard enough to get
‘yourself to come in here.”

But now that he’s taken that
first step, he wouldn’t go back.
abe | think, it’s great if people

are willing’ “to“go and’ learit: to '
- read,” “he ‘said; **(Now) I'can’’

understand ’ what ‘my kids’ are

~ going through in‘ school and I
can. help them with their:

homework. Yau get ‘a plus no
matter what way you look at
it”.

declare

and saw a white male,’ ;
“And the policeman replies,

‘You could say that.’ ”

The committee's report Ac.
cess. to. Justice recommended
that people ‘‘learn to speak in
plain language." ‘

The Plain Language Institute,

a non-profit society in Van-_

couver, was set up to teach them
how, .

Knight, the. first. employee,
began. work in November. Nine.
months later the four employees.

more planned.’ :

By next. year,. people: who .
want. advice on filing for

workers’ compensation should
be able to understand the forms
and“ ‘information. available’

through an-'advisory “office, -
thanks to. _ the Plain Language:

Institute.

A second project is an ex: *
“New:
--, Westminster’s’ clvie” administra
; tion,

-Klein. says;s“‘that has a‘ police ©
a officer.i in court giving testimony =
“and'he says,.‘1 attended the inci--..
“dent: ata. residential ..premises.

‘amination ~ of:

“We're! taking a sriunicipality
and putting’ their whole writing
system -under : a. mictoscope,"'

‘Knight: -explained. “if! The.

resulting | paper will essentially

‘be a blueprint: (for ‘other in- ;
_terested mamicipatities)

- verbs, —
* desist’”.or to “give, devise and
*'pequeathe”? are the result of
’ omedieval: bilingualism and are
“uneccessary today, Knight says.

YODA SMILES on Nat Purcell of Project t Literacy Terrace’s The Reading Place. rm Ss World “Literacy Day

Sept. 8. The Reading Place offers classroom and one-on-one tutoring for adults who can’t read or for»
those leaming English as a second language. .

The institute also conducts

’ Tesearch,

Although guides on attractive

, page layout abound, Knight
. Says Virtually no research exists

on the ‘background to what goes

ona page. -

“What we want to find out is
the process (writers of incom-
prehensible prose) use and the

” attitudes they ‘bring to their
“task,” he said, ,

The second part. of the in-
vestigation will be to find out

- have two projects underway and ae

Making

TERRACE — Many words that
have -been used in legal
ocuments for hundreds of

“years “are unnecessary and

should: be eliminated, says Phil
Knight of the Plain Language
Institute in ‘Vancouver.

Double. and ‘triple-decker
“such as ‘“‘cease and

” “After ‘the Norman conquest
(of England) the court spoke

what makes the literature dif-
ficult to read, Long sentences,
type that is too dense, and un-
familiar language or concepts
are some possiblities.

Knight says response to the
jnstitute’s work so far has been
better than anticipated.

‘What we've found is
generally speaking, people are
more open to.this topic than 1
thought they would be,” he ad-
mits,

However, as with all change,

it much

French and the (common) peo-
ple spoke English,” he explains.
“So to ensure they were
understood, (medieval lawyers)
would use both. me

The ‘tradition stuck and
lawyers now grow up saying “I
give, devise and .bequeathe,"’

when all three. verbs: mean the .

same thing. =”

But to change the kind of
language: used in the legal
system, the Plain Language In-
stitute must change the way
people think about it.

As the Institute was created ta

d on fancy words ©

the switch to simple language i is
slow,
“I find that people are in-
terested in‘ plain language,”
- Knight says; ‘‘They just don't
want to change.”” ,
The challenge for the Plain
Language Institute is to re-
educate people while showing
respect for their concerns at the
same. time.

"People are not ‘going to °

. Change because we spread the
* good news of plain language to
them,"” Knight says. :

easier

make the legal system more
understandable, Knight has had
numerous discussions with
lawyers.

“A Jotof finger pointing BOCs =

on around the table,’’ Knight
says, with older lawyers claim-

ing -younger ‘lawyers haven't’ -
learned how'to write properly, ;
younger lawyers asserting that

older ones. don't. want to
change, big firms blaming small
firms and vice versa.

He’s met ‘with hundreds of
excuses for not changing con-
fusing wording.

Paper: mill

“A: ‘company wants. to-
- make paper.

It wants. to build a
mill near Lakelse Lake.

‘Some people do not ..
want a mill. there.’ They.
“worry that ‘the: ‘alr
“water. mig
: oe /
| The.” company. will

and: “

A oakter
busy last week, |.

getting ready fo it sch

Ed Roth paints.
He paints for.. the
school district. He was

It.; was “busy.
schools... People

to open.

THE TER RAGE’ ‘STANDARD

Just the’ |

develop a program’ in which’ }

“in 1983 -and: 1984: from: the [-

{| Himit of 0.1 mg/L. Detectable
‘L: flouride concentration do

|] shiould not pose an acidifica-

"of the Jake was excellent for

facts, ‘OK?

> Pe ee

Dear Sirs

“In your Aug. OL edition
you printed a story “Up, Up
and. Away’’, Page AQ, One].
can only stop to wonder. to
what extent some people will]
go to discredit Orenda’s pra-|
posed : groundwood ‘Paper
mill!

Let's take a look at some
facts, and leave the helium
balloons with the children, .

-In-a recent (1986) water
quality assessment report
done by the Ministry of en- |,
vironment, some of the
following deductions were
made.

“The mean. “monthly
fluoride wet deposition tate}
at Terrace Airport’ in “1981
was 0.055 ‘kg F/ha, The
loadings are thought to have
decreased over the past ten
years because of improved
pollution control and reduc- —
ed ‘emissions from ‘the
aluminum smelter” ‘at
Kitimat...

“There have been. 8
fluoride measurements taken

re ee

ey ee

Lakelse . River .. downstream
from the lake, -All .results
were below the ‘detectable.

not pose a hazard to fisheries
or. drinking water supplies,
and: fluoride “émission’

ae ee

»

tion problem to the lake: or
streams.
- The general waiter quality

drinking supplies and contact
recreation, Disinfection of
drinking water is recom-
mended because the lake is
heavily used for recreation
and septic tank/tile fields are
the form of sewage disposal
around the lake.’’..
In-reading this report one
can make their own deduc-
cl Red tp swhonerelyHioy

hs oul be: PR nel

whee ane ae =S ne

—_ ob oe

wea “for being ‘able to’ see'a
stack or not-from: Lakelse I
can only ask, which is more
visually polluting? Cabins,
homes, wharves, piers, rafts,
fences, diverted . creeks,
dredged out - reeds, felled
timber, not to forget the tons |.
of litter sitting at the bottom
of Lakelse as well as along its
shores and: the: banks of the
Lakelse River or; a steam
stack peering over the new
growth forest 4.5 miles away.
Note: the complete Orenda

report is available to anyone
at the Terrace Library.

Graham Geeraert,

Chairman,. -

Northwest Building

Trades Group,

Terrace, B.C.

more on |
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