Ler+ Fácil

Ler+ Fácil (Read+ Easy) intends to tackle low (absence or abandonment of) reading and writing practices and habits and skills in adults, by providing an integrated digital platform with automatic tools for European Portuguese to

• analyze and classify literary texts according to their level of complexity to provide reading suggestions of actual and non-digested texts, adequate to users requiring +Easy (A1 - A2) and +Clear (medium B1) levels.
• simplify informative and scientific texts (institutional and scientific communication), focusing on 2 levels: +Easy and +Clear.

Ler+ Fácil goes beyond existing Plain, Clear Language and Easy Read initiatives (focusing on writing guidelines), as it concerns existent contents and considers creative and artistic aspects of texts, with the potential to impact the way low literacy adults, in Portugal and internationally, acquire and sustain transversal and durable skills needed to stay apace with the changing job market and to lead meaningful and complete lives.

In Portugal, 1/3 of adults cannot read or write, misunderstand what they read, or express themselves with difficulty, being unable to solve academic, professional or everyday life problems.

Adults who need to access or guarantee employment are rare readers and have low schooling levels: only 50% of adults aged 25-64 completed basic education, and only 33% of those aged 25-34 completed secondary education (OECD; 2011 Census) (and countless more in Portuguese speaking countries and communities).

This problem is reflected in the low rates of autonomous reading by adults. And this is equally observed in the adult education centers of the National Agency for Qualification and Professional Education (ANQEP), attended in 2017 by more than 70,000 students, with whom PNL2027 developed the Ler+ Qualifica (Read+ qualifies) project. This project, developed to date in 78 Centers, allows us to accurately know the capacities and needs concerning informational literacy and (digital and literary) reading and writing of the adults involved.

The absence or abandonment of reading and writing practices and habits by adults has always proved very difficult to counteract due to the lack of books and resources appropriate to the age and competence levels of these adults. 

Ler+ Fácil proposes a digital solution for Portuguese that promotes reading and facilitates the understanding of written texts aimed at adults with low literacy skills, by:

i) analyzing and classifying literary texts according to their level of complexity to provide reading suggestions of actual and non-digested literary texts, focusing on +Easy (A1 and A2) and +Clear (B1) levels;

ii) converting more formal and complex Portuguese to +Clear or +Easy levels.

The goal is providing an open-access web-based service that users can use to access a list of +Easy/+Clear books or to help them convert texts to a more understandable language format.

The solution concerns the development, testing and implementation of the platform in close relation to the target-audience interests and needs.  It relies on existent technology, namely 

i) automatic readability classifiers (Curto et al. 2014, Curto et al. 2015, https://string.hlt.inesc-id.pt/demo/classification.pl) (developed for aiding in foreign language/L2 teaching); 

ii) simplifiers and paraphrasers (e.g. Barreiro et al. 2019; Scarton et al. 2010 http://wwatana.be/educational-facilita/index.html) (developed to convert informal to formal register and for Brazilian Portuguese, respectively), 

but it requires their development and adaptation to account for native speakers’ difficulties, on the one hand, and literary genre specificities, on the other.

In addition to professional training and development of transversal skills, adults must have access to socio-cultural and scientific training, fundamental instruments for achieving full citizenship and for understanding the different technical, technological and practical training paths.

Adults with higher levels of literacy and problem-solving skills are more likely to be employed, earn higher wages, be healthier, be more receptive and participate in civic and community life.

Ler+ Fácil solution contributes to i) develop skills and the interest in learning and in humanistic, scientific and technological knowledge of adult population; ii) bringing adult readers closer to literature; and iii) improve communication and educational practices for all.

By technologically facilitating access to knowledge and literature to a public with low schooling and labor qualifications, our solution expands autonomous action (at the individual, familiar and community levels), improving skills essential to obtaining and sustaining employment and contributing to the social inclusion of a vulnerable population, including young adults at risk or who neither study nor work and senior population, while encompassing digital skills also. The development of Ler+ Fácil profits from past and current experience of PNL2027, in direct contact with the target population and engaging them directly in testing the solution.

