Written and Spoken
Language
Chan Kit Yee
Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School of MFBM
Commonsense understandings
• Spoken Language
– We could see:
• People taking turns, changing topic quickly, talking in
a very familiar, colloquial way.
– We could hear:
• False starts, lots of hesitations, incomplete
sentences
– Language is tied closely to the context.
– Physical elements could be part of the context.
• Written Language
–
–
–
–
Written after the events
Organized in paragraphs
Polished
More sophisticated use of language
A continuum of texts on puppets
Text A
Text B
Text C
Text D
Genre
A dialogue
An oral recount A newsletter
article
A descriptive
report
Field
The process of
puppet-making
The process of
puppet-making
The puppetmaking project
The art of
puppetry in Japan
Tenor
between 2
students of
equal status
between
teacher and
students
written by
someone as
‘knower’ to the
puppet-making
activity
written by
someone as
‘expert’ to the art
of puppetry in
Japan
Mode
dialogic, faceto-face,
possibility of
immediate
feedback
(contextualised)
dialogic,
recounting,
still the
possibility of
immediate
feedback
more distance
in time and
space,
reflective
decontextualised:
move away from
puppet-making
activity to
something more
abstract and
technical
Text A
Students in the process of writing together to
make their puppets:
‘Paul, pass one of those will you.’
‘Here.’
‘Ouch, you pricked me!’
Text B
Students recounting to the teacher the process
of making their puppets:
‘Juanita and I decided to make puppets that look
something like Punch and Judy but we wanted them
to be kinda more modern so we made baseball hats
for them instead, which look great.’
‘Paul, how did you get that wonderful, hooked nose
on Punch?’
‘We used wire to make a frame and then we covered
it with paper mache.’
Text C
A newsletter article on the puppet-making project:
An exciting project was undertaken by Ms Pripp’s class
this term. Puppets of all descriptions were made by the
students: ranging from Punch and Judy to the puppets
of Greece, Indonesia and Mexico: The students made
the puppets with the support of our visiting puppeteer
but they still had to plan, design, construct and sew the
puppets …
Text D
The art of puppetry in Japan
History
Puppetry has long been an important part of Japanese culture.
In the middle ages puppets were used as a means of
propitiation at shrines and only later took on the theatrical forms
we know today …
The narrator and the shamisen
Each performance involves a narrator, whose task is to tell the
story by conveying the emotions and motivations of each
character. As well, there is a shamisen player who
accompanies the performance adding texture through the
music played on the shamisen itself. The tension created
between the shamisen and the narrator as they react to each
other gives life to the puppets …
Nominalisation
Spoken version
Written version
they used puppets to
propitiate the gods
the means of propitiation
every time the play is
performed
each performance
They were feeling / one
of the characters is
unhappy
emotions
Nominalisation
• Text A and Text B have no nominalisations whereas Text C
and Text D have more nominalisations.
• The more nominalisations there are, the more abstract the
text is.
 Spoken language relies more heavily on verbs whereas
written language relies more heavily on nouns.
• Nominalisation allows more meaning to be packed into the
clause.
 The longer the nominal groups are, the more information
they contain.
• Nominalisation makes the ‘thing’ become the focus of the
discussion.
Lexical and grammatical complexity
From Text B:
(Juanita) and I (decided to make) (puppets) that look
something like (Punch and Judy)
but we (wanted) them to be kinda more (modern)
so we (made) (baseball) (hats) for them instead,
which look (great).
• Grammatical complexity: 4 clauses in one sentence
• Lexical complexity: 10 lexical terms packed into 4 clauses
(i.e. each clause is carrying about 2.5 lexical terms.)
Lexical and grammatical complexity
From Text D:
Each (performance) (involves) a (narrator)
whose (task) is to (tell) the (story) by (conveying) the (emotions)
and (motivations) of each (character).
As well, there is a (shamisen) (player)
who (accompanies) the (performance)
(adding) (texture) through the (music) (played) on the (shamsen)
itself.
The (tension) (created) between the (shamisen) and the (narrator)
as they (react) to each other (gives) (life) to the (puppets) …
• Grammatical complexity: 2, 3 and 1 clauses per sentence
• Lexical complexity: 27 lexical items packed into 6 clauses
(i.e. each clause is carrying about 4.5 lexical terms.)
Lexical and grammatical
complexity
So, spoken language is grammatically
complex but lexically simple while
written language is grammatically
simple but lexically complex.
Summary
• There is an accompanying change in the
grammar itself as we move across the
mode continuum.
• The shifts in the lexico-grammar across
the continuum reflect the increasing
reliance on the nominal group to express
meaning.
• Using more nominalisations means the text
is more abstract and more lexically
complex
Classroom application
• Consider how the context shapes the language through
the different modalities.
E.g. let students compare how language is used in different
genres and registers (e.g. cooking show on TV and recipe in
a cookbook)
• Use the shifts in the mode encountered in your teaching
cycles to plan the teaching about language
E.g. brainstorming exercise (dialogue)  text analysis (oral
discussion)  production of written text
• Show students how to move between spoken and written
modes.
E.g. Students read written texts  unpack them into
spoken modes  repack them into written ones (with the
help of teacher who jointly construct texts with students)
• Help students see how nominal groups function
to express meanings
E.g. Students have to expand nominal groups by
using describers, classifiers, qualifiers, etc.
• Focus on nominalisation itself
E.g. Students identify nominalisation and analyse
its use in texts. Then, they may be asked to
rewrite some examples into a more spoken way.
• Help students understand the organization of
different genres by identifying themes, macrotheme and hyper-themes
Reflection and Sharing
F.1
Teaching topic: Fantastic Food
1. Watch a TV cooking program (whole-class
activity)
2. Discuss what ingredients are needed and how
the dish is made (pair work)
3. Analyze the language features of a recipe with
students (teacher  students)
4. Joint construction
5. Write a recipe individually (individual work)
F.3
Teaching topic: Teen Problems
1. Role-play activity (pair work): student A
voices her problem and seeks advice
from student B
2. Identify language features of a letter of
advice with students.
3. Students write a letter of advice
individually.
F.4
Genre: One-sided Argument
1.
Read a newspaper article about the death of Siu Fa, the
caged jaguar at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical
Gardens
2.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of keeping
animals at the zoo.
3.
Deconstruct an argument with students.
4.
Jointly construct the macro-theme (i.e. the introduction)
and the second and the third paragraphs of a one-sided
argument with students.
5.
Students work with their partner and do the rest of the
essay in class.
6.
Homework: Students write the other side of the
argument at home.
The End