## Susanne Göpferich*

## How Successful is the Mediation of Specialized Knowledge? - The Use of Thinking-aloud Protocols and Log Files of Reverbalization Processes as a Method in Comprehensibility Research

## Abstract

Since the publication of Ericsson's and Simon's book Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data in 1984, thinking-aloud has found its way into the exploration of (interlingual) translation processes. To gain deeper insight into translation processes, the method of thinking-aloud has been combined with the use of the software TRANSLOG developed by Jakobsen and Schou. This software records (logs) all keystrokes and mouse clicks during writing processes as well as the time intervals between them without the user of this programme realizing this.

In my paper, I will describe how the method of thinking aloud combined with the use of TRANSLOG can be used to determine the comprehensibility of non-instructive texts.  It  focuses  on  an  experiment  in  which  fi  ve  subjects  were  asked  to  optimize  a popular science text using TRANSLOG. During this intralingual translation process, the subjects had to think aloud. The paper will focus on the method I used and present what it reveals about the comprehensibility of the popular science text.

## 1.  The challenge: Measuring how successfully knowledge is mediated in non-instructive texts

Whereas reliable results on how successfully knowledge is mediated in instructive texts can be obtained by usability testing (cf. Rubin 1994), the comprehensibility of non-instructive texts is hard to analyze. Methods such as the use of readability formulas take into account only aspects of what makes a text comprehensible or incomprehensible. The employment  of  my  Karlsruhe  comprehensibility  concept  (Göpferich 2001, 2002,  2 2006), which represents an extended and improved ver-

*   Susanne Göpferich

Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz Austria

susanne.goepferich@uni-graz.at

67

sion of the comprehensibility concepts by the Hamburg group of psychologists Langer, Schulz von Thun & Tausch ( 5 1993) and by Groeben (1982), has proved a reliable instrument in pre-optimizing non-instructive  texts  (cf.  Göpferich 2 2006: 154-188), but cannot replace targetgroup-centered empirical research into text comprehensibility. Methods employed so far in this type of comprehensibility research are cloze procedures, questions on the texts whose comprehensibility is to be determined, and reproductions of such texts. These methods have the disadvantage, however, that they measure either only aspects of the texts' comprehensibility (e. g., the predictability of words and phrases that fi  ll gaps, the comprehensibility of words or passages relevant for answering the questions asked) or merely their rough overall comprehensibility. Furthermore, some of these methods lead to a confusion of the concepts of comprehensibility and retainability (cf. the research summary in Göpferich  2 2006: chapter 4).

In this paper, I will present a target-group-centered empirical method for determining the comprehensibility of texts which takes into account every detail of the texts to be analyzed, which is independent of the texts' retainability, and which does not only allow the researcher to detect where the texts are incomprehensible, but also where they are hard to understand and where they give rise to misunderstandings or a demand for further information which is not given in the texts. I call this method optimizing reverbalization using thinking aloud and log fi  les .

Since the publication of Ericsson's and Simon's book Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data in 1984 (Ericsson/Simon  2 1999), thinking aloud has found its way into the exploration of writing processes (cf. recently Schindler 2004) and (interlingual) translation processes (cf. the special edition of Meta edited by Lee-Jahnke 2005). To gain deeper insight into these processes, the method of thinking aloud has been combined with the use of the software TRANSLOG developed by Jakobsen and Schou (1999). This software records (logs) all keystrokes and mouse clicks during writing processes as well as the time intervals between them without the user of this software realizing this.

I have adopted the thinking-aloud method combined with the use of TRANSLOG to investigate the comprehensibility of a popular science text on diabetes. For this purpose, fi  ve subjects, which belong to the target group of the text, were given the text and asked to optimize it us- ing TRANSLOG. This process can be considered a type of intralingual translation. During this intralingual translation process, the subjects had to think aloud.

In my paper, I will give a detailed description of the methods employed and present what they reveal about the comprehensibility of the diabetes text. The methods can also be used to investigate the subjects' maxims and strategies in making the text more comprehensible, i. e., their writing and optimizing strategies. 1  Although I will make a few remarks on the latter, too, the focus of this paper will be on the comprehensibility of the popular science text (for results on the subjects' maxims and strategies cf. Göpferich forthcoming).

## 2.  The methods employed

Five subjects, who belong to the target group of the popular-science text on diabetes reproduced in Appendix A, were asked to reverbalize this text in TRANSLOG in such a way that the result was optimally comprehensible for its target group. The target group is specifi  ed as follows on the website where the text to be optimized appears: 'These contributions  provide  basic  information  on  diabetes  mellitus  for  which  no prior knowledge is required.' (Deutsches Diabetes-Zentrum 2004; my transl.). During the experiment, the subjects had to think aloud ('level 1 verbalizations' according to Ericsson and Simon 1999: 79).

## 2.1.  The subjects

All subjects were female and either students in the degree programme 'Translation and Interpreting' at the Department of Translation Studies of the University of Graz, had graduated from this programme, or were lecturers there. Their mother tongue was German; four of them were Austrians and one (YG) came from Switzerland. A short description of the subjects' educational and professional background is given in Ta- ble 1. Table 2 provides information on their physical and psychological condition during the experiment as described by themselves.

1 By maxims I mean goals of action the subjects strive for at a specifi  c point in the optimization process. The term strategy is used in the sense of Faerch/Kasper (1983: 36), who defi  ne strategies as 'potentially conscious plans for solving what to an individual presents itself as a problem in reaching a particular communicative goal'. This defi  nition is also adopted by Krings (1986: 175). Thus maxims are targets, strategies , potentially conscious paths which are believed to lead to these targets.

Table 1: The subjects' educational and professional background

| Sub- ject   |   Age (years) | Academic degree/ profession                                                       | Foreign languages and proficiency (self-estimation: A= excellent down to E = poor)   | Additional training/ experience                                                                                                                                    | Proficiency as a student (self- estimation)   |
|-------------|---------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
| JS          |            25 | student 2nd year                                                                  | English (A) Italian (A) Spanish (C) French (E) Russian (E)                           | Dropped out of pro- gramme in translation and interpreting; new start with different lan- guage combination 20 pages of transla- tions; 40 hours of interpre- ting | excellent - good                              |
| EK          |            25 | student 6th year                                                                  | French (A) Hungarian (B) English (C)                                                 | 30 pages of transla- tions; 10 days of interpreting                                                                                                                | excellent - good                              |
| NL          |            25 | student 7th year                                                                  | English (A) Russian (B) French (D) Latin (D) Italian (E)                             | 4 pages of translations; 5 days of interpreting                                                                                                                    | excellent - good                              |
| YG          |            26 | Mag. phil. (Master) employed in third-party fundedresearch project (for 6 months) | English (A) Russian (B)                                                              | 8 months student assistant 20 pages of transla- tions per year                                                                                                     | excellent - good                              |
| SF          |            58 | Mag. phil. (Master) university lec- turer (for 20 years)                          | English (A) French (B) Italian (E)                                                   | 4 years secretary; 30 years of translation and interpreting                                                                                                        | no answer                                     |

