20.500.12556/RUL-180088 Understand this if you can plain administrative language and reading comprehension in Slovene and English among international students at the University of Ljubljana Razumi, če moreš Research in other countries has shown that L1 speakers understand legal and administrative texts much better when they are written in accordance with the principles of plain language, but there have so far been no such studies in Slovenia and there is a general scarcity of studies involving L2 speakers. This paper investigates the comprehensibility of administrative texts related to university enrolment among international students at the University of Ljubljana, focusing on Slovene and English versions in both original and plain language formats. Drawing on a mixed-methods cross-sectional design, the research combines a reading comprehension test and a survey administered to 112 students, primarily South Slavic L1 speakers, enrolled in Year Plus Slovene courses. The results show that plain language texts significantly improve comprehension, with the Slovene plain version yielding 68.8% correct answers and the English plain version 67.2%, compared to 55.8% and 34% for the original versions, respectively. Slovene texts were generally better understood than English ones, suggesting that language choice and linguistic proximity play a role. However, the style of language – plain vs. original – proved more influential than the language itself. The study highlights challenges faced by international applicants in the process of university enrolment and suggests that plain language versions of key documents could enhance their experience. These findings contribute to discussions on functional literacy and linguistic accessibility in higher education, with implications for institutional communication practices and internationalization strategies. Avtorici v prispevku proučujeva razumevanje administrativnih besedil med mednarodnimi študenti UL, pri čemer primerjava razumevanje besedila o vpisu na UL v izvirni slovenski in angleški različici z različicama, prilagojenima v skladu s smernicami za razumljivi jezik. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 105 študentov, ki so domači govorci bližnjih južnoslovanskih jezikov. Opravili so preizkus bralnega razumevanja štirih različic istega besedila in izpolnili anketo. Rezultati kažejo, da različice v razumljivem jeziku bistveno izboljšajo razumevanje: slovenska razumljiva različica je prinesla 68,8 % pravilnih odgovorov in angleška 67,2 %, medtem ko sta izvirni različici dosegli 55,8 % oziroma 34 %. Slovenska besedila so bila bolje razumljena kot angleška, vendar je razlika med izvirnimi in razumljivimi različicami večja od razlike med jezikoma. Ugotovitve potrjujejo pomen razumljivega jezika tudi za pravičnejši dostop mednarodnih študentov do nujnih informacij, nadaljnje faze raziskave pa bodo razširjene na druge tipe besedil in kvalitativne podatke. Slovene Slovene as a second and foreign language English English as a second anf foreign language plain language clear writing administrative texts functional literacy slovenščina slovenščina kot drugi in tuji jezik angleščina angleščina kot drugi in tuji jezik razumljiv jezik upravna besedila funkcionalna pismenost true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-03-02 13:40:31 2026-03-02 13:40:32 2026-03-03 03:48:54 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 Str. 127-149 št. 2 Letn. 13 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2025-12-30 811.163.6'243 2335-2736 10.4312/slo2.0.2025.2.127-149 268452099 https://journals.uni-lj.si/slovenscina2/article/view/23728 1 a71acb53-1634-11f1-a1ba-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=229134 Filozofska fakulteta Slovenščina 2.0 0 0 0