Writing on Formal and Informal Language

Stylistic features of informal/formal speech Phonological Patterning Alliteration, Assonance, Rhythm, Rhyme, Consonance, Onomatapaeia Syntactic Patterning Antithesis, Listing, Parallelism, Passive Voice, Nominalisation Morphological Patterning Affixation, Compounding Lexical Choice and Semantic Patterning Irony, Metaphor, Simile, Autonomy, Synonymy, Idiom, Denotation, Connotation, Euphemism, Dysphemism, Stylistic Features of Informal Speech Pauses, Repetition, False Starts, Repairs, Openings and Closings, Adjacency Pairs, Overlapping Speech, Interrogative Tags, Discourse Particles, Ellipsis, Self Correction, Contractions and reductions, Fillers

Discourse Features of Informal Language Encouraging intimacy, solidarity, and equality Maintaining positive face needs Promoting linguistic innovation Supporting in-group membership Inclusive Language Slang Jargon- Supporting in-group membership and inclusive language Neologisms- Promoting Linguistic Innovation and age specific Neologisms Neologisms- Creating new words

Discourse Features of Formal Language Reinforcing social distance and authority Establishing expertise Promoting social harmony and negotiating social taboos Clarifying, manipulating and obfuscating Use of titles, formal expression Jargon Promoting Social Harmony and negotiating social taboos Euphemism Clarifying, Manipulating and obfuscating Double speak, euphemism

Conversation Strategies Openings/Closings Tag Questions Getting/Holding the floor Turn Taking Adjacency Pairs Managing Topics Non- Fluency features Silence Accommodation Backchannel signals Minimal responses Listening noises

Coherence and Cohesive Ties Coherence: The semantic connections that exist within a text to make it meaningful; ie, if a text is coherent, it makes sense. Cohesion: The linguistic connections and ties that exist between the words and sentences to give structure to a text. Coherence and Cohesive Ties: Deixis, Substitution, Ellipsis, Collocation, Repetition