4.2 Spoken vs. Written discourse
Evidently, even if we are talking about the same language, there are differences between its spoken and its written ‘versions’. It is not really that there are two versions of the same language; it is just that there are two means to use the language to communicate. Spoken and written language do have similarities, for instance, they both use the same language system; but in this section we will focus on the differences between them.
Stop and think
Stop and think
It is clear that there are differences between spoken and written language.
Think of as many differences as you can.
People use the language for communicating through coherent and cohesive stretches of language. In other words, they normally use more than a couple of words and sentences; they produce longer stretches of language by putting words and sentences together. These chunks of language must follow each other and be connected in a logical way in order to transmit a specific message. This process is called discourse, and its linguistic product is called text.
As people can communicate through the spoken and written means, there are spoken and written discourses and spoken and written texts. These discourses and texts develop different features due mainly to the different conditions in which they are produced, which relate to two factors: time and audience.
When speaking, time pressure does not allow much planning, while in writing there is usually plenty of time to plan. Regarding audience, when writing, the reader is not present, and this makes it almost impossible to get immediate feedback. This implies that when writing, we must compensate for this lack with clearer and explicit language, which usually makes written discourse more formal. On the other hand, when speaking, the listener is present and can give immediate feedback to what is being said. This implies that when speaking, the message can be understood with fewer words, which usually makes spoken discourse more informal.
It does not mean that speaking will always be spontaneous and informal, or that writing will be always formal and planned. Still, it is a good start to set the differences between spoken and written discourses relying on the factors of time and audience as established on the previous paragraph, as they are more evident in this way.
LAS Activity 404. Spoken vs. Written discourse
LAS 404 Activity 04. Spoken vs. Written discourse (Part one)
Instructions
1. Classify the following characteristics into spoken or written discourse features. After you finish, check PART TWO of the activity.
Example
Type of phrase
LAS Activity 404. Spoken vs. Written discourse
LAS 404 Activity 04. Spoken vs. Written discourse (Part two)
Instructions
2. Now that you have the correct classification, in the following table, pair each characteristic of Spoken discourse with its corresponding opposite of Written discourse. There is an example at the beginning. You can copy and paste the characteristics if it is easier for you that way.
Written discourse
- Reference outside the text is usually to background knowledge.
- Neither idiomatic nor strongly regional expressions are frequent.
- Interruptions, overlapping and back-channeling devices practically inexistent.
- Noun phrases are often long, with pre and post-modification.
- Vocabulary is more specific, more precise.
- The main unit of grammar is the sentence, often with complex subordinate clauses.
- Words can hardly ever be omitted.
- Repetition and paraphrase are uncommon.
- Nominalisation is frequently found.
- Vocabulary often includes items that are rare, of low frequency.
- Lexical density is high.
- Deletions, additions and corrections are found only in drafts.
- Interactive expressions are uncommon.
Spoken discourse
Written discourse
1. e.g. Body language, stress and intonation provide additional information on mood and attitude.
Written discourse
Mood and attitude are conveyed mainly through lexical choices.
2. Deixis (reference to the situational context) is common.
3. Hesitations, pauses, fillers, false starts, backtracking and incomplete utterances are part of the finished product.
4. Idiomatic and regional expressions are frequently used.
5. The main unit of grammar is the clause – linked mostly by coordinating conjunctions (e.g. and, but) or pauses.