SPOKEN DISCOURSE VS.

WRITTEN DISCOURSE Task: Read the extract from the conversation first and note anything which would seem wrong if this were a piece of written English (+ indicates that the speaker pauses) I. : '.R.: I. .: can I + !ust "efore we get on I I the correct response in these little social niceties + !ust say that I don#t find the + I don$t find the name %tanley + my father is&is %tanley and that#s a very low "low( )aurie no + it#s !ust that he is a %tanley + he#s a perfect %tanley + he#s nothing like a %tan + %tan doesn#t seem to me to "e a diminutive of %tanley + it seems to "e a completely different name altogether + my there are exceptions to every rule my father#s always "een a %tanley and he#s proud to "ear the name and I can only suggest that the word %tanley is so low in your esteem "ecause occasionally it is shortened to %tan I mean + I could have had + you could have had the opposite + I suppose er + if at certain stages( I think er( if em +en ynen had "een called +enneth he would have er have said please +enneth + my name is +en + not +enneth + it#s very interesting that + that particular aspect of er diminutives + kind of rather class,conscious aspect + +en )ivingstone is +en )ivingstone and not +enneth )ivingstone + eh + -uite a different character + ony Eden + -uite different from .nthony Eden.

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012 RE.3 4E RE'1R 15 4E 6107ER%. I10 3iminutives 8 . -uestion of eti-uette . radio programme "roadcast last week posed an interesting -uestion of social eti-uette. 4ow %hould you respond to a stranger who addresses you using a shortened form of your name which you dislike intensely9 he -uestion arose as the result of an incident in which a person using the diminutive %tan( in this way( had "een curtly re"uffed. he programme( which presented itself as a conversation "etween friends( offered a variety of views and attitudes. It was felt( for instance( that a diminutive is not !ust another version of the same name "ut a different name altogether and that some people feel more comforta"le identified with the short version and others with the long. here was a suggestion that class,consciousness plays a part here. +en )ivingstone( the %ocialist leader of the :reater )ondon 6ouncil( identifies himself with the working class and for that reason would "e very unlikely to call himself +enneth. 1n the other hand( it would seem improper to refer to a certain former 'rime *inister as ony rather than .nthony Eden. 5urthermore( some people actually change from one version to another to suit various social purposes. he -uestion of the correct response was not finally settled. 0o dou"t this was "ecause different temperaments will respond differently in any social situation. here will always "e those who prefer politeness and harmony at any cost and those who feel so strongly a"out something that they are prepared to disrupt that harmony in order to make a point.

5I)) I0 4E 51))12I0: 64.R 2I 4 RE5ERE06E 1 4E 21 E; %( 01 I0: .0< 'R1=)E*% <1> 4.7E 2ritten report 0um"er of sentences 0um"er of contracted forms 0um"er of informal words 6onversation

WRITTEN VS. SPOKEN COMMUNICATION LANGUAGE 2ritten 'lanned 6omplex sentences 6omplex syntax (hypotaxis) *any discourse markers 6orrect grammar 6omplex$precise voca"ulary 5ormal style 6omplex 0's %ustained functions )ittle redundancy %poken unplanned @incomplete sentences# simplified syntax (parataxis) fewer discourse markers false starts simpler$less specific voca"ulary informal style( slang stock phrases( idioms alternating functions much redundancy

MESSAGE 2ritten 4igh info density ransactional )ogical A concise 6ontext independent 'lanned %poken low info density interactional ram"ling A repetitious context dependent unplanned

INTERACTION 2ritten 3oes not take place in real time 0on,reciprocal 0o feed"ack 0o negotiation 0o non,ver"al support )ong turns %poken takes place in real time reciprocal instant feed"ack message negotiated non,ver"al support short A long turns