Table 2: Physical and psychological condition of the subjects during the experiment (1 = applies very much, 2 = applies to some degree, 3 = applies not at all)

| Sub- ject   |   Fully concen- trated |   Under time pressure |   Ner- vous |   Relaxed |   Stressed |   Tired, ex- hausted |   Enjoy- ing the job | Comments                                                                                      |
|-------------|------------------------|-----------------------|-------------|-----------|------------|----------------------|----------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| JS          |                      1 |                     3 |           3 |         1 |          3 |                    1 |                    1 | -                                                                                             |
| EK          |                      2 |                     2 |           3 |         2 |          3 |                    2 |                    1 | Suffering from a bit of a head- ache; under time pressure during the retrospective interview. |
| NL          |                      1 |                     3 |           3 |         2 |          3 |                    3 |                    1 | -                                                                                             |
| YG          |                      1 |                     3 |           2 |         2 |          3 |                    3 |                    1 | -                                                                                             |
| SF          |                      1 |                     3 |           3 |         1 |          3 |                    3 |                    1 | -                                                                                             |

Although all subjects belong to the target group of the text to be analyzed, they are not representative of this target group. As can be seen from Table 1, their education and training is certainly above that of the average reader. This means that whatever is incomprehensible for them can also be regarded as incomprehensible for the intended readership in general. Since the subjects were asked to optimize the text for the intended readership (and not only for themselves), they may have optimized sections of the text that they have found comprehensible for themselves but considered incomprehensible for people with lower education. Their judgement on such elements of the text must be considered to be speculative. To reduce subjectivity, I have taken into account how many of the fi  ve subjects judged elements of the text to be optimized incomprehensible or hard to understand. We must not forget, however, that people with a lower educational standard might fi  nd additional things incomprehensible that were not criticized or optimized in the experiment.

Selecting subjects with higher education and with at least some experience in translation has the advantage that their meta-linguistic and meta-communicative competence allows them to give a more detailed and precise description of their comprehension problems and optimizing maxims and strategies than persons with no education and training in this fi  eld. Thus, their meta-linguistic and meta-communicative competence  makes  their  thinking-aloud  protocols  more  illuminating. Although what these subjects' thinking-aloud protocols reveal about text comprehension may not be representative of the entire target group, it can at least provide questions, which can be used to fi  nd out how well subjects with lower educational standards have understood certain passages of the text.

## 2.2.  The assignment

Each subject had to reverbalize the text in Appendix A in such a way that it would be tailored to the requirements of its intended readership. Passages that the subjects considered perfect could be copied into the target version. Prior to the actual experiment a trial run with a different text was carried out to acquaint the subjects with the functionality of TRANSLOG (editing functions and TRANSLOG dictionary). Only after  all  the  questions  on  the  software  and  the  test  setting  had  been answered was the actual experiment begun. The assignment was explained to the subjects by the supervisor and also handed out to them in writing (cf. Appendix B). The dictionary entries provided with the source text in TRANSLOG are reproduced in Appendix C. No other material could be used during the experiment.

During the experiment, each subject was sitting in a quiet room 2 together with a supervisor. The subjects wore headsets; their verbalizations  were  recorded  with  the  freeware AUDACITY  and  exported  in MP3 format. The recordings were transcribed according to the GAT conventions for basic transcripts (Stelting et al. 1998) and then proofread by at least one other person. The complete transcripts of all fi  ve subjects can be downloaded as a PDF fi  le from Göpferich (2005). During the experiment the subjects were not put under time pressure (cf. Table 2). They were informed that what was analyzed in the experiment was not their competence but the comprehensibility of the diabetes text. After the optimization process, the subjects were asked whether they had any questions for a diabetes specialist which had cropped up during the experiment and which they could not answer using the information in the text and the TRANSLOG dictionary. These retrospective interviews were recorded and transcribed too. They can be found at the end of each of the transcripts in Göpferich (2005).

2 Any disturbances which occurred during the experiment are transcribed in the protocols (cf. Göpferich 2005).

## 2.3.  The data

Apart from the information given in Table 1 and Table 2, the experiment provided the following data:

1.  the optimized versions of the diabetes text,
2.  the log fi  les,
3.  the thinking-aloud protocols (TAPs) as well as the protocols of the retrospective interviews (RIPs; cf. Göpferich 2005).

## 2.4.  Data analysis

The data were analyzed as follows:

1.  Each subject's version was compared to the original text. Passages in  which  changes had been made were numbered and juxtaposed to  their  original  version  in  a  table.  For  each  change  the  comprehensibility dimension in which this change occurred according to the  Karlsruhe  comprehensibility  concept 3 (Göpferich  2001;  2002; 2 2006) was determined as was whether the change really improved the text, made it worse, or represented neither an improvement nor a deterioration.
2.  The TAPs  were  analyzed  for  comments  on  why  the  changes  had been made as well as on the maxims the subjects had and the strategies they used in optimizing the text.
3.  The TAPs were analyzed for further comments on the quality of the original text which did not result in changes in their optimized versions.
4.  The questions which the subjects had on the text, which they could not answer using the material available to them (i. e., the text to be

3 These comprehensibility dimensions are: simplicity, structure, perceptibility, concision, motivation, and correctness.

optimized itself and the TRANSLOG dictionary), and which they therefore would have liked to ask a specialist were collected. If we start  from  the  assumption  that  an  optimally  comprehensible  text does not give rise to questions in the reader's mind that it does not answer, these remaining questions are additional reliable indicators of defi  ciencies with regard to comprehensibility. This also applies to dictionary look-ups.

5.  For each element of the original text that had been subject to criticism or questions in the experiment, I determined how many subjects had criticized it or had questions on it (cf. Table 3 in section 4). The more subjects commented on it, the higher the probability that it may really lead to comprehension problems.
6.  An optimized version was written in which the criticism of all subjects was taken into account and which answers the questions they had. In this optimized version, only real improvements suggested by the subjects were considered. If a subject formulated a maxim for a specifi  c section of the text without providing a solution fulfi  lling this maxim, I tried to provide such a solution by myself. Deteriorations and 'cosmetic' changes were ignored. Linguistic mistakes made in the source text or by the subjects were corrected in the optimized version (cf. Appendix A).
7.  The subjects' maxims and strategies were analyzed and classifi  ed. For  each  subject  the  repertoire  of  maxims  she  had  and  strategies she used were determined. From these results, conclusions for text production didactics can be drawn. The subjects' maxims and strategies, however, are beyond the scope of this paper. I will mention some of them here; a detailed analysis of them will be provided in Göpferich (forthcoming).