Ler+ Fácil solution addresses this Challenge and Gulbenkian Award directly by equipping vulnerable individuals with skills essential to cope with technological, job market and economic downturns. It targets low literacy adults and other vulnerable populations, providing them with access to clear information and boosting reading interest and skills through the use of digital tools and resources, promoting personal and economic growth as well as digital and technological literacy.

Adults with higher levels of literacy and able to work in a digital environment are more likely to be employed, earn higher wages, be healthier and participate in community life.

Ler+ Fácil creates a new dimension of performance for readability and complexity analysis and systems by developing them to account for low literacy native speakers’ difficulties, on the one hand, and by focusing on literary texts, on the other.

Readability analyzers and plain/clear language writing guides rely on the definition of complexity. In the first case, analyzers require measures that concern lexical, syntactical (at phrase and sentence level) and textual properties, which in turn are mapped onto proficiency/adequacy/legibility levels. The performance of these systems relies crucially on a language-dependent analysis, and on the testing of the relevant features and measures related to the targeted levels (Graesser et al.,2004; Scarton & Aluísio, 2010). For this reason, straightforwardly adapting systems developed for other languages/levels has poor results.

In the second case, existent plain/clear language writing guides rely on norms established by language professionals to train text producers to avoid complex structures, thus targeting text producers’ needs and not necessarily recipients’ needs, and usually not using complexity analyzers directly (https://plainlanguagenetwork.org/; http://www.iplfederation.org; http://clarity-international.net/). Ler+ Fácil solution goes beyond existent systems by developing and testing a language-designed complexity analysis system focusing on low literacy native speakers, profiting from direct input from trainers and learners at adult training centers, to inform both tools for readability classification and for language simplification. This will provide tools that serve end-users (low literacy adults), teachers and many public and private organizations, while contributing significantly to basic knowledge on complexity measures, competence level mapping and literary text analysis.

Poor reading habits in Portuguese adults have been a consistently frustrating trend, mainly due to the absence of adequate books and resources that promote interest and motivation in reading, especially in vulnerable, low-SES populations. Texts of all genres (informative, literary, poetic) are often inappropriately too long or too complex to encourage reading practices in adults attending continuing education. In 2013, the National Council of Education recommended that adults should access sociocultural and scientific education (CNE, 2013), in an attempt to raise awareness to the low literacy levels of the Portuguese adult population and reinforce public investment in adult education and literacy.

In the short term, our solution will significantly contribute to improving communicative practices and literacy in national and local grounds, in governmental and non-governmental organizations for continuing education such as ANQEP, where 70.000 low/medium-literate adults seek school training. In the longer-term, a full open access policy will help disseminate our tool and boost access to simple but reliable, faithful information in schools, health, cultural and economic facilities (hospitals, libraries, banks, tax offices, etc.) in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries. The proposed solution also targets book editors and publishers, e-books sellers, cultural organizations, civil services and other relevant stakeholders. 

By improving the readability of a text, our solution will help medium/low-literate adults develop learning and reading competences, promoting awareness and a humanistic, scientific and technological knowledge that will help them thrive in today's information society. Ultimately, our solution will bring adult populations closer to reading practices, literacy and quality information.

Our solution targets:

• In one year:
  • ca. 70.000 students in 76 Qualifica Centers for adult education and training (Pordata)
• In five years:
  • more than 60 million citizens from countries where Portuguese is an official language, where European Portuguese is the standard variety (Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Sao Tome e Principe) and countries that host Portuguese communities and where Portuguese is, therefore, taught as a second/foreign/heritage language (USA, South Africa, Venezuela). 
  • 7.600 work migrants arriving in Portugal (i.e., medium/long-term economic migrants in the job market  (OECD, 2019)
  • nearly 2.000 recently arrived migrants in Portuguese language programes (e.g., Português Para Falantes de Outras Línguas - PFOL), offered by the High Commission for Migration, schools, universities, NGO, local non-profit organizations and organizations providing social support and continuing education (City halls, NGO, religious organizations such as Caritas and the Red Cross).

