English for Professional and Academic Communication

(EPAC) – (Reading and Writing skills) Inglés I

Week 3- unit 3 (Tone & Style)

Graduado en Tecnologías y Servicios de Telecomunicación
Dpto. de Lingüística Aplicada a la Ciencia y a la Tecnología

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CONTENTS: unit 3
 The Tone in academic and scientific communication
Personal/Impersonal, didactic, distant, assertive, decisive, …
 The Tone in professional and business settings: types of
communication
Downward, Horizontal and Upward Communication
 Homework for week 3
 Task 1 to be presented in class on week 5

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 THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
GRAMMAR CONTENT PRONUNCIATION

ELEMENTS IN ORAL & WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

REGISTER COMMUNICATION
PURPOSE
SOCIAL TONE
CONTEXT LANGUAGE
What’s the author FUNCTIONS
attitude?
Who are the
LANGUAGE people involved?
STYLE
Informal, formal, VOCABULARY
neutral, slang
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 THE TONE

1. What does the tone of a text reflect?

2. What aspects affect the tone of a text?

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Tone in academic and scientific communication
 Writer’s attitude towards the subject and the reader:
 Personal
 Didactic
 Impersonal
 Tentative What are my thoughts
about the subject I am
Specific exercises for practice dealing with and my
will be provided
relationship with the
audience I am talking
to?

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 THE TONE

The tone reveals the writer’s attitude towards the subject and the reader and
is mainly determined by the choice of words and content. There is a wide
range of tones a writer may adopt:

TYPES OF TONES
Personal, impersonal, distant, direct, ironic, sarcastic, business-like, didactic,
polite, casual, tentative, decisive, insulting, assertive, insistent,
condescending.

TONES IN ACADEMIC, TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION

Personal, impersonal/distant, didactic, tentative, decisive (with conviction and
expressing certainty), assertive (imposing obligation, giving orders), direct.

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 THE TONE IN ACADEMIC AND SCIENTIFIC
COMMUNICATION
Match the descriptions in the next slides with the most
appropriate tone from the list provided below:

DIDACTIC, IMPERSONAL & DISTANT, ASSERTIVE

AND DECISIVE, TENTATIVE, PERSONAL

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 THE TONE
DESCRIPTION 1:
Also known as the “you-approach”. It reflects that writers are not keeping the distance
between readers and themselves. Instead, writers usually address their audience, trying to
get them involved, and appear to be more personally committed to the document. With
this tone, writers are more direct and the text is more dynamic and agile, and sometimes
even more persuasive.
Main Characteristics:
• Frequent personal pronouns I, we, you
• Active voice (rather than passive voice)
• Expressions that refer to the reader and to the relationship between the writer and the
reader
• The type of content. The use of somewhat personal anecdotes, a short commentary on
the writer’s own limitations, or questions which serve to introduce an idea or topic and
can be written in a first or second person.
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 THE TONE

DESCRIPTION 2:
The writer remains in the background, avoiding any direct and personal mention of
himself/herself. Writers use to keep distance with the readers. The focus is on the object
and the action and not in the actor. The text is more lengthy and bulky.

Main Characteristics:
• Combination of the passive voice and the introductory impersonal pronoun “it” and
formal expressions to keep distance with the reader.
• Expressions that refer to the text (its purpose, presentation and organization)
• The strictly scientific and technical content. The information is to the point and closely
related to the subject matter. There is no room for personal comments and anecdotes.

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 THE TONE

DESCRIPTION 3:
Also associated with the personal tone. It is the one that writers adopt in textbooks, for
example, when making a direct appeal to the students’s needs and interests, when
commenting on the simplicity or difficulty of the content to be explained, or when
justifying why a given concept needs to be prefaced by some theoretical framework.

Main Characteristics
• Use of we and you pronouns and imperatives, as they reflect the expert writer is
attempting to get closer to the reader.

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 THE TONE
DESCRIPTION 4:
Very common in academic, technical and scientific writing. Many times the writer is not
completely certain about the truth-condition of a statement. We can define this tone as
the opposite of assertiveness (conviction, decision, obligation, order); thus, we use it to
express caution and lack of certainty. It also shows writers’ respect for the audience.