## 3.  Results

In the following, I will give a survey of all the elements of the original text that either one or more subjects in the experiment considered hard to understand or incomprehensible as well as of the questions the text  gave  rise  to  in  the  subjects'  mind  without  providing  an  answer. For each element, extracts from the TAPs and/or RIPs will be quoted which show that the subject(s) found it diffi  cult and, if applicable, what maxims and strategies they followed to improve the corresponding passage. A distinction is made between a) completely incomprehensible elements of the source text and passages giving rise to questions that are not answered in the text and b) passages which are simply hard to understand.

## 3.1.  Incomprehensible elements and missing information

1. The text says that a distinction is made between two types of diabetes, but then three types are introduced: type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. This makes four of the fi  ve subjects wonder whether gestational diabetes is a variant of type 2 diabetes (cf. TAP YG 29-30) or a type of its own. Thinking aloud, YG says,

```
wenn i jetzt wüsst, (-) ob (.) der (.) schwangerschaftsdiabetes,  (.)  ob  de::s  jetzt  (.)  typ drei  isch  ((tippt  öfters  auf  die  Tastatur  ohne  zu schreiben))  odersch,  (--)  typ=zwei  (-)  <<sich  selbst beim Tippen diktierend> werden generell, im allgemeinen> (-) woteva (--) <<sich selbst beim Tippen diktierend> im allgemeinen zwei typen unterschieden> (TAP YG 82-88).
```

She solves the problem by adding 'im Allgemeinen' ( In general , a  distinction  between  two  types  of  diabetes  is  made.)  and  referring to gestational diabetes as a 'Spezialfall', a special type of diabetes. The log fi  le reveals that she fi  rst puts down 'zwei Typen' (two types of diabetes), then changes this into three types, and uses 'zwei Typen' again in her fi  nal version. In the retrospective interview (RIP YG 476-482), she says that she would like to ask a specialist about this because she is still not sure which one is the correct version.

To my mind, the real problem in the text here is that the author informs us about what happens in the bodies of patients with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes, but not about what happens in the bodies of women with gestational diabetes. If this information were given, it would be clear that gestational diabetes is neither a variant of type 1 nor of type 2. In contrast to type 1 diabetes, which occurs when the body produces too little or no insulin, and type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body cannot use the insulin it produces, gestational diabetes is caused when pregnancy hormones and hormones produced by the placenta lead to such an increase in the blood glucose level that the pregnant woman's pancreas can no longer compensate for this by an increased insulin production. Adding this information together with the coherence increasing elements in general (im Allgemeinen) and a special type of diabetes (ein Spezialfall der Zuckerkrankheit) eliminates this incomprehensibility.

2. Some of the subjects do not know the (exact) meanings of the following terms used in the text without explanations: chronisch (TAP SF 74-78; TAP EK 26-29), Insulin (TAP  SF  261-289; TAP EK 224-232), Inselzellen (cf.  TAP  YG  159-161;  TAP  NL  129-134; TAP JS 84-106 and 177-185; TAP EK 66-67 and 265-268), TLymphozyten (cf.  TAP  JS  267-283  and  652-655), Gestation (cf. RIP SF 534-540; TAP YG 133-134; TAP EK 329-331), Glukose (cf.  TAP  SF  303-312; TAP YG 200-206; TAP NL 232-233 and 243-246; TAP EK 135-162), and Körperzellen (cf. TAP JS 312320). To solve this problem, these terms must either be left away or explained. They should be retained and explained if they are used in doctor-patient conversations (cf. e. g. TAP NL 98-101), but can be deleted if this is rather unlikely and they are not needed again in the text (cf. RIP JS 609-616).
3. For YG the last sentence in the text 'Dabei ist jedoch das Risiko für die spätere Entwicklung eines Typ 2 oder Typ 1 Diabetes [sic] stark erhöht.' (In this case, there is a considerably higher risk of developing a type 2 or type 1 diabetes afterwards.) gives rise to the question whether this refers to the mother or the child: 'beim kind oder bei der mutter?' (TAP YG 34). That it refers to the mother can easily be made more explicit here.
4. For JS (cf. TAP JS 493-516) the original text does not make clear whether type 1 diabetes is caused only by a combination of all three factors mentioned in the text (i. e., fi  rst, genetic predisposition, second, infl  uences from outside such as certain virus infections, and third, a disorder of the immune system) or whether it may be caused by one or two of these factors alone.

Although the combination of all three factors seems more plausible to her, she combines the factors by or in her optimized version, which shows that she is still not sure. Since the factors that cause the  disease  are  an  important  information  for  the  patient,  the  text must be made more explicit here.

## 3.2.  What makes the text hard to understand

1. Since Diabetes mellitus is a specialized term for which there is the more general and thus comprehensible expression Zuckerkrankheit in German, YG, SF, and EK feel that this more comprehensible designation should be added already in the title of the article (cf. TAP SF 41-44, cf. also TAP YG 40-44). This makes sure that the reader knows what the text is about from the beginning.
2. SF feels that the semantic relation between the general designation Zuckerkrankheit and its scientifi  c synonym Diabetes mellitus might not become clear if the latter is simply put in parentheses without additional explanations, and therefore should be made explicit:

<<sich  selbst  beim  Tippen  diktierend>  krankheit,  in der folge diabetes mellitus>, eigentlich das brauch ma (--) gor nix so wer ma des machen, (---) in der folge, nein das is keine gute idee (--) zuckerkrank (.) heit, des kommt a mal weg, (-) diabetes mellitus, (.) jawoll, na mach ma schon so, in der folge diabetes mellitus. (4.0) <<zustimmend> mhm> (---) nein, das müsst man auch besser erklären, weil ich weiß das ja was das is, aber jemand der nicht latein und nicht griechisch kann weiß das nicht, (.) in der folge (--) der ha lateinischen oder griechischen Bezeichnung ( ) wahrscheinlich, nein wissenschaftlichen <<sich selbst beim Tippen diktierend> wissenschaftlichen bezeichnung so, diabetes mellitus,> (TAP SF 55- 67)

She follows this maxim also when introducing other alternative designations such as juvenil , T-Lymphozyten , Alterszucker , and Gestationsdiabetes (cf. TAP SF 167-169, 219-223, 381-384, 432-437). EK does not comment on this, but she too makes the relation between Diabetes  mellitus and Zuckerkrankheit explicit  ('Diabetes mellitus ist der Fachausdruck für Zuckerkrankheit').

