September 16, 2021

VARIETIES AND REGISTERS OF LANGUAGE

Register - the way a speaker uses language differently in different circumstances; determined
by factors as a social occasion, context, purpose, and audience; determine the vocabulary,
structure, and some grammar, in one’s writing and even in one’s oral discourse

Types of Registers
1. Static registers (frozen) - rarely or never changes
2. Formal registers - used in formal settings and one-way in nature
3. Consultative - formal (professional)
4. Intimate - semi formal (family)
5. Casual registers - informal (peers & friends)

Language registers are classified as:

• Formal Language Register - more appropriate for professional writing and letters to a
boss or a stranger
e.g., Business letter, letter of complaint, some essays, reports, announcement
• Informal Language Register - conversational and appropriate when writing to friends
and people you know very well
e.g., Personal mails, friendly letters, phone text, most blogs, short notes, diaries
and journals
• Neutral Language Register - not necessarily formal or informal; used to deliver facts
e.g., reviews, articles, technical writing, articles

Variety “lect” - specific form of language or language cluster. This may include languages,
dialects, registers, styles, or other forms of language, as well as “Standard Variety.”

Varieties of Language
1. Pidgin - new simple language that develops in situations where speakers of different
languages need to communicate but do not share a common language
e.g., Nigerian Pidgin, Bislama (spoken in Vanuatu)
2. Creole - pidgin language that has become the native language of a speech community
and is learned by children as their first language
e.g., Gullah, Jamaican creole
3. Jargon- words and phrases that emerge to cover ideas within a specific community,
often when specialist terminology is required
e.g., AWOL - Absent Without Leave; BP- Blood Pressure
4. Slang - similar to jargon, it is the language that emerged within a subgroup to describe
new ideas, or to assign new words to existing ideas to develop a sense of identity.
Extreme forms of slang may be used specifically to disguise conversation, such a
rhyming slang
e.g., How New Yorkers speak
5. Social Dialect - emerge like dialects, but within a specific class or culture, instead a
region
e.g., African Vernacular Language
6. Standard/Polite/Formal - we use terms standard, polite, and formal to refer to language
that sticks to the rules and is essentially presented as the ‘proper’ form of English.
Standard English is taught.
e.g., Media, government
 7. Regional Dialect - not a district language but a variety of a language spoken in a
particular area of a country. Some of these dialects have been given traditional names
which mark them out as being significantly different from standard varieties spoken in
the same place
e.g., Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano
8. Minority Dialect - sometimes members of a particular minority ethnic group have their
own variety they use as a marker of identity, usually alongside a standard variety
e.g., African American Vernacular English in the USA, London Jamaican in
Britain, Aboriginal English in Australia
9. Indigenized Varieties - spoken mainly as second languages in ex-colonies with
multilingual populations
e.g., African American Vernacular English in the USA, London Jamaican in Britain,
Aboriginal English in Australia

ORDER LETTER “PURCHASE ORDER”

✓ To provide the vendor with detailed instructions for fulfilling an order
✓ Serves as a legal record of the transaction
✓ Should be written with care

Elements of an Order Letter

• The letterhead of the company sending the order letter
• The con at information is provided is there is no letterhead
• The father the letter is sent
• The receipt’s name, title, company, and address
• The salutation
• The body of the letter
• The closing
• The sender’s name with his/her signature

LETTER OF REQUEST
• A letter in which one person asks another person or group of people to grant a specific
demand of respond to an inquiry or appeal.
• Should be brief, polite, and to the point
• Mostly used in business situations, requesting an interview, soliciting donations, asking
for raise, request of performance review, request of refund

How to write a Letter of Request

• Preparing to Write
1. Brainstorm the big ideas
2. Consider your audience
3. Make an outline
4. Use proper format
5. Start with a salutation
6. Write an introductory paragraph
7. Write a body paragraph
8. Write a concluding paragraph
9. Add a closing
 • Finalizing the Letter
1. Edit and write the letter
2. Proofread the final draft
3. Send your letter

SOLICITED LETTER OF APPLICATION

Companies that open positions generally advertise:

• by posting job requisitions on online job boards
• on the company’s website
• by taking out an ad in the newspaper

Solicited Application Letter

• Application written to someone who has offered you the job
• Open job
• It is your letter of introduction
• Should be written in a manner that captures the hiring manager’s attention and makes
you stand out from the competition

Purpose
• Introduce the applicant to the manager
• Highlight the information provided on the resume

In writing, you should remember:

• The applicant should first analyze the position and yourself
• It is a formal letter so words and phrases should be selected carefully
• Short and straightforward
• Highlight your suitability and reasons carefully
o use job-specify terminologies
o state the best reason why you are qualified for the job
o Should contain the most relevant and needed info
• Avoid stereotyped beginnings

Main parts and components:

• Heading - sender’s name and address, date, time
• Inside address - employee’s name and address
• Body - contains main information
• Closing - contains words of regards and closing
• Salutation - name of concerned person
• Signature - above the typed name

What needs to be included in the body:

• Starts by stating the particular position
• Where a person saw the advertisement
• Your brief information (GPA, University)
• Working experience & past accomplishments that are important
• List of skills
• Contributions for the company if accepted
UNSOLICITED LETTER OF APPLICATION
- Not asked for
- Given voluntarily
- No certain job application that provides vacancy

Unsolicited proposal
• When you send them a proposal they haven’t even asked for because you think they
should but from you or take some action
• Sent to a costume who has not requested it
• Must be convincing since the costumer has not anticipated, planned, or budgeted for the
proposal

❖ A job seeker may desire employment with a particular company that has not posted open
job requisitions.

❖ An unsolicited application letter is used as an inquiry about possible openings and to gain
a hiring managers attention.

How to write an unsolicited letter

1. Brief introduction
2. Identify skills
3. Summarize accomplishments
4. Encourage contact
5. Other considerations

5 parts of good cover letter

1. Salutation (hello)
2. Opening (grab)
3. Second paragraph (hook)
4. Third paragraph (paragraph of knowledge)
5. Fourth paragraph (closing)