Mode

Agenda

• Finish mode• Language use and language users

Key Terms –note these down as we go…Prototype modelVariationRegisterSituation of useSituational characteristicsDialectAccentSociolectIdiolect

Starter: DiscussionDiscuss with your partner the mode of your homework text. Focus on:1. How spoken mode features

in writing help to convey meaning

2. How the language choices that text producers make depend on the convention of the medium they are writing in

3. How the language choices text producers make depend on their own purposes for communicating

Does this text demonstrate characteristics of both modes? Where?

How can we identify mode?

Writing is: Speaking is:Objective Interpersonal

A monologue A dialogue

Durable Ephemeral

Planned Spontaneous

Highly structured Loosely structured

Grammatically complex Grammatically simple

Concerned with the past and future

Concerned with the present

Formal Informal

Decontextualised Contextualised

Check your answers

The prototype model

A final way of thinking about mode and distinguishing between types is to categorise and classify based on a prototype model.In any given category, there will be ‘good’ and ‘less good’ examples.

= a model of looking at differences within a category or mode by thinking about typical and less typical examples.

The prototype model

?

?

?

Place the three texts we have looked at in their correct position on the prototype model.

Language use and language users

Variation is a key characteristic of both language use and language users.This means that language variation is always systematic in that language choices are always influenced by contextual factors.

= The differences associated with particular instances of language use and between groups of language users

Register

The register we use (which can be written or spoken) depends on the context, or situation of use.For example:• A teacher teaching 6th form class• A written report of a hotel• Buying chips in the fish and chip shop• A work meeting with your line managerWhat is the implication of these contexts for the register that will be chosen?

= A variety of language that is associated with a particular situation of use

= A specific place, time and context in which communication takes place

Situational Characteristics (key aspects of context)

The relationship between the situational characteristics and language choices is crucial since they motivate a speaker/writer to adopt a certain register.If someone was delivering a speech at someone’s wedding anniversary, what approach might they take?

= A key characteristic of the time, place and contexts in which communication takes place

How can we identify situational characteristics?

• Who are the people communicating?• What is their relationship?• Where is the setting?• Are they communicating face to face or

are they separated in time and place (e.g. by email, telephone, letter)?

• What is the purpose of the communication?

Look at the conversation between Alice and Gill again. Does their register match the context?

What do you notice about the text given its context? What is its context?

Language Users

How does your language differ to other people’s? Discuss.

• Regional variation (dialect/accent)• (Word and structure/pronunciation)

• Social group variation (sociolect)• E.g. Rugby club vs. London fashion

week?• Individual group variation (idiolect)• Your ‘speech style’

= Variation in words and structures associated with a particular geographical region

= Variation in pronunciation associated with a particular geographical region

= Variation in language use associated with membership of a particular social group

= Variation in language use associated with an individual’s personalised ‘speech style’

Talking point

What about age and

gender? Do these also affect our

language use?

Representation

e.g. tabloid vs. broadsheetHow might both these types of newspaper writing report the election of Jeremy Corbyn differently?

= the portrayal of events, people and circumstances through language and other meaning-making resources (e.g. Images and sound) to create a way of seeing the world

A way of seeing the world

How does this story ‘see the world’? What clues are there that identify representation in this text?

Homework

Rewrite the story of ‘The Tiger who Came to Tea’ so that is demonstrates different representation.

Or, compare the differences between adverts in the 1860s and 1960s.How are they different?