3. YG wonders about the term Defi  nition in  the  title  because to her mind the text provides more information on diabetes mellitus than just a defi  nition (cf. TAP YG 344-349), so that the term does not fi  t. Furthermore, one may object that the term Defi  nition is a hard word for many readers, which is a second reason for taking it out. (In spite of her objections, YG takes the term over in her fi  nal version.) EK deletes the term Defi  nition in her title, but does not comment on this.
4. The subjects YG and NL wonder whether 'ist gekennzeichnet durch' is the correct expression in the defi  nition of diabetes mellitus or could be replaced by a simpler verb. Both of them feel that the latter is the case (cf. TAP NL 44-82; TAP YG 568-632).
5. For YG the fi  rst sentence does not make clear whether the participle construction 'verbunden mit dem Risiko für schwere Begleit- und Folgeerkrankungen' (combined with the risk for serious other diseases which accompany or follow it) describes necessary features of the term diabetes mellitus and thus forms part of its defi  nition, or gives just additional information. Thinking aloud, she comments on this:

<<sich  selbst  beim  Tippen  diktierend>  erhöhung  des blutzuckers,  (.)  verbunden  mit  dem  risiko>  (2.0)  MO: MENT (3.0) oke=verbunden mit dem risiko des interess: iert  mich  hier  eigentli  net  wirklich  (5.0)  verbunden mit  dem  risiko  (3.0)  aber  die  zuckerkrankheit  is:t eigentlich nur eine chronische erhöhung des blutzuckers; (---) UND wenn ma erhöhtn blutzucker::, (.) wenn sich der erhöht (.) dann:: .hh können schwere beglEIT und FOLgeerkrankungen (--) FOLgen (TAP YG 45-52).

## In the retrospective interview, she comes back to this comprehension problem saying,

beim erstn satz hab i mi a bissl gwundert, (--) weil <<den  Ausgangstext  lesend>  zuckerkrankheit  (.)  ist gekennzeichnet durch chronische erhöhung des blutzuckers verbunden  mit  dem  RIsiko.>  (--)  is  eigentlich  (--) a::  (-)  <<all>  ahso>  .h  sog  ma  so-  (.)  i  persönlich versteh des anders. für mi is zucker; zuckerkrankheit chronische  erhöhung  des  blutzuckers  (-)  und  danach (---) also (.) beziehungsweise (.) durch die erhöhung (--) kommen begleit- und folgeerkrankungen. aber es is net (3.0) zuckerkrankheit is net (2.5) gleich (-) begleit(.) und folgeerkrankungen. (RIP YG 568-578)

The information in the participle construction does not form part of the defi  nition, which should be made clear in the optimized version.

6. Four of the fi  ve  subjects  (SF, YG,  NL,  EK)  are  amazed  that  the term Zuckerspiegel (sugar  level)  is  used  in  the  plural;  they  have only heard of der Zuckerspiegel in the singular and wonder whether there are several sugar levels (cf. TAP YG 220-223; cf. also TAP SF 320-329). In fact, there is only one blood sugar level, so that the plural is wrong and must be changed into a singular. Even if there were several blood sugar levels, using the singular would be the option to be preferred in this context because a distinction between different sugar levels is not necessary in the text and wondering about the plural requires memory capacity which will then not be available for processing the central information on diabetes. If a differentiation were relevant, the plural should be introduced explicitly so that the reader need not wonder about it. YG opts for the plural because, as she says in the retrospective interview (RIP YG 498-507), the author of the text is an expert and should know what he is talking about. This is also the reason why SF uses the plural (cf. TAP SF 326-329). NL and EK prefer to use the more common singular (cf. TAP NL 264-268; TAP EK 209-210).
7. In the original version, information which belongs closely together such as a) the different designations of each type of diabetes, b) the age when type 2 diabetes occurs, c) the beginning and the end of gestational diabetes, and d) the fi  rst mentioning of the destruction of the insulin producing cells and the detailed explanation of how they are destroyed and why are given at different places in the text. YG brings some of them together (a and c), however, without commenting on it in her TAP ('information clustering maxim'). EK brings the information under a) together (TAP EK 69-71). NL explicitly states that she wants to bring the information when type 2 diabetes occurs together (cf. TAP NL 345-354). SJ comments on d) saying,

<<sich  selbst  beim  Tippen  diktierend>  beruht  .hh  auf einem (.) mangel an insu .hhh hh (--) infolge (-) einer zerstörung> .hhh hh (2.0) der sogenannten bet (2.0) ah das klingt glaub i komisch, wenn das da hinten so (.) .h der insulin produzierenden zellen (2.0) .hh ja aber wodurch werden die zerstört? (2.0) <<den Ausgangstext lesend> diese zellen gehören zur bauchspeicheldrüse und sind ein bestimmter typ der sogenannten inselzellen. am höchsten ist die neuerkrankungsrate bei kindern,> (2.0) ah=so (.) do unten steht des erst (.) ha? (TAP JS 5868)

This comment, too, shows that information belonging closely together should be provided together.

8. Without mentioning this explicitly, YG seems to follow a parallelism maxim. This can be seen in her optimized version, where she tries to structure the sections on the three types of diabetes in parallel (age groups and designations, disease itself, causes, effects). 4 NL follows the parallelism maxim explicitly stating twice that she wants to structure the information on type 2 diabetes in the same way as that on type 1 diabetes (cf. TAP NL 318-323 and 332-341, cf. also 381-382).

Parallelism has been propagated by stylistics for a long time. For the reader, it increases the predictability of what comes next in a text and therefore is important for text comprehensibility.

9. In the original text, Beta-Zellen (beta cells) is introduced as the specialized term for Insulin produzierende Zellen (insulin  producing cells). YG decides not to eliminate this alternative designation from the text because it might be used in doctor-patient conversations (cf. TAP YG 152-156), but she introduces it only once and then - in contrast to the author of the original text - goes on using the more telling expression Insulin produzierende Zellen , which I consider a good decision.
10. Several of the subjects (SF, YG, NL) wonder about the noun Untergang (decline). YG laughs when she reads it (TAP YG e. g. 186-

4 If certain types of information are not given in the original text, she cannot provide this information in her optimized version, of course.

