2. The goal of this module
Is to help you understand and master the
differences between different levels of formal or
informal diction that are appropriate and
inappropriate for different circumstances.
3. Who is your audience?
What is your purpose?
• Most people don’t speak to their classmates
the way they speak to their grandparents;
• they don’t speak to our grandparents the way
they write for their teachers;
• and they may not write for their teachers the
way they would write a letter applying for a
scholarship.
4. Who is your audience?
What is your purpose?
These differences are part of what is meant by
levels of formality.
5. Think and Respond.
• How might you ask the question, “How are
you today?” in the following situations:
– Speaking to a possible employer?
– Writing on a friend’s Facebook page?
– When a classmate calls you on a cellphone seven
minutes before class?
– Talking to a relative you haven’t seen since your
HS Graduation?
6. Levels of Formality
•For the most part, levels of formality can be
understood through different levels:
– informal,
– semi-formal, and
– formal.
•Language that would be completely acceptable in
one context can be inappropriate in another.
7. Is it appropriate?
• Language that would be completely
acceptable in one context can be
inappropriate in another.
• It is important, therefore, to understand the
goals of your writing, and use language
consistent with your goals
8. Colloquial Language
Colloquial language is the language of everyday
speech. It changes rapidly, and most people
master several forms of colloquial language for
different situations.
Text messaging, personal emails, and the
language of social networking sites all use various
written forms of colloquial writing.
And as you already know...
9. ...colloquial language...
• ...is SELDOM appropriate for
– Academic
– Business, or
– Legal writing.
• If you are quoting someone directly, it can be
appropriate, but be thoughtful not to disrupt
your overall tone.
10. Tweeting and Texting...
• ...have created new and vital forms of written
colloquial language. Consider this tweet
#YouGetMajorPointsIf U dont tweet how gr8 u are..stay
humble, never 4get ur roots, the people who helped
u, stay loyal and never lie!
• Ten years ago, this would have been gibberish!
11. Think and Respond
• Using texting/tweeting shorthand, compose
tweets explaining why college students
should:
#RegisterToVote.
#Recycle.
12. Informal Language
• Informal language tries to capture some of the
flow of everyday speech.
• It broadly adheres to the rules of standard
written English, but imprecise word choice
and contractions are acceptable, so long as
the meaning is clear
• It generally uses complete sentences, but
some use of sentence fragments is common.
For emphasis.
13. Informal Language (continued)
• Informal writing is meant for a broad
audience; the purpose is usually to express a
personal idea; most online blogging and
personal essays use informal writing.
• Contractions are acceptable.
• Some use of the first and second person (“I,”
“you”) is acceptable.
14. Semi-Formal Language
• Semi-formal language is the writing of
magazines like The Smithsonian or websites
like The Daily Beast that are aimed at a
general but thoughtful audience.
• Complete sentences are used.
• Contractions are written out (“can not” “did
not,” etc.”
• Limited use of first and second person for
specific rhetorical effect is common.
15. Formal Language
• Formal language is used in business,
academic, and government writing.
• It is written for an audience who already
knows something about the topic.
• It makes careful use of a specialized
vocabulary. (This can make formal writing
challenging to write and to read.)
• Contractions are written out.
• First person writing is avoided.
17. For the following scenarios, indicate
which level of diction –colloquial,
informal, semi-formal, or formal–you
would be likely to use.
Click on your selection to get feedback.
18. You text a friend to say you’ll be
hanging out at the mall this
afternoon.
Colloquial
[right]
Informal
[probably not; text messages tend to be very colloquial]
Semi-formal
*probably not; “hanging out” is too informal+
Formal
*“hanging out” is not formal language+
19. You apply for a job at a large bank
where your uncle is a director of
personnel.
Colloquial
[absolutely not!]
Informal
[To apply for a job at a bank? Poor idea!]
Semi-formal
[Do not be fooled by the fact that it is your uncle who might be hiring
you, or that you’ll have to write about yourself in the first person; this
would be too informal]
Formal
[Correct. You want to be formal and precise in your application.]
20. You write a personal essay about your decision
to start smoking when you were thirteen and
to stop when you were sixteen.
Colloquial
[While an essay like this might have colloquial elements, it would be
best to confine them to quotations.]
Informal
[Informal would work; however, for a classroom assignment, too
much informality might not be a good idea.]
