Simplified English

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Simplified Technical English (STE) or Simplified English is a controlled language in which natural English is limited to a standardized subset for a specific purpose. It was developed in the 1980s for maintenance documentation in the aerospace industry and is now a standard of the Aerospace and Defense Industries Association of Europe (ASD). It is not to be confused with Basic English , which was created for general usage.

The purpose of Simplified English is to:

  • Reduce ambiguity,
  • increase intelligibility for non-native speakers,
  • Make translations cheaper and easier,
  • enable automated translations.

Structure and rules

Simplified English has a fixed vocabulary in which each term has exactly one meaning ( controlled vocabulary ). For example, “close” may be used in “Close the door”, but not in “Do not go close to the landing gear”. Furthermore, only certain grammatical forms and a defined syntax are permitted.

Extract from the STE rules

  1. Consistent terminology
  2. Lists / enumerations instead of long sentences
  3. Just one thought per sentence
  4. Verbs instead of nouns
  5. Short words / sentences paragraphs
  6. Active instead of passive
  7. Simple times

Machine support

Boeing has developed a Simplified English Checker that provides linguistic support in the area of ​​development. The linguistically based checking tool uses a sophisticated 350-rule grammar and a parser, which is supplemented by special functions, in order to detect violations of Simplified English.

HyperSTE is a plug-in tool offered by Etteplan for checking content with regard to compliance with rules and grammar of the specification.

Congree is a linguistically based checking tool for Simplified Technical English. The software supports all the rules of Simplified Technical English Issue 7 that are relevant for text creation. In addition, the complete dictionary of the standard is integrated into the Simplified Technical English Checker from Congree.

A free copy of the official ASD-STE100 specification can be downloaded from the ASD-STE100 website. Over 3,600 copies of issue 6 of the specification have been distributed. Edition 7 of the ASD-STE100 specification was published in January 2017. This standard is published every 3 years. The following is an excerpt from a page of the ASD-STE100 dictionary:

Keyword (part of speech) Approved meaning / ALTERNATIVES APPROVED EXAMPLE Not approved
Acceptance (noun) ACCEPT (v) BEFORE YOU ACCEPT THE UNIT, YOU MUST DO THE SPECIFIED TEST PROCEDURE. Before acceptance of the unit, carry out the specified test procedure.
ACCESS (n) The ability to go into or near. GET ACCESS TO THE ACCUMULATOR FOR THE NO. 1 HYDRAULIC SYSTEM.
Accessible (adj) ACCESS (n) TURN THE COVER UNTIL YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THE JACK THAT HAVE “+” AND “-” MARKS. Rotate the cover until the jack marked by + and - are accessible.
ACCIDENT (n) An occurrence that causes injury or damage. MAKE SURE THAT THE PINS ARE INSTALLED TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS.

An explanation of the four columns:

  • Keyword (part of speech): The keyword contains information about the part of speech. Each permitted word in STE is only permitted in a certain part of speech. For example, "test" is only allowed as a noun (the test), not as a verb (to test).
  • Approved meaning / ALTERNATIVES: This column contains the definition of the permitted word. ACCESS and ACCIDENT are allowed in the example table. Reformulations or alternatives that are not permitted are listed in small letters (acceptance and accessible).
  • APPROVED EXAMPLE: If the text is written in capital letters, it means that the entire text is STE-compliant. If the keyword shown in column 1 is not allowed, example sentences in column 3 are provided with the alternatives listed in column 2.
  • Not approved: Small letters in this column indicate sentences that are not STE-compliant. Column 4 remains empty if the words are STE-compliant.

History and application

Simplified English was established in the 1980s by the European Association of Aerospace Manufacturers ( AECMA ) as the documentation standard for the aerospace industry (AECMA Simplified English). AECMA adopted the standard from Fokker , who in turn had built it on previous controlled languages, particularly Caterpillar Fundamental English. In 2005, the AECMA was incorporated into the Aerospace and Defense Industries Association of Europe (ASD), whereby the standard was renamed ASD Simplified Technical English (STE) . It is regulated in the ASD Specification STE100 .

Simplified English is used, among other things, for maintenance instructions and modifications to aircraft ( Service Bulletins (SB) and Component Maintenance Manuals (CMM)) for their assemblies. Simplified English is also used in other industrial areas such as electrical engineering and mechanical engineering for the creation of technical documentation .

Web links

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  1. ↑ James E. Hoard: An Automated Grammar and Style Checker for Writers of Simplified English. Computers and Writing 1992, pp. 278-296.
  2. ^ Tom Johnson: Simplified Technical English and HyperSTE . Accessed January 2017.
  3. ↑ Congree Simplified Technical English checker . Congree Language Technologies GmbH. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  4. ↑ ASD Simplified Technical English Specification ASD-STE100 . STEMG. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  5. ↑ Simplified Technical English - Controlled Language. Retrieved December 19, 2017 .