Main Characteristics
• Use of words such as possibly, perhaps, apparently, … etc.
• Use of modal verbs such as appear, seem, could, may, might, suggest, recommend, …
• Use of approximate expressions such as roughly, somewhat, approximately, …, etc.
• More redundant style

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 THE TONE

DESCRIPTION 5:
Writers use this tone to express certainty and convinction about the truth-condition
of a statement in scientific and academic writing but also it is associated in
business/technical writing with the purpose to express obligation, and state orders
and regulations.

Main Characteristics
• Use of adjectives and adverbs expressing convinction: e.g. clear, obvious,
undoubtely, … etc.
• Use of strong modal verbs (must, have to, will, to be to, imperative)
• Use of modal expressions (see next slides)

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 THE TONE

KEY OF PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS

DESCRIPTION 1: PERSONAL TONE

DESCRIPTION 2: IMPERSONAL AND DISTANT TONE
DESCRIPTION 3: DIDACTIC TONE
DESCRIPTION 4: TENTATIVE TONE
DESCRIPTION 5: ASSERTIVE- DECISIVE-CONVINCING TONE

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 EXPRESSING OPINIONS TO SHOW THE DEGREE OF CONVICTION,
CERTAINTY OR TENTATIVENESS
Directness & Tentativeness
Direct It is clear that …
(100%) It seems/appears clear that …
It would seem/appear clear that
It seems/appears that …
It would seem/appear that …
It is likely that …
It seems/appears probable that …
(50%)
It would seem/appear possible that …
Tentative

Direct and/or showing Clearly, clear

Convinction Undoubtedly
(100%) Probably, probable
Tentative and/or showing
Possibly, possible
uncertainty (50%)
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 THE TONE IN PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS

PROFESSIONAL STATUS + POWER RELATIONSHIP

+ THE NATURE OF THE MESSAGE

DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION
HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION
UPWARD COMMUNICATION

The tone determines the degree of style formality

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 THE TONE: AUDIENCE, PURPOSE AND LANGUAGE
COMMUNICATION PURPOSE MODAL OTHER VERBS
Decisive, convincing and
assertive tone INFORMATIVE
DOWNWARD VERBS: Order,
Regulations is/are to authorise, instruct,
COMMUNICATION
Superior to Orders (imperative)/must notify, inform,
subordinate Decisions will describe, introduce,
explain, review,
Permission may/can evaluate, reveal,
HORIZONTAL AND Recommendation should report, indicate,
show, …
UPWARD Advice ought to PERSUASIVE –
COMMUNICATION
Colleague to colleage
Suggestions & Tentative stat. could/might/may TENTATIVE VERBS
Recommend,
and Subordinate to Requests will/can/could/would ? suggest, advice,
superior propose, request,
Tentative tone
forecast, …
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 THE TONE IN PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS
TONE: DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION ( ) / 1

Participants Relationship =
A SUPERIOR CONTACTING A SUBORDINATE.
Purpose = issuing orders, stating decisions, and regulations, giving info about the
Company, delivering instructions, etc.
Language Expressions =
* modal certainty & obligation (modalization)
* Use of signals of distance and power.
Tone= Firm, Assertive, Decisive, Distant, impersonal (invasion of reader’s
territory & freedom)
Style = Formal and very formal

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 THE TONE IN PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS
TONE: DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION ( ) / 2
MODAL FORMS:
• modal and lexical-modal auxiliaries expressing certainty or conviction:
MUST, BE SURE TO, BE BOUND TO, ETC.; expressing obligation and necessity:
MUST, WILL, IS/ARE TO, HAVE TO, ETC.,
• lexical verbs: CLAIM, BELIEVE, ASSUME, CONVINCE, TRUST, KNOW, ASSURE,
ADMIT, ASSERT, ETC.,
• modal nouns: ASSUMPTION, BELIEF, CERTAINTY, CLAIM, CONFIDENCE,
EVIDENCE, ETC.,
• modal disjuncts expressing conviction: CERTAINLY, SURELY, CLEARLY,
OBVIOUSLY, ETC., or claiming that what is said is true: ESSENTIALLY,
FUNDAMENTALLY, ETC.,
• modal adjectives: IT IS EVIDENT THAT, WHAT IS SURE, ETC.
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 THE TONE IN PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS
HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION ( )/1

