PPT on varieties and registers of spoken and written English.

1. VARIETIES AND REGISTERS
OF SPOKEN AND WRITTEN
ENGLISH
Prepared by: BABY LYN AQUINO LUMABAS,PhD
English Instructor

2. Lesson Objectives:
Discuss what language is;
distinguish varieties and registers
of spoken and written language;
and
Apply the varieties and registers
of spoken and written language in
the proper context.

3. Motivation questions:
HOw do you greet your best
friend? Your mother? Your
teacher? Your Dean? Your
lover?
Do your ways of greeting
these people vary?

4. Vocabularies to ponder:
Language is a component that is linked
to intercultural understanding. It acts as
a way to bridge misunderstanding
between people of different cultures.
Language is a medium of exchanging
ideas and transmitting cultural practices
of other people in the global community
Intercultural communication

5. Intercultural Communication
 Intercultural communication refers to
interaction with people from diverse cultures
(Jandt, 1998).
 The following are the forms of Intercultural
Communication (Jandt, 1998) as cited by
Wakat (2018) such as interracial
communication, interethnic communication,
international communication and
intracultural communication

6. What is spoken and written mode of
communication?
 The spoken mode is often associated with
everyday registers, while the written mode
is associated with academic registers.
 Both everyday and academic
communications are characterized by
multi-modality of communication including
spoken, written modes and images, music
videos, gestures, etc.

7. What is language register?
It is the level of formality
with which you speak- Dr.
Eaton

8. Kinds of Language Registers
 Frozen- Language is literally frozen or static or does not
change.
 Formal- The style is impersonal or often follows
prescriptive format. The speaker here use complete
sentences, avoid slang, and may use academic
vocabulary.
 Consultative language- language used by experts such as
doctors, lawyers, accountants etc.
 Casual- language used between friends or peers or words
are general
 Intimate – language used by lovers.

9. What is language variety?
 Language variety, also called lect, is a generic term for any distinctive form of a language or
linguistic expression (Nordquist, 2018). It is a term that encompasses the overlapping
subcategories of language including dialect, register, jargon and idiolect.

10.  Nordquist (2018) adds that varieties of
language develop for a number of reasons.
One reason points to geography where
people living in different geographic areas
tend to develop distinct dialects. Other
reasons have to do with social class,
occupation and age group. Further, one
obvious reason for the variation is the
necessity for and ease of interaction
(www.nou.edu.ng)

11. Varieties of Spoken and Written Language-Lin
2016 from Mahboob ideas ( 2014)
Language varies when communicating
with people within ( local) and
outside ( global) our community.
Language varies in speaking and
writing.
Language varies in everyday and
specialized discourses.

12.  Mahboob ( 2014) identifies eight different domains in which language varies depending on the
combination of different values on the three dimensions ( tenor or tone, field, and mode) of the
context of communication.
 The first four domains include language variations that reflect local usage done in one local
language or multiple local languages depending on the context. They vary in the following ways:

13. 1. Local and everyday written
This may include instances
of local everyday written
usage found in the
neighborhood posters ( e.g.
a poster looking for
transients/bed spacers)

14. 2. Local everyday oral
This may occur in local
communication among
neighbors in everyday,
informal and local
varieties of languages.

15. 3. Local specialized written
An example of this written usage
can be found in publications and
websites local societies, such as
CSU Publication-INNOVator,

16. 4. Local specialized oral
This involves specialize
discourses. For example in a
computer shop, in the
neighborhood ( specialized
local usage can be found in
computer-games related
vocabulary is used)

17. On the other hand, the other four
domains involve global usage. These four
domain of the language usage differ
from first four domains since they refer
to contexts of language usage where
participants need to communicate with
people not sharing their local ways of
using language.

18. 5. Global everyday written
Global everyday written avoids
local colloquialisms to make the
text accessible to wider
communities of readers.

19. 6. Global everyday oral
This may occur in interactions
between people from different
parts of the world when they
talk about everyday casual
topics.

20. 7. Global specialized written
Global specialized written
expands to as many readers
internationally, hence the non-
usage of local colloquial
expressions. ( international
research journal articles)

21. 8. Global specialized oral
This occurs when people from
different parts of the world
discussed specialized topics in
spoken form ( paper
presentation sessions in an
international academic
conference).

22. Group Activity: Roleplay/Radio play ( 2
groups)
Role play one situation portraying
either global or local variety of
spoken language. Use appropriate
register.

23. Quiz: Answer the questions in a paragraph
form applying what you have learned today.
Why is it important to use
appropriate varieties and registers
of language in certain
communication contexts?

24. THANKS FOR LISTENING.