187); SF says: 'sagt man wirklich den untergang?' (TAP SF 244-245), 'untergang gefällt mir überhaupt nicht' (TAP SF 254). NL comments:

in folge davon kommt es zu einem unter <<f> untergang der insulin produzierenden zellen> (3.5) also des kann i ma a net gut vorstellen (.) untergang der (---) zellen (3.0) da hab ich gleich diese assoziation dass (.) diese zellen ausschauen wie schiffe und irgendwie attakiert werden und dann .hh sinken; und untergehen. was kann damit  gemeint  sein?=is  da  irgendwas  im  wörterbuch? ((schlägt im Wörterbuch nach)) natürlich nicht. (TAP NL 174-182)

This unintentional foregrounding of linguistic elements takes away memory capacity necessary for processing the content on diabetes and therefore should be avoided and, as NL's TAP shows, be replaced by a semantically more precise formulation. NL says,

also untergang des klingt für mich komisch. das führt zu  einem  verlust  an,  .h  dadurch  werden  die  insulin produzierenden zellen (2.0) geschädigt, oder beschädigt, oder werden sie wirklich zerstört? .hh das würd ich jetz gern noch an fachmann fragen (-) was dann wirklich mit diesen  zellen  passiert.  (3.5)  ob  einfach  die  anzahl reduziert  wird,  oder  ob  sie  beschädigt  und  daher funktionsunfähig sin, (---) oder ob sie wirklich völlig zerstört werden. das müsste man noch mal fragen. (TAP NL 195-203)

11. The original text says that type 2 diabetes, also called Altersdiabetes (old-age diabetes), occurs after age 40 in most cases, which is the reason for its designation. In recent years, however, people have been affected by this type of diabetes at an ever earlier age. For YG age 40 is not really old: '<<len> vierzge isch jo (.) no net (.) speziell: (-) alt.>' (TAP YG 404-405). Therefore she feels that the designation is not motivated semantically and wonders whether type 2 diabetes occurred later than age 40 in the past and the age has gone down to 40 only in recent times (cf. TAP YG 252-260). Since YG is the only of the fi  ve subjects who had

this problem, this is not taken into account in the optimized version.

12. The  expression  'nach  Beendigung  der  Schwangerschaft'  causes YG to laugh when she fi  rst reads it (cf. TAP YG 32); later on she reads it with a disgusted undertone (TAP YG 429-446). She does not comment, however, on what is wrong with it. NL comments on it explicitly:

beendigung des klingt mir aber viel zu aktiv (--)  natürlich  die  geburt  is  das  logische  ende  der schwangerschaft aber (.) einfach so beendigen? beenden kamma schwangerschaft ja, das ende der schwangerschaft. (4.0)  <<sich  selbst  beim  Tippen  diktierend>  in  der regel verschwindet diese form des diabetes (2.5)> nach beendigung  nein,  (.)  nach  ende  ((tippt))  (4.0)  oder einfach  nach  der  schwangerschaft  (1.5)  oder  nach  der geburt  (10.0)  nja  ende  der  schwangerschaft  kann  auch a tragischeres (-) resultat sein als geburt (--) wemma des kind verliert (5.0) also kamma nicht einfach (.) also wär das vielleicht nicht ganz eindeutig (.) das was damit gemeint is wenn ich geburt schreibe (6.5) <<den optimierten Text lesend> in der regel verschwindet diese form  des  diabetes>  (-)  nach  ende  der  schwangerschaft (-) oder nach der schwangerschaft (5.0) oder eben nach der geburt aber des is (-) nicht ganz optimal. (3.0) [...]  diese  form  des  (2.0)  diabetes  .h  verschwi:ndet ((klickt))  in  der  (2.0)  in  der  regel  (.)  nach  ende (1.5)  nja  schreib  ma  nach  ende  der  schwangerschaft ((tippt))  (.)  <<sich  selbst  beim  Tippen  diktierend> (  )ngerschaft> schwangerschaft, (1.5) hh oder mit dem ende der schwangerschaft (--) nein, verschwindet in der regel nach ende der schwangerschaft, (TAP NL 414-443)

Her criticism is justifi  ed because the German verb beenden possesses the semantic features <controlled by one's will>, <intentionally>, which may lead to the wrong interpretation that the author does not (also) refer to the end of a pregnancy marked by the birth of the child but only to an end caused by abortion. Both ends are meant. To make this clear a more general formulation is needed such as nach der Schwangerschaft (after the pregnancy).

13. The author of the original text has a strong tendency to use nominal style, which the subjects seem to fi  nd hard to understand. They transform  several  nominal  formulations  into  verbal  ones:  'chronische  Erhöhung  des  Blutzuckers'  (NL),  'Neuerkrankungsrate' (YG), 'Untergang der insulinproduzierenden Zellen' (SF, YG, NL, EK), 'das Ansprechen der Körperzellen auf Insulin' (SF, NL, EK), 'das Alter beim Auftreten des Diabetes' (SF, YG), and 'das Risiko für die spätere Entwicklung eines Typ 2 oder Typ 1 Diabetes [sic]' (YG, NL, EK). SF transforms 'infolge einer Zerstörung der insulinproduzierenden Zellen' into verbal style saying,

<<den Ausgangstext lesend> infolge einer zerstörung der insulin  produzierenden  zellen>  ich  würde  des  aufl   ösen mit einem nebensatz. (TAP EF 107-9)

SF and NL also feel that 'Neuerkrankungsrate' is a hard word for somebody who does not know it and also try to transform it into a verbal expression, but do not succeed (cf. e. g. NL TAP 140-149). SF therefore decides to split it up into 'Rate von Neuerkrankungen' (cf. TAP SF 143-153).

SF and NL explicitly mention their avoid-nominal-style strategy, saying,

ein vermindertes ansprechen auf körperzellen das müsst ich sicherlich auch anders aufl   ösen  weil  das  is  vielleicht doch  ein  bisschen  zu  schwierig  zu  verstehn  (.)  .hhh (4.0) beim typ zwei diabetes (3.0) .h würd ich nicht (.) nominalisieren sondern vielleicht (.) eher verbalisieren (TAP SF 345-350)

na ma könnt nominalstil noch aufl   ösen (TAP NL 452-453)

14. SF and NL feel that the original text does not make clear that the sentence following the expression 'Fehlsteuerung des Immunsystems' explains what is meant by it. Thinking aloud, SF says,

<<sich selbst beim Tippen diktierend> fehlsteuerung des immunsystems> (21.0) .hhh <<ff>> das passt mir nicht.> <<den optimierten Text lesend> <<pp>> als ursache des typ  eins  diabetes  sieht  heute  die  wissenschaft  das zusammenwirken  (3.0)  des  immunsystems>  (.)  doch  (.) punkt.  (9.0)  hm  immunsystems  (.)  <<den  Ausgangstext lesend>  bestimmte  weiße  blutkörperchen  richten  sich speziell gegen die betazellen> (5.0) .hh das würd ich auf jeden fall noch amal wiederholen (--) immunsystems, ich werde da hier auch einen doppelpunkt machen damit man weiß das hängt damit zusammen (TAP SF 209-219)

Text coherence should be improved here. Both SF and NL use the strategy of inserting coherence increasing elements (e. g., a colon after 'Fehlsteuerung' in the case of SF and dabei in the case of NL) in other places also (cf. TAP SF 296-298, 323-324; TAP NL 182189).

