Module A

The objective of this task is to analyze the language phenomena, which will be referred to as obstacles to reading comprehension:

a) Figurative language such as metaphor and idioms, 

b) Difficult words,  

c) Semantically ambiguous words and phrases, 

d) Semantically highly specialised/technical words, 

e) Morphologically, orthographically, and phonetically long or complex words, 

f) Long and Syntactically complex sentences, 

g) Inconsistent formatting of elements of document structure. 

We will refer to these as obstacles caused by ambiguity in meaning (a-d) and obstacles caused by structural complexity (e-g). All these features are common in written language. This is illustrated by the sample below, extracted from a patient information booklet about the danger of cannabis use (Firth 2010): 

“Cannabis sativa and cannabis indica are members of the nettle family that have grown wild throughout the world for centuries. Both plants have been used for a variety of purposes including hemp to make rope and textiles, as a medical herb and as the popular recreational drug.” 

It contains highly specialised phrases (cannabis sativa, cannabis indica), ambiguous words (plants), morphologically complex words (recreational), and long and syntactically complex sentences. As a result, a vulnerable user may be discouraged from reading the rest of the document, which informs them about the danger of cannabis use.