Our solution team results from a partnership between 

- Centro de Linguística da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (CLUNL), a research unit part of a nonprofit public university (NOVA FCSH);

- Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Lisboa (INESC-ID), a nonprofit private research organization owned by private and public capital; 

- Plano Nacional de Leitura (PNL2027), a nonprofit governmental agency focused on promoting reading at national level, dependent from the ministries of Education, Science and High Education and Culture. The resulting consortium brings together different expertise, essential to the development of Ler+ Fácil.

The current proposal was jointly designed by researchers and technicians from the 3 partners institutions. 

For the development of the solution we foresee the involvement of 2 senior researchers from INESC-ID (15% dedication time each); 2 senior researchers from CLUNL (15% dedication time each); 2 technicians for PNL2027 (15% dedication time). 

These team members will provide the necessary guidance and supervision of the staff to be hired, namely 2 full-time researchers, and of the teachers and adult trainers procured by services’ acquisition to test the solution and collect input from the target-users.

Ler+ Fácil team gathers the necessary knowledge and experience on the fields required to successfully accomplish the proposed solution, contributing with distinct and valuable experiences and accumulated expertise on linguistics, natural language processing and literacy and adult training. The team integrates two research units, CLUNL and INESC-ID, assuring the necessary scientific and technological know-how and development capabilities, and one in-the-field organization, working cooperatively with adult training centers at the national level, and providing direct access to the target users, as well as to the actual experience and knowledge of trainers and trainees.

CLUNL team gathers expertise on all key aspects of the project such as computational linguistics, proficiency testing and assessment, linguistic skills acquisition, language analysis and teaching, and textual genres analysis. INESC-ID has extensive experience and expertise in theoretical, quantitative, and computational approaches to the analysis of language, including a strong focus on machine learning applications and on the connection between linguistic modelling and readability analysis.

PNL2027 is a Portuguese governmental organization for supporting and fostering programs specifically aimed at promoting social integration through reading, the inclusion of people with specific needs, the articulated development of a scientific, literary and artistic culture, and the access to knowledge and culture using information and communication technologies. PNL2027 team works directly with teachers and trainers in adult training centers at national level, providing an accurate and actual knowledge of the target population needs and making their engagement in the development of Ler+ Fácil solution possible.

Our team partners with several institutions and organizations, of extreme relevance for the future dissemination, impact and sustainability of Ler+ Fácil solution. From these, we highlight the 

• National Agency for Qualification and Professional Education, partner of PNL2027 in the Ler+ Qualifica project and responsible for 296 adult education centers at national level;
• Instituto Camões, the national agency responsible for promoting Portuguese language and culture throughout the world, partner of CLUNL and NOVA FCSH under the scope of research and Portuguese language teaching initiatives an;
• Portuguese National Library, partner of CLUNL in the compilation of the Portuguese Literature Corpus; 
• Public Libraries National Network, School Libraries Network, Portuguese Municipalities National Association, private and public schools, among many others, natural partners of PNL2027 in several literacy initiatives;
• High Commissariat for Migrations, Portugal, partner of CLUNL and of PNL2027 in several initiatives;
• Portuguese Refugee Council, partner of CLUNL in projects and Portuguese as Foreign Language courses.

All of these, besides active partners in past and current initiatives and projects, constitute natural stakeholders with interest in using and disseminating Ler+ Fácil solution, being key actors that assure the solution sustainability.

All pre-existing knowledge and IP are property of the respective partner. IPR derived from the project development will be object of specific agreement between the partners. 

Ler+ Fácil solution can be categorized as free-for-service, is completely integrated in PNL2027 mission and objectives, and integrates both CLUNL and INESC-ID activities and programs, given the research & development nature of the solution.

The main funding requirement concerns the development stage, for which the partnership is currently seeking institutional funding, such as MIT.Solve and associated prizes. 

After the initial funding, Ler+ Fácil maintenance needs (server maintenace) will be supported by PNL2027 and associated government associations (e.g. Education and Culture Ministries, or FCCN – National Foundation for Scientific Computation). The enrichment of the contents of the platform does not require direct funding, rather a solid dissemination strategy to reach the key stakeholders identified (libraries, training centers, publishers), and the costs and channels for this dissemination are also assured by PNL2027 objectives.

Further developments of the tools are expected to be able to raise funding, either through more donations and grants, either through the investment of private and public stakeholders, such as publishers, libraries, municipalities.