Language and Texts
© M. Grazia Busà 2013
FOCUS ON COMMUNICATION
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LANGUAGE = SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
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Through language we communicate:
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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.
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Characteristics:
●
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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.
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Examples:
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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
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Discourse topic and participants’ background
Relationship with the audience
Purpose
Medium
© M. Grazia Busà 2013
What is affected?
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Language:
●
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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
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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.
(http://www.shieldingsystems.eu/index.php?p=Nieuws&id=204&Lang=2&gclid=
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.
(http://www.colutron.com/products/cosmos.html)
© M. Grazia Busà 2013
Relationship with the audience
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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
Purpose
is and UMTS towers, radar systems,
wireless
devices, etc.
scientific
(http://www.shieldingsystems.eu/index.php?p=Nieuws&id=204&Lang=2&gclid=
discussion.
CPW3r5Da6bMCFUON3godARoAeA)
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
(http://www.colutron.com/products/cosmos.html)
© M. Grazia Busà 2013
Medium
 Spoken communication:
● Spontaneous
● Hesitations, interruptions, false starts, repetitions,
omissions
● Simple grammatical structures
● Colloquial and informal language
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Written communication:
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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.
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Written communication:
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Print: books, newspapers, magazines, brochures,
flyers, etc.
Electronic media: television, radio, audio/video
recording, etc.
New media: computers and computer networks
(including e-mail, chat rooms, websites, etc.)
© M. Grazia Busà 2013
VARIATION in language FORMALITY
Language Use
Speech
Informal
conversation
Writing
Official/public
speech
Informal
language
Chat,
e-mail
Official
contract
Formal
language
© M. Grazia Busà 2013
Formal vs informal language
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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
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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)
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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?
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A highly informal, colourful, non-standard, nontechnical vocabulary composed chiefly of novelsounding synonyms for standard words and
phrases
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Usually used between friends
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It implies that the other person identifies fully with
the speaker's attitude
© M. Grazia Busà 2013
Example: A written text of informal tone
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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 http://www.eonline.com/, March 17, 2009)
© M. Grazia Busà 2013
A more formal version of the same text
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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