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1. 1 Jargon and DevelopmentSpeak
2. 2 What is jargon? Special language used in business, science, government, and development work
Tries to make the message and its sender seem important
Uses long, impressive-sounding words
Uses several words instead of one
Makes the message harder to understand
3. 3
4. 4 Jargon On average, among adults, total food intake is higher for males than for females
Men generally eat more than women
The shift in farm production technology that takes the form of substituting machines for labour connotes the presence of prior changes in the traditional production mode
Before farmers start using machinery, they usually make other changes in how they grow crops
5. 5 Jargon We used a production function to capture the stochastic character of dryland climate affecting yields. Wheat yields and pasture yields were predicted on somewhat similar nitrogen-based quadratic models, using daily weather data for the simulation of moisture stress. Both models were developed for dryland conditions, while calibration and validation were done with data collected in Israel. No-till wheat and pasture yield values were then fitted to a gamma probability distribution function, while input and output prices were fitted to a normal distribution.
6. 6 DevelopmentSpeak A special type of jargon used by development organizations
7. 7 DevelopmentSpeak
8. 8 DevelopmentSpeak
9. 9 DevelopmentSpeak
10. 10 DevelopmentSpeak Does your audience understand it?
Probably not
Policy makers (eg, parliament members) may be non-specialists
Policy makers have to deal with many subjects, not just yours
Avoid DevelopmentSpeak if you can!
Find another way of saying it more simply
11. 11 Translate these into English Gender mainstreaming
Making sure that men and women are treated equally in all aspects of the project
Agroecosystems analysis
Studying the soil, crops and pests
Enabling measures
Ways to make things happen
Pro-poor economic growth
Economic growth that benefits the poor
Income generating activities
Ways to make money
12. 12 DevelopmentSpeak The Horn of Africa Region is characterized by arid lowlands and humid highlands.
In Ethiopia, the lowlands are dry, while the highlands have more rain.
13. 13 DevelopmentSpeak Systematic validation has shown that in some countries, strong cultural barriers exist towards handling and reusing of human waste.
People in many countries do not like handling or using faeces.
14. 14 DevelopmentSpeak To adapt to climate change, agro-pastoralists implement various activities.
Farmers and herders adapt to a changing climate in various ways.
15. 15 DevelopmentSpeak Going forward, the development and implementation of a robust framework for targeting the delivery of consistent excellence organization-wide is key.
We will do our best.
16. 16 Abbreviations Make the reader work to understand what you are saying
Hide what you really want to say
17. 17 What do they mean?
18. 18 Three rules for abbreviations Kill!
KILL!
KILL!
If you absolutely HAVE to use them
Use them VERY sparingly
Explain them first
19. 19 Play DevelopmentSpeak bingo Make a list of 12 development jargon words and abbreviations
Photocopy the list and distribute it to your friends before a meeting
Listen to the presentations and discussion
When you hear a word on the list, cross it out
First person to cross out all the words shouts Bingo!
20. 20 More on jargon The Communications Network. Jargon finder. http://tinyurl.com/bv3kml
Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. Foundation jargon. http://tinyurl.com/ylyz6e6
BBC World Service. Guide to development speak http://tinyurl.com/yhjczjd
250 words the public sector shouldn't usehttp://tinyurl.com/yj8uvuc
50 office-speak phrases you love to hatehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7457287.stm
The business award for talking 'guff' goes to...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12596528
Trina Wallace. Here's to a jargon-free voluntary sector in 2011http://tinyurl.com/66c7upq
10 things every charity writer should know http://tinyurl.com/3cfsn22