Why is so much emphasis now being put on plain language? Partly, I think, it is in reaction to some of the really bad writing we are being exposed to. But another reason is the growing awareness of the extent of the problem of limited literacy, which is coming to light with surveys. It is not that many people in Canada are illiterate, but that their levels of literacy are lower than had previously been thought.

For example, in an International Adult Literacy & Skills Survey carried out in six countries in 2003, some 23,000 Canadians between 16 and 65 were tested in four areas of competency:

• prose literacy (understanding text such as newspaper articles);
• document literacy (understanding text such as maps and charts);
• numeracy; and
• problem solving (clarifying the nature of a problem and finding solutions).

The study showed that four out of ten Canadian adults lack skills that are important in our increasingly knowledge-based society. There has been a decline in literacy scores among teenagers since the previous international study, carried out ten years before.^{Footnote 1}

Canada averaged in the middle of the six countries on all four scales tested, behind Norway, Switzerland or Bermuda, depending on the scale, but in all cases ahead of Italy and the USA.^{Footnote 2}

Literacy matters to society. People with limited literacy are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed, more likely to live in poverty, more likely to have both chronic and short-term health problems (physical and mental) and to die younger.^{Footnote 3}

Literacy also directly affects the economic status of Canada. A 2004 study suggested that a country achieving literacy scores 1% higher than the international average ends up with labour productivity averaging 2.5% higher than other countries, and GDP per person 1.5% higher.^{Footnote 4}

So, there is no doubt we need to adjust many print materials so as to reach more people with information. There is no point in saying that people ought to be able to read and understand more. That does nothing to solve the problem.

An aside: controlled language
Before we move on, there is another term to mention: “controlled language.” It refers to the trend in certain industries to use terms to mean one thing and one thing only. It is used in circumstances where absolute clarity is needed, such as at airports. Clear the runway means everybody must get off the runway; it does not mean shovel the snow off the runway.