NL also feels that the logical relation between the two sen  tences 'Die Zuckerspiegel im Blut steigen an' (The sugar levels in the blood increase) and 'der Körper muss als Energiequelle sein Fettgewebe aufzehren' (the body must fall back on its fatty tissues as a source of power) does not become clear. Thinking aloud, she says,

das  versteh  ich  jetz  nicht  ganz  <<den  Ausgangstext lesend>  ohne  insulin  kann  jedoch  glukose  nicht  mehr aus  dem  blut  in  die  körperzellen  (1.5)  aufgenommen (--)  und  verwertet  werden.  die  blutzuckerspiegel  im (2.5) die zuckerspiegel im blut steigen an (.) und der körper muss als energiequelle> (5.0) ach so hh anstatt dass die energie aus dem blut gewonnen wird, (4.0) muss der körper sein fettgewebe aufzehren. (TAP NL 233-240; cf. also TAP NL 269-314).

She solves the problem by making explicit that the body cannot use the glucose in the increased blood sugar level and therefore has to fall back on its fatty tissue (and protein reserves, which is not mentioned in the original text) instead, which, to my mind, is an excellent solution.

15. For EK the explanation of type 2 diabetes is not clear. She wonders 'was bedeutet ein vermindertes ansprechen' ? (TAP EK 307). In the retrospective interview she wants to ask an expert about this:

unter der frage was versteht man unter dem .h typ zwei diabetes  genau  und  wodurch  wird  er  hervorgerufen  ist jetzt als vage; also das müsst ma noch einen experten fragen und (--) .hh klären; hh was genau der typ zwei diabetes ist. (RIP EK 470-474)

## 16. NL wonders why type 1 and type 2 diabetes are not mentioned in the usual order in the last sentence:

<<sich  selbst  beim  Tippen  diktierend>  dIabetes  (---) typ> (--) warum is des (1.5) zuerst des typ zwei und dann des typ eins (2.0) warum steht da des (.) zuerst? (3.0) na ja wahrscheinlich weil (-) sobald eine frau im (1.5) gebärfähigen alter is, ist es wahrscheinlicher dass sie erst  später  an  diesem  altersdiabetes  erkrankt  (6.0) größer  (4.0)  ah,  trotzdem  fi   nd  ichs  irgendwie  seltsam zuerst zwei und dann eins zu schreiben (4.0) ((tippt)) (4.0) ((tippt)) so. (2.0) ah (-) das risiko später an typ  eins  oder  zwei  diabetes  zu  erkrANken  gehört  da natürlich noch rein (TAP NL 456-465)

The unusual order leads to a foregrounding of this information as can been seen from NL's refl  ections. If there is a reason for the unusual order, this reason should be given explicitly. In fact, there is a reason: The risk of being affected by type 2 diabetes after a pregnancy is higher than being affected by type 1. If no reason is given, the usual order should be used (cf. the solution in the optimized version in Appendix A).

## 4.  Summary and conclusions

Table 3 gives an overview of the problematic elements in the source text, of how many subjects had problems with them, and of a few maxims and strategies used by the subjects to solve these problems.

Table 3:   Defi  ciencies of the original diabetes text with regard to comprehensibility

|   No. | Problem in the diabetes text                                                                                                                  | Subjects who found the item problematic                                   | Maxims and strategies followed in optimizing the text 5                  |
|-------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       | Incomprehensible elements and missing information                                                                                             | Incomprehensible elements and missing information                         | Incomprehensible elements and missing information                        |
|     1 | Is gestational diabetes a third type of diabetes or a variant of type 1 or type 2?                                                            | SF , YG, JS, EK                                                           | coherence increasing maxim insert-coherence-increasing- element strategy |
|     2 | Unknown terms: chronisch Insulin Inselzellen T -Lymphozyten Gestation Glukose Körperzellen                                                    | SF , EK SF , EK YG, NL, JS, EK JS SF , YG, (JS) 6 , EK SF , YG, NL, EK JS | terminology explanation maxim                                            |
|     3 | After gestational diabetes, is there a higher risk of developing type 1 or type 2 diabetes for the mother or the child?                       | YG                                                                        | correctness, clarity and optimality maxim                                |
|     4 | Is type 1 diabetes caused only by a combination of all three factors mentioned or may it also be caused by one or two of these factors alone? | JS                                                                        | correctness, clarity and optimality maxim                                |

|    | What makes the text hard to understand?                                                                            | What makes the text hard to understand?   | What makes the text hard to understand?                                                             |
|----|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  1 | Unexplained terminology (Diabetes mellitus) in the title for which there is a common designation (Zuckerkrankheit) | SF , YG, (EK)                             | terminology explanation maxim add-general-designation strategy                                      |
|  2 | Semantic relation between designations and their synonyms in parentheses unclear                                   | SF , (EK)                                 | explain-semantic-relation maxim                                                                     |
|  3 | Title does not fit (Definition)                                                                                    | YG, (EK)                                  | correctness, clarity and optimality maxim                                                           |
|  4 | Is 'is gekennzeichnet durch' in the definition of diabetes mellitus correct?                                       | YG, NL, (JS)                              | correctness, clarity and optimality maxim                                                           |
|  5 | Unprecise definition of diabetes mellitus                                                                          | YG                                        | correctness, clarity and optimality maxim                                                           |
|  6 | Unusual plural form of Zuckerspiegel                                                                               | SF , YG, NL, EK                           | take-over strategy (believe- authority strategy)                                                    |
|  7 | Information which belongs together given in different places                                                       | YG, NL, SJ, EK                            | information clustering maxim                                                                        |
|  8 | Paragraphs on comparable phenomena do not have a parallel structure                                                | YG, NL                                    | parallelism maxim                                                                                   |
|  9 | Abstract designations ( Betazellen instead of Insulin produzierende Zellen )                                       | YG                                        | replace-by-general- designation strategy (after introducing the less telling synonyms if necessary) |
| 10 | Use of designations which lead to unintentional foregrounding (Untergang)                                          | SF , YG, NL                               | correctness, clarity and optimality maxim                                                           |
| 11 | Semantic motivation of the designation Altersdiabetes (old- age diabetes)                                          | YG                                        | correctness, clarity and optimality maxim                                                           |
| 12 | Misleading designations ( Beendigung )                                                                             | YG, NL                                    | correctness, clarity and optimality maxim                                                           |

|   13 | Tendency to use nominal style: chronische Erhöhung des Blutzuckers infolge einer Zerstörung der insulinpropduzierenden Zellen Neuerkrankungsrate Untergang Auftreten des Diabetes Ansprechen der Körperzellen auf Insulin Risiko für die Entwicklung    | NL, (JS) SF , NL SF , YG, NL SF , YG, NL, (EK) SF , YG, NL, (JS) SF , NL, EK YG, NL, (EK)   | avoid-nominal-style strategy split-up-long-designation strategy          |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   14 | Intersentencial text coherence is not clear between: - 'Fehlsteuerung des Immunsystems' and its explanation in the sentence following it - 'Die Zuckerspiegel im Blut steigen an' and 'und der Körper muss als Energiequelle sein Fettgewebe aufzehren' | SF , NL NL                                                                                  | coherence increasing maxim insert-coherence-increasing- element strategy |
|   15 | What does 'vermindertes Ansprechen' mean (explanation of type-2 diabetes unclear)?                                                                                                                                                                      | EK                                                                                          | correctness, clarity and optimality maxim                                |
|   16 | Why is type-2 diabetes mentioned before type-1 diabetes in the last sentence?                                                                                                                                                                           | NL                                                                                          | correctness, clarity and optimality maxim                                |

