One of the populations that often needs some form of help to read everyday documents is non-native speakers. This paper discusses aid at the word and word string levels and focuses on the possibility of using translation and simplification. Seen from the perspective of the non-native as an ever-learning reader, we show how translation may be of more harm than help in understanding and retaining the meaning of a word while simplification holds promise. We conclude that if reading everyday documents can be considered as a learning activity as well as a practical necessity, then our study reinforces the arguments that defend the use of simplification to make documents that non-natives need to read more accessible.
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