Semi-formal
[Semi-formal might work, but in a personal essay, even a semi-formal
tone can sound wooden.]
Formal
[In a personal essay, a formal tone usually sounds wooden or
detached..]
21. For the following 6 slides, Identify the
levels of formality as informal, semi-
formal, or formal
Click on your selection to get feedback.
22. She was sort of mad because she
couldn't find her car keys and
didn't have a whole lot of time to
get to her class.
Informal
[Correct]
Semi-formal
[Incorrect; notice the contractions, and the vague terms--”sort of,
“whole lot”.+
Formal
[Incorrect.]
23. She was upset because she could
not find her car keys and did not
have the time to look before class.
Informal
[Incorrect]
Semi-formal
[Correct;.]
Formal
[Incorrect.]
24. Unable to locate her car keys and lacking
sufficient time to both search for them and
to travel to class, she became agitated.
Informal
[Try again]
Semi-formal
[Try again.]
Formal
[Incorrect; while not all formal writing is like this, the attempt to be
precise about details an informal sentence would leave to the reader
is characteristic of formal wrting.]
25. Private sexual morality between
consenting adults is not an issue for legal
intervention, except for rare instances that
entail issues of public health, such as an
epidemic that needs to be contained.
Informal
[Incorrect, but you knew that didn't you?]
Semi-formal
*Incorrect; there is nothing “semi” about this formaliy.+
Formal
[ Correct.]
26. Analyzing the causes and effects of
the civil war depends in large part
on the point of view of who is
talking.
Informal
[Try again]
Semi-formal
[Correct.]
Formal
[Incorrect.]
27. If you buy that garbage about how
teens don't know the difference
between a text message and a history
paper, you should read more.
Informal
[Correct]
Semi-formal
*Incorrect; notice the contractions, and the use of “you”.+
Formal
[Incorrect.]
28. The following sentence was intended to
be written in a formal level of discourse.
If the underlined passage seems
consistent with this, hit C. If
not, indicate the passage which would
best complete this sentence.
Click on your selection to get feedback.
29. The continued increase in the
atmospheric concentration of carbon
dioxide due to manmade carbon dioxide
emissions is predicted to lead to
significant changes in climate, and there's
nothing to do about it but stop polluting.
A. which can be alleviated through a long term effort of emission
reduction.
[Correct]
B. and the best approach to solving this problem would be to burn
less stuff.
[Too informal!]
C. No change.
[Try again]
30. The following sentence was intended to
be written in a semi-formal level of
discourse. If the underlined passage
seems consistent with this, hit C. If
not, indicate the passage which would
best complete this sentence.
Click on your selection to get feedback.
31. The guest lecturer offered the class a
lengthy explanation for the recent
changes in the stock market, but it was
sort of clear from the questions
afterwards that most of us just didn't get
it.
A. but it was evident from the interlocution which followed that
comprehension had not been transmitted.
[Incorrect]
B. but it was clear from the questions afterwards that most of the
class did not understand.
[Correct!]
C. No change.
[Try again]
32. The following sentence was intended to
be written in a formal level of discourse.
If the underlined passage seems
consistent with this, hit C. If not,
indicate the passage which would best
complete this sentence.
Click on your selection to get feedback.
33. To eliminate sexual harassment in the
work place, companies should develop
defined guidelines that help employees
recognize actions to avoid.
A. help you try to figure out what to do and not do .
[Incorrect]
B. tell people like me what it is okay to do.
[Incorrect]
C. No change.
[Correct!]
34. Look Back at Your Tweets…
…about registering to vote and recycling.
Imagine that you are writing essays for the
student newspaper supporting those ideas.
What level of formality would such essays
use?
Go ahead and rewrite each of those tweets in
the level of formality you think is appropriate.
35. Open Discussion
College instructors often exchange tales of
receiving emails from students like this:
• Dr. C.: This is malik. About my grade. I can't be getting no
c's, d's, or f's. Hope this is cool. M.
What level of formality is this hypothetical
student using? Is it appropriate? Why or why
not?
36. In Closing…
As you can see, level of formality is not so much
a question of right or wrong, but appropriate
and inappropriate. Even within the four major
categories (colloquial, informal, semi-formal,
formal), there is much room differentiation.
In most college writing situations, you will be
working in the semi-formal to formal range,
depending upon the assignment, the task, and
the instructor.
