Communicating official statistics to an international audience
The use of English as a lingua franca
Keywords:
Statistics terminology, English translation, Public administrations, International InstitutionsAbstract
Terminology in descriptive statistics is both universal and specific at the same time. This project meets two requirements, first that of the Statistics Code of Practice, which requires statisticians to improve presentation of statistics for an international public as an element of quality and accessibility; second that of the ESS Vision 2020 which refers to a: «communication strategy that satisfies divergent and ever–changing user needs at both national and European level». This study is aimed at reporting the initiative started at the ISTAT in Italy. After some projects now fully operational, with double–language
flagship products (such as, Noi Italia), ISTAT started the issue of press releases in English, though in a version shorter than the original one in Italian. This study examines the language used by means of examples extracted from Eurostat and from original materials in English published by ISTAT as well as by national and supranational bodies.
