AFRICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY

NAME: GLADYS MAKIMI

ADMISSION: 18S01AMC008

COURSE: ENGLISH STRUCTURE AND USAGE.

COURSE CODE: ENG 101A

LECTURER: NANCY MUCHAI.

TASK: VARIETIES OF ENGLISH.

SUBMISSION DATE: 13TH SEPTEMBER, 2020.

ACTIVITY 1.

1. Aspects that influence me to write/speak the way I do?

Inclusive of non-sexist language- I am very careful with the words I use in my speeches or
writings to ensure gender-neutrality.

Conversational/colloquial words-I tend to use colloquial words due to familiarity.

2. Aspects that would influence the whole class?

Slang-this may influence students since we are in the same age group bringing up understanding.

Technical words-students may tend to use exaggerated words to impress thinking that they make
one have standards.

3. How I would try to rectify this to ensure a “standard educated” variety?

Advocate for the use of simple, clear and straight forward style, this will help all of us achieve a
standardized way of writing and speaking English that is easily understood.
ACTIVITY 2.

VARIETIES OF ENGLISH.
English is a worldwide language; this has influenced emergence of different varieties of spoken and
written English. Quirk and Greenbaum have identified six main varieties in which English
dominates amongst all.

1. Subject Matter-Presupposes that a speaker speaks or writer writes English in a certain

way according to the subject area he or she occupies and can easily switch if the subject
changes.
2. Medium- speaker/writer has to reformulate his/her words to ensure the message is well
passed to the receiver who is in absentia physically and sentences are written carefully to
completion thus conditioned situationally or through devices that transmit language.
3. Attitude-it is affected by how we view our readers/listeners, subject matter or our purpose
of communication.
4. Interference-English is widely affected by our native language and in some communities
the interferences have been identified as varieties along the way.
5. Education- language mainly used by professionals and school educated masses/
institutions thus referred to as standard English therefore taught in school.
6. Social standing-presupposes that there is a considerable distinction in the English
language according to social standing, makes it appropriate for political and social
sanctions.