Language and Texts © M. Grazia Busà 2013

FOCUS ON COMMUNICATION  LANGUAGE = SOCIAL BEHAVIOR ● Through language we communicate:  Content (concepts)  Information about our social identity (age, gender, social status, etc.)  TEXT = instance of connected and meaningful stretch of language in use  Varies according to time, location, situation © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Speakers’ register repertoires  Definition: variations in language use depending on context, level of education, age, gender, region, etc.  Characteristics: ● Speakers have control over many registers and are able to shift from one to another depending on the context and the communicative needs (verbal repertoires) ● What varies is intonation, vocabulary, grammar © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Genre  Definition: ‘text’ conventionally used in connection with a certain social activity.  Characteristics: conventional association of content and form for a particular communicative purpose. ● Examples:  Oral genres: conversation, lecture, talk, etc.  Literary genres: poem, novel, drama, etc.  Mass media genres: TV, film, newspapers, etc.  Subgenres and mixed genres, e.g. TV shows and docudramas © M. Grazia Busà 2013

TEXT is affected by  Discourse topic and participants’ background  Relationship with the audience  Purpose  Medium © M. Grazia Busà 2013

What is affected?  Language: ● Style, tone, grammar, structure and organization of the text itself, prosody, etc.  Paralinguistic features: ● Gesture, attitude, social behaviour, etc. © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Topic and participants’ background  Topics ● From highly specialized and/or technical to everyday and conversational  Participants ● Different degrees of familiarity with the topic: i.e., from experts to laypersons Impact on: ● Type of language used (technical, slang, etc.) every day ● Amount of information that is taken for granted © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Example 1 Text targeted to experts in the field of electric measurements (highly technical) Electric field-strength EMF-measurements Measurements can be carried out in the high-frequency spectrum (9 kHz ‒ 22 GHz) for measuring electric fields generated by transmission equipment/installations, among which C2000, GSM and UMTS towers, radar systems, wireless devices etc. ( CPW3r5Da6bMCFUON3godARoAeA) © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Example 2 Text targeted to students (didactic and explanatory) Atmospheric electricity is a field that is very easy to get into, because it does not require a large capital investment for measuring equipment. It is a difficult field, however, when it comes to the understanding and interpretation of the various measurements. ( © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Relationship with the audience  Varies according to: ● status (equal/unequal) doctor – patient; teacher – student; employer – employee; student – student ● affective involvement mother – child; friend – friend; salesperson – customer ● contact (frequent/occasional) Impact on:  Level of language formality ● distance = formality/friendliness = informality © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Example Compare the following questions:  Formal ● Excuse me, Madam, what would you like to drink? Informal ● Hey, waddya wanna drink? © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Purpose  Goal that one aims at when producing a text ● to chat, to explain, to discuss, to inform, to teach, to promote, to advertise, to convince, to persuade, to reassure, etc. Impact on: ● Text structure, type of language used (technical, slang, etc.) every day ● Amount of information that is taken for granted © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Example 1 Text targeted to experts in the field of electric measurements (highly technical) Electric field-strength EMF-measurements Measurements can be carried out in the high-frequency spectrum (9 kHz ‒ 22 GHz) for measuring electric fields generated by transmission equipment/installations, among which C2000, GSM and UMTS towers, radar systems, wireless devices, etc. ( CPW3r5Da6bMCFUON3godARoAeA) Purpose is scientific discussion. Language is appropriate to an audience of scientists © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Example 2 Text targeted to students (didactic and explanatory) Atmospheric electricity is a field that is very easy to get into because it does not require a large capital investment for measuring equipment. It is a difficult field, however, when it comes to the understanding and interpretation of the various measurements. ( Purpose is didactic explanation. Language is appropriate to an audience of students © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Medium  Spoken communication: ● Spontaneous ● Hesitations, interruptions, false starts, repetitions, omissions ● Simple grammatical structures ● Colloquial and informal language  Written communication: ● Planned ● Structured ● Well-formed and articulated sentences ● More formal lexicon and more complex constructions © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Spoken and written language  Spoken communication: ● Face-to-face, one-way or two-way ● Lecture, conference, etc.  Written communication: ● Print: books, newspapers, magazines, brochures, flyers, etc. ● Electronic media: television, radio, audio/video recording, etc. ● New media: computers and computer networks (including , chat rooms, websites, etc.) © M. Grazia Busà 2013

VARIATION in language FORMALITY Language Use Speech Writing Informal Official/public Chat, Official conversation speech contract Informal Formal language Informal Formal language © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Formal vs informal language  In any language, different styles are appropriate in different situations  Language can vary from formal to informal, from written to spoken, from technical (or jargon) to slang  No real ‘rules’ but plenty of features distinguish formal styles from informal styles © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Principles of English written style  The more formal a text is … ● the more it will use inanimate nouns as subjects of a sentence ● the more it is likely to use passive structures ● the more verbal nouns it will use ● the more words of Latin origin it will use © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Written style (continued)  The more informal a text is … ● the more it will use humans as subjects of sentences ● the less it will use passive structures ● the more it will use verb structures ● the more words of Germanic origin it will use © M. Grazia Busà 2013

What is slang?  A highly informal, colourful, non-standard, non- technical vocabulary composed chiefly of novel- sounding synonyms for standard words and phrases  Usually used between friends  It implies that the other person identifies fully with the speaker's attitude © M. Grazia Busà 2013

Example: A written text of informal tone  Can I Sue Miley Cyrus If Her Snacks Make Me Sick?...  God, that would be fun, wouldn't it? I mean, once you ceased to vomit your spleen out of your eye sockets. (from March 17, 2009) © M. Grazia Busà 2013

A more formal version of the same text  A reader wonders if Miley Cyrus could be sued if he/she developed salmonella after eating one of the bars.  The reader finds the possibility of suing M.C. amusing, but adds that one would first have to wait to get better. © M. Grazia Busà 2013