LESSON 4

Varieties and registers of

Spoken and Written
Language
Prepared by:
Carmelita L. Dasalla, LPT
 How do you greet your
best friend? Your Mother?
Your Teacher? Your school
Dean and Your Special
Someone?
LANGUAGE
VARIETIES
 What is a Variety?

A variety refers to any variant of a language

which can be sufficiently delimited from
one another.
 Varieties of Language

1.PIDGIN
- Is a new language which develops in
situations where speakers of different
languages need to communicate but do not
share a common language.
Varieties of Language cont…

2. Creole
- is a pidgin that becomes the first
language of the children and the
mother tongue of a community
Varieties of Language cont…

3. Regional Dialect
- is not a distinct language but a
variety of a language spoken in a
particular area of a country.
Varieties of Language cont…

4. Minority Dialect
- is a variety used as a marker of
identity, usually alongside a standard
variety, by the members of a
particular minority ethnic group.
LANGUAGE
REGISTERS
 What is a Register?

According to Nordquist (2018), a register is:

 Defined as the way a speaker uses language
differently in a different circumstances.
 Determined by factors as 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.FROZEN
 It refers to historic language or
communication that is intended to
remain unchanged, like a constitution
or a prayer.
Types of Registers cont…

2. FORMAL
- Is used in professional, academic, or
legal settings where communication is
expected to be respectful,
uninterrupted and restrained. Slang is
never used and contractions are rare
Types of Registers cont…

3. CONSULTATIVE
- Is used in conversation when they are
speaking with someone who has
specialized knowledge or who is
offering advice.
Types of Registers cont…

4. CASUAL
- Is used when they are with friends,
close acquaintances and co-workers,
and family.
Types of Registers cont…

5. INTIMATE
- Is reserved for special occasions,
usually between only two people and
often in private
Language Registers are Classified as :

1.Formal Language Register

- is more appropriate for professional writing and

letters to a boss or a stranger.
- is impersonal, meaning, it is not written for a
specific person and without emotion.
 Rules in Formal Writing

a. Do not use contractions.

b.Spell out numbers less than one hundred.
c. Write in third person point of view.
d.Avoid using too much passive verbs.
e.Avoid using slang, idioms, exaggeration
(hyperbole) and clichés.
Cont…

f. Avoid abbreviations and acronyms

g. Do not start sentences with words
like, and, so, but, also.
h. Always write in complete sentences
i. Write longer, more complex sentences
 Language Registers are Classified as :

2. Informal Language Register

- is conversational and appropriate when writing
to friends and people you know very well.

Examples:
a. Personal e-mails b. Phone texts
c. Short notes d. Friendly letters
e. Most blogs f. Diaries and
There are no major rules to informal writing but you can
include things such as:
a. Slangs and cliches i. jokes
b. Figurative language j. Personal opinions
c. Symbols and abbreviations k. Extra punctuation
d. Acronyms l. Passive and active voice
e. Incomplete sentences
f. Short sentences
g. First person, second person POV
h. Paragraphs or no paragraphs
 Language Registers are Classified as :

3. NEUTRAL LANGUAGE REGISTER

- is not necessarily formal or informal
-is used to deliver facts.

Examples:
a. Reviews d. Some letters
b. Articles e. Technical writing
c. Some letters
 LESSON 5
EVALUATING MESSAGES
AND/OR IMAGS OF DIFFERENT
TYPES OF TEXTS
REFLECTING DIFFERENT
CULTURES
Introduction:

A “text” isn’t limited to something

written down.
A text can be a film, an artifact,
anything in a language and culture
that conveys meaning.
GROUP ACTIVITY
Direction:

Select a TV commercial in Youtube,

analyze the text based on given
data . Use a PowerPoint
presentation in presenting your
output
 KEY CONCEPTS Guide Questions in Media Text Analysis
Analysis

A. All media messages 1.What is the message of the

are “constructed” text?
2.How effectively does it
represent reality?
3.How is the message
constructed?

B. Media have 1. what lifestyles, values and

embedded values and points view are represented
points of view in the text?
2. Who or What is missing>
 KEY CONCEPTS Guide Questions in Media Text Analysis
Analysis

C. Each person 1. What message do you perceive

interprets messages from the text?
differently. 2. How might others understand it
differently? Why?

D. Media have 1. What is the purpose of the text?

commercial, ideological 2. Who is the target audience of the
or political interests. text?
3. Who might be disadvantage?
4. Who created the text and why?
 KEY CONCEPTS Guide Questions in Media Analysis
Text Analysis

E. Media messages 1. What techniques are used

are constructed and why?
using a creative 2. How effective are the
language having its techniques in supporting
own rules. the messages of themes of
the text?
3. What are other ways of
presenting the message?
Media Messages

Media messages contain

information and ideas that are
shared to a large audience of
people.
“EVALUATING MESSAGES”

WHY DO WE EVALUATE MESSAGES?

*The importance of evaluating the

effectiveness of the messages is by developing
and using strategic questions to identify
strengths and weaknesses.
STRATEGIES FOR EVALUATING A
MESSAGE

HOW DO WE EVALUATE MESSAGES?

* In order to evaluate whether a message is

effective, we can ask ourselves a series of
questions which reflect a message’s simplicity,
specificity, structure and stickiness
4 Main Qualities for an Effective
Message

1.SIMPLICITY
2.SPECIFICITY
3.STRUCTURE
4.STICKINESS
EVALUATING IMAGES

THREE STEPS OF EVALUATING AN

IMAGE AND THESE ARE:

1 Identifying Source
2. Interpret Contextual Information
3. Understand Implications
ANALYZING THE
TEXT/IMAGES
 “Content Analysis”

What do you see?

What is the image all about?
Are their people in the image?
What are they doing?
How are they presented?
Can the image be looked at different ways?
How effective is the image as a visual message?
PRACTICE
ANALYZING
IMAGES
To evaluate messages and images of different types of
text reflecting different culture the following should
do:

1. Understand how the specified cultures live.

2. Howthe people in the specified group communicate
each other.
3. Learn the symbolism of their culture
4. Beaware in every detail such as artifact, language, and
symbolism.
5. Get the meanings being addressed by the images.
6. Get the important elements conveyed by the images.
7. Getting the audience for the image.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEXT

Narrative
Descriptive
Directive
Expository
Argumentative
NARRATIVE TEXTS

Narrative texts have to do with real-

world events and time. they may be
fictional (fairy tales, novels) or non-
fictional (news paper report). They are
characterized by a sequencing of
events expressed by dynamic verbs by
adverbials such as “ and then”, “first”,
“second”, “third”.
Descriptive Texts

Concerned with the location of person

and things in space. They will tell us
what lies to the right or left, in the
background or foreground, or they will
provide background information which,
perhaps, sets the stage narration.
Directive Texts

Directive texts are concerned with

concrete future activity. Central to these
texts are imperatives (Hand me the
paper) or forms which substitute for
them, such as polite questions (Would you
hand me the paper?) or suggestive
remarks (I wonder what the paper says
about the weather)/
Expository Texts

Expository texts identify and

characterize phenomena. They include
text forms such as definitions,
explications, summaries and many
types of essay.
Argumentative Texts

The argumentative text is used

claiming about a point of view, or
debatable topics. People use
argumentative text every time they
want to prove something, claiming that
it's true (or not) by using proper
evidence.
THE END…