Il problema della testualità nella lingua easy-to-read. Ricognizioni e sistemazioni, anche in vista di valutazioni sperimentali

This paper deals with textuality in easy language, a written variety primarily intended for people with intellectual disabilities and other reading difficulties due to physical, psychological, social, or cultural conditions. Starting from the linguistic guidelines proposed by Sciumbata (2022) and following up on a recent reflection (Ferrari 2022), the paper explores the linguistic characteristics of easy language and its implications for textuality, often sacrificed for the sake of readability and comprehensibility. However, is this really a necessary sacrifice? With this question in mind, easy language guidelines for languages other than Italian are scrutinized to draw out their stance toward textual phenomena and studies on reading comprehension are reviewed to find hints on the link between textuality and reading comprehension for poor readers. Finally, based on the results, relevant textual structures and phenomena are listed for future experiments regarding textuality in easy texts.