Formal, academic, standard, and informal English have overlapping but distinct meanings. Formal English uses standard phrases commonly found in professional correspondence to establish good relationships, while academic English uses specialized language in particular fields. Standard English uses correct grammar and vocabulary that is easily understood. Informal English is only appropriate with friends and in text messaging. In this course, formal English will refer to language used in professional contexts or for management that establishes good relationships, has no contractions or slang, and is concise and precise.

1. Formal English
CRWE
Robert Wilks

2. What is “formal” English?
What is the difference between
•formal
•academic
•standard
•informal?

3. Formal, academic and standard
English overlap a lot.

4. Academic – Formal – Standard – Informal
FormalAcademic
Informal
Standard
Formal: “To whom it may concern”
“We would be grateful for a prompt
reply”
“hereby”, “aforementioned”
Academic: “the critique,
analysis and expostulation of
the re-invigoration of
character education in the
Indonesian educational
system”
Informal:
“sup?” “cool” “stuff”
to a specific person whom you don’t
know, to maintain a good
relationship; for high-level
management
specialized language
used in particular fields
or in academia
only with your friends,
text messaging
Standard:
Useful for almost any situation, the
effective use of standard vocabulary
and correct grammar, easy for
anyone with at least a high school
education to understand

5. In this course, we will use “formal” to mean:
The use of standard phrases commonly found in
correspondence in a professional context, to a person
you don’t know, which help establish or maintain a
good relationship and which make a good impression;
or language used for high-level management or official
documents.
But also:
• No contractions
• Impersonal style
• Nothing that would be considered informal or slang
• Concise, precise, focused