Participants Relationship =
TWO PEOPLE OF EQUAL AUTHORITY & STATUS.
Communicative Function = to put forward ideas and express possible courses of actions.
Language Expressions =
* modalization with neutral language forms & questions.
* use of hedges (approximators, emotionally-charged intensifiers, etc.,)
* Language forms to express solidarity, requiring the reader’s participation and involvement.
Neutral Tone = with greater deference towards the reader, more personal and close to the
reader.
Style = less formal and also neutral
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 THE TONE IN PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS

HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION ( )/2

MODAL FORMS
• modal auxiliaries expressing probability or reasonable inference: WOULD (NOT),
SHOULD (NOT), OUGHT (NOT) TO, ; expressing possibility: MAY (NOT), MIGHT
(NOT), COULD, CAN; expressing requests: CAN? COULD? WILL? WOULD?
• lexical verbs: EXPECT, FEEL, THINK, DOUBT, GUESS, SUGGEST, SEEM, ETC.,
• modal nouns: POSSIBILITY, PROBABILITY, DOUBT, CHANCE, UNCERTAINTY,
ETC.,
• modal disjuncts expressing some degree of doubt: PROBABLY, POSSIBLY, IN
PRINCIPLE, ETC.,
• modal adjectives: IT IS LIKELY, IT IS POSSIBLE, ETC.,
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 THE TONE IN PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS
HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION ( )/3

MODAL FORMS (CONTINUED)

• downtoners (compromisers): KIND OF, SORT OF, REALLY, QUITE, ETC.
• hedges: expressions (AS IT IS LIKELY, AS IT IS KNOWN, ETC.,) approximators
(SOMEWHAT, QUITE, APPROXIMATELY, ETC.,), emotionally-charged intensifiers (OF
PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE, EXTREMELY INTERESTING/DIFFICULT, ETC.,)
OTHER LANGUAGE STRATEGIES
• the pronoun we: AS WE DEDUCE, WE EXPECT THAT, ETC.,
• adjectives & adverbs to recognize the values of other members’ work: SIGNIFICANT(LY),
HOPEFUL(LY), ETC.,
• adjectives & adverbs as diminishers: ONLY, SIMPLY, MERELY, PLAIN, EASY, MODEST,
UNEXPECTEDLY, ETC.,
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 THE TONE IN PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS
UPWARD COMMUNICATION ( ) / 1

Participants Relationship =
A SUBORDINATE WRITES TO A SUPERIOR.
Communicative Function = to persuade the reader to accept a particular point of view
(recommend, suggest, request, ask for permission, giving feedback, etc.)
Language Expressions =
* modalization with neutral language forms & questions (may, might, should, would, It seems to
be, it appears that ...)
* impersonalization, hedges & pessimism language expressions with negative content.
Tentative, impersonal & Respectful Tone = the writer recognizes and respects the reader’s
territory and freedom.
Style = Formal/ very formal
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 THE TONE IN PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS
UPWARD COMMUNICATION ( ) / 2
MODAL FORMS: THE SAME FORMS AS THE ONES USED IN HORIZONTAL
COMMUNICATION.
OTHER LANGUAGE STRATEGIES -
• IMPERSONALIZATION + HEDGES
1. the passive construction
2. impersonal verbs: THERE IS/ARE, + nominalizations (abstract words formed from verbs and
adjectives): IMPLEMENTATION, ASSURANCE, SAFETY, DIFFICULTY, ETC.,
3. the empty ‘it’ in combination with the passive: IT IS SUGGESTED, IT IS RECOMMENDED,
ETC.,
4. approximators: SOMEWHAT, APPROXIMATELY, ETC.,),
5. emotionally-charged intensifiers: (OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE, EXTREMELY
INTERESTING/DIFFICULT, ETC.,)
6. pessimism expressions/words: PROBLEMS, DIFFICULTIES, INCONVENIENCES, TO
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RESOLVE, ETC.
HOMEWORK FOR WEEK 3:
Practice on the tone of the communication

Complete the exercises related to the tone of the communication provided in the
document:
“Worksheet 3 week 3”, available in Moodle.

Class work: TASK 1 FOR WEEK 5 (Start working on it from now!!!)

GROUP WORK:
 Contrastive analysis of 2 texts with the same topic but with different levels of
expertise + analysis and translation of technical and semi-technical terms (delivery
on 1st October through Moodle and later presentation in the class of week 5).
 Compare both texts by following the guidelines provided in the document
“Task 1 Comparative Analysis of 2 Articles- Guidelines” in Moodle, Unit 3/ week 3.
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