The criticism  summarized  in Table  3  can  be  used  to  produce  a  version optimized on an empirical basis. Such a version is juxtaposed to the original version in Appendix A. In this optimized version, all elements criticized have been changed except for three items which were criticized by only one subject and in an unconvincing manner: T-Lymphozyten , Körperzellen , and the semantic motivation of Alterdiabetes . Ideally, this optimized version should again become the object of optimizing reverbalization, which is an iterative method, until no further defi  ciencies can be recognized.

If we compare the insight into text comprehensibility the method of optimizing reverbalization described here gives us with the results obtainable with readability formulas, cloze procedures, questions on texts whose comprehensibility is to be assessed, or text reproductions (cf.

section 1), it becomes obvious that the method described here provides much more differentiated and reliable results. At the same time, however, it is also much more time-consuming.

The  subjects'  criticism  of  the  diabetes  text  and  their  maxims  and strategies, of which only a few could be mentioned here, reveal what the 'ingredients' of comprehensibility are to their mind. A comparison of these 'ingredients' of comprehensibility with the six dimensions of the Karlsruhe comprehensibility model reveals that there were no items of criticism that could not be attributed to one of the dimensions of the Karlsruhe model. This shows that the comprehensibility concept underlying the Karlsruhe model seems to match the intuitive comprehensibility concepts of the subjects in the experiment.

The method described in this article, however, may also be used to refi  ne the Karlsruhe model in the following way: First of all, a larger number of texts has to be analyzed by means of the method described here. Then the items which make the texts incomprehensible or hard to understand have to be classifi  ed. Each category of this classifi  cation must then be subsumed under one of the six dimensions of the Karlsruhe model, which will then represent the factors which determine text comprehensibility in much more detail. Such a refi  ned Karlsruhe model would then be an even better framework of orientation for producing more comprehensible texts and at the same time provide the criteria for comprehensibility assessments which are less time-consuming than the method described here, but provide more detailed results than the methods employed in the past.

## References

- Jakobsen, Arnt Lykke 1999: Logging target text production with Translog. In Hansen, Gyde (ed.): Probing the Process in Translation: Methods and Results . Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur, 9-20.
- Deutsches Diabetes-Zentrum (DDZ) (ed.) 2004: Was ist Diabetes? - Grundlegende Informationen zum Diabetes. In DDZ (ed.): Informationssystem zum Diabetes mellitus . Düsseldorf. http://www.diabetes.uni-duesseldorf.de/wasistdiabetes/ (30.07.2005).
- Ericsson, K. Anders / Simon, Herbert A. 1999: Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data . Rev. Ed. 3rd Printing. Cambridge (Mass.), London (England): MIT Press.
- Faerch,  C.  /  Kasper  G.  1983:  Plans  and  strategies  in  foreign  language  learning.  In Faerch, C. / Kasper, G. (eds) Strategies in Interlanguage Communication . London: Longmans, 20-60.

- Göpferich, Susanne 2001: Von Hamburg nach Karlsruhe. Ein kommunikationsorientierter  Bezugsrahmen  zur  Bewertung  der  Verständlichkeit  von  Texten.  In Fachsprache/International Journal of LSP 23/3-4, 117-138.
- Göpferich, Susanne 2002: Ein kommunikationsorientiertes Modell zur Bewertung der Qualität von Texten. In Strohner, Hans / Brose, Roselore (eds) Kommunikationsoptimierung: verständlicher - instruktiver - überzeugender . Tübingen: Stauffenburg, 45-66.
- Göpferich, Susanne 2005: Transkripte zur Optimierung des populärwissenschaftlichen Textes  'Defi  nition  des  Diabetes  mellitus'  mit  lautem  Denken  und  TRANSLOG . http://www.susanne-goepferich.de (29.08.2005).
- Göpferich, Susanne 2006: Textproduktion im Zeitalter der Globalisierung: Entwicklung einer Didaktik des Wissenstransfers . 2. Aufl  . Tübingen: Stauffenburg.
- Göpferich, Susanne Forthcoming: Popularization from a cognitive perspective - What thinking aloud and log fi  les reveal about optimizing reverbalization processes.
- Groeben,  Norbert  1982: Leserpsychologie:  Textverständnis  -  Textverständlichkeit . Münster: Aschendorff.
- Krings, Hans P. 1986: Was in den Köpfen von Übersetzern vorgeht: Eine empirische Untersuchung zur Struktur des Übersetzungsprozesses an fortgeschrittenen Französischlernern . Tübingen: Narr.
- Langer, Inghard / Schulz von Thun, Friedemann / Tausch, Reinhard 1993: Sich verständlich ausdrücken . 5., verb. Aufl  . München, Basel: Ernst Reinhardt.
- Lee-Jahnke, Hannelore (ed.) 2005: Processes and Pathways in Translation and Interpretation . ( Meta 50/2 (2005)).
- Rubin, Jeffrey 1994: Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests . New York etc.: Wiley.
- Scherbaum, Werner 2004: Defi  nition des Diabetes mellitus. In Deutsches Diabetes-Forschungsinstitut (ed.) Informationssystem zum Diabetes mellitus . Düsseldorf. http:// www.diabetes.uni-duesseldorf.de/tools/priont.html?TextID =1995 (07.08.2005).
- Schindler,  Kirsten  2004: Adressatenorientierung  beim  Schreiben .  Frankfurt/M.  etc.: Lang.
- Selting, Margret, et al. 1998: Gesprächsanalytisches Transkriptionssytem GAT. In: Linguistische Berichte 173, 91-122. Also available as a PDF fi  le: http://www.fbls.unihannover.de/sdls/schlobi/schrift/GAT/gat.pdf (30.08.2005).

Original version

Definition des Diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus (Zuckerkrankheit) ist gekenn-

zeichnet durch eine chronische Erhöhung des Blut-

zuckers, verbunden mit dem Risiko für schwere

Begleit- und Folgeerkrankungen.

Es werden zwei Typen unterschieden. Der Typ 1

Diabetes beruht auf einem Mangel an Insulin in-

folge einer Zerstörung der insulinproduzierenden

Zellen (Beta-Zellen). Diese Zellen gehören zur

Bauchspeicheldrüse und sind ein bestimmter Typ

der sogenannten Inselzellen. Am höchsten ist die

Neuerkrankungsrate bei Kindern zwischen 11 und

13 Jahren. Deshalb wurde der Typ 1 Diabetes frü-

als jugendlicher oder juveniler Diabetes

her auch

bezeichnet.

Als Ursache des Typ 1 Diabetes gilt heute das Zu-

sammenwirken von erblicher Veranlagung und äu-

Beren Faktoren (z.B. bestimmte Virusinfektionen)

stimmte weiße Blutkörperchen (T-Lymphozyten)

und einer Fehlsteuerung des Immunsystems. Be- Optimized version Was ist Diabetes mellitus (Zuckerkrankheit)?

Unter Diabetes mellitus (im Volksmund auch Zucker-

krankheit genannt) versteht man eine Stoffwechselkrank-

heit, die unbehandelt zu einer chronischen (dauerhaften)

Erhöhung des Blutzuckers führt. Hiermit können schwere

Begleit- und Folgeerkrankungen einhergehen.

Man unterscheidet zwei Grundtypen von Diabetes:

Der Typ-1-Diabetes wurde früher auch als jugendlicher

(oder juveniler) Diabetes bezeichnet, weil an diesem

Diabetes-Typ am häufigsten Kinder zwischen 11 und 13

Jahren neu erkranken. Er beruht auf einem Mangel an

dem Blutzucker senkenden Hormon Insulin. Er entsteht,

wenn die Insulin produzierenden Betazellen in der Bauch-

speicheldrüse zerstört werden. Dies kann durch eine

Fehlsteuerung des Immunsystems geschehen, bei der die

Insulin produzierenden Zellen durch bestimmte weiße

Blutkörperchen, die T-Lymphozyten, angegriffen werden,

was zu deren völligen Zerstörung und damit zum absolu-

ten Insulinmangel führen kann. Eine solche Fehlsteue-

rung kann erblich bedingt sein, aber auch von äußeren

Appendix A: The popular science text and its optimized version

dem Blut in die Körperzellen aufgenommen und

verwertet werden. Die Zuckerspiegel im Blut stei- Zuckerspiegel im Blut steigt daher an, während der Kör-

gen an und der Körper muss als Energiequelle sein

Fettgewebe aufzehren.

Der Typ 2 Diabetes beruht auf einem verminderten

Ansprechen der Körperzellen auf Insulin. Er macht

sich meist nach dem 40. Lebensjahr erstmals be-

merkbar und wurde deshalb früher auch als Alters-

diabetes oder Alterszucker bezeichnet. Auslösende

Faktoren sind fettreiche Kost, Übergewicht und Be-

wegungsmangel. In den letzten Jahren hat sich das

Alter beim ersten Auftreten des Diabetes zuneh-

mend nach unten verlagert.

Ein erstmals während der Schwangerschaft auftre-

tender Diabetes wird als Schwangerschafts- oder

Gestationsdiabetes bezeichnet. In der Regel ver-

schwindet diese Form des Diabetes nach Beendi-

gung der Schwangerschaft. Dabei ist jedoch das

Risiko für die spätere Entwicklung eines Typ 2 oder

Typ 1 Diabetes stark erhöht.

Prof. Dr. med. Werner Scherbaum, Deutsches Dia-

betes-Forschungsinstitut Düsseldorf (Scherbaum

2004)

per als Energiequelle u. a. sein Fettgewebe aufzehren

muss.

<!-- image -->

## Appendix B: The assignment

## Aufgabenstellung zur Bearbeitung des Textes 'Defi  nition des Diabetes mellitus'

## Quelle und Funktion des Textes

Der von Ihnen zu bearbeitende Text stammt von der Website www.diabetes-deutschland.de,  die  vom  Deutschen  Diabetes  Forschungsinstitut  (DDFI)  an  der  HeinrichHeine-Universität Düsseldorf herausgegeben wird.

Der Adressatenkreis der Beiträge, zu denen auch der von Ihnen zu bear  bei  tende Text gehört, wird vom Herausgeber wie folgt defi  niert:

'Diese Beiträge geben Ihnen grundlegende Informationen zum Diabetes melli  tus, ohne dass Sie eigenes Vorwissen benötigen.'

## Bearbeitungsaufgabe

Bearbeiten Sie den Text so, dass er Ihrer Ansicht nach den Anforderungen des o. g. Adressatenkreises optimal entspricht. Stellen, die Sie für optimal halten, kön  nen Sie übernehmen. Alles, was Ihnen optimierungsbedürftig er  scheint, op  ti  mieren Sie bitte. Achten Sie dabei auch auf Rechtschreibung und die Ab  satz  bildung. Verzichten Sie aber programmbedingt auf Hervorhebungen durch andere Schriftgrößen, -farben, Fettdruck, Kursivierungen und Unter  streichungen.

Zum Text steht Ihnen ein kleines Wörterbuch zur Verfügung. Zum Aufrufen der Einträge in diesem Wörterbuch gehen Sie wie folgt vor:

1. Wörterbuchsymbol anklicken.
2. Auf das zu klärende Wort klicken.

Das  Programm  TRANSLOG,  mit  dem  Sie  arbeiten,  weist  nur  einen  beschränkten Umfang  an Editiermöglichkei  ten auf. Folgende  Funktionen stehen Ihnen zur Verfügung:

- Pfeiltasten
- Delete-Taste
- Backspace-Taste
- Return-Taste
- Cut, Copy und Paste über die Menüleiste
- Tabulator-Taste
- Home (Pos 1), End (Ende) (an den Anfang bzw. das Ende der Zeile springen)
- Control Home (Strg Pos 1), Control End (Strg Ende) (an den Anfang bzw. das Ende des Textes springen)
- Page Up (Bild ↑ ), Page Down (Bild ↓ )
- Maus

Bitte denken Sie bei der Bearbeitung des Textes laut.

Dictionary

Text

Insulin

Lymphozyten

T-Lymphozyten

Glukose

mellitus Meaning blutzuckersenkendes Hormon des Inselapparates der Bauchspeicheldrüse

(weiße Blutkörperchen, die aus lymphatischen Organen herstammen

Lymphozyten mit der Eigenschaft der unspezifischen Abwehr

wichtigster einfacher Zucker des Organismus: Traubenzucker

von lat. 'mel' - Honig, Süßigkeit; mit Honig versüßt, allerliebst

DeleteR

New Update

## Appendix C: The TRANSLOG dictionary

<!-- image -->

94