Unit 3 - Area of Study 1: Informal language
Outcome 1
Identify and analyse distinctive features of informal language in written and spoken texts.
Examples of learning activities
- List a range of synonyms for a particular word, for example inebriated, using a thesaurus to help; arrange the synonyms along a continuum from most informal to most formal; discuss the connotations of each expression; in which context is each word more likely to be heard or used?
-
Consider spoken, written and digital texts from within a given domain, for example sport; arrange the texts from least formal to most formal; discuss how the structure and content of these texts is influenced by the situational and cultural context of each.
- Record and transcribe a short segment of a television program and examine the features of spontaneous spoken language and, in multimodal texts, examine the importance of body language and paralinguistic cues.
- Examine a transcript of a telephone conversation or a segment of talkback radio and discuss the significance of back channelling and other strategies in spoken discourse.
- Use YouTube to listen to the stand-up routines of comedians, for example at the annual Melbourne International Comedy Festival; discuss why most comedians use informal language features in their prepared routines; what effect does this have on their audience and the success of their routine?
- Consider when, how and why we ‘play’ with language when interacting with small children, friends, family members, partners; examine the language in St Valentine’s Day notices; what innovative words or catchphrases are unique to students’ families or friendship groups?
- Write a list of expressions that are particular to a workplace or other professions which would not be considered Standard English; discuss when and why these words are used.
- Examine the
Classification website and discuss the issue of swearing; consider how words can lose their intensifying effect over time.
- Print off samples of informal language from the internet, such as an email or a blog or a chat exchange; analyse the lexical choice and the syntactic and morphological structure evident in each text; consider its similarity to speech; examine how cohesion and coherence is achieved within each text.
- Consider examples of informal language in social media or electronic communication (for example. Twitter, SMS) and compare with the language in the more traditional form of handwriting (a ‘to-do’ list, a reminder on the fridge, a letter exchanged between friends in class); in a table, list the various features of the language used in each of these texts.
- Read some of Danny Katz’s writing in The
Age newspaper; in groups, discuss the language features and structures which contribute to the informal register which is characteristic of Katz’s writing.
- Role-play the different ways in which people can ask for things to be done, for example, when asking someone to close a door; classify these requests into sentence types: is the request imperative, interrogative, declarative or exclamative? Discuss which sentence types are more or less appropriate in certain situations and the impact on participants’ face needs.
- Brainstorm and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of speech and writing; have a class debate about which mode is the most prestigious in our society.
- Select two students to discuss an interesting event which occurred recently, for example a party or school formal, and record this conversation; have one student write down an account of the same event; use the account and the recording to examine the syntactic and discourse features of the two texts, noting the differences between speech and writing; students could then accurately transcribe the conversation, using accepted notation.
- Role-play everyday conversations between friends or family members in which one speaker deliberately uses formal language; what effect does this have on the flow and outcome of the conversation, and the impact on participants’ face needs?
Detailed example
Types and features of informal texts
- As a class, list written, spoken and digital texts from within the domain of sport, such as Australian Rules football. Consider, for example, the range of texts on an official footy club website.
- In pairs, plot these texts along a continuum from most informal to most formal, and be prepared to justify your selection when presenting to the class.
- Discuss how the situational and cultural context of each text influences its structure and language.
- Listen to a recording of an informal spoken text from the domain of sport, such as radio commentary of a football game.
- Transcribe a section and annotate, identifying the features of spoken language referred to in the study design.
- Discuss the link between the spoken language features and the context of the transcript.
- Write up notes into an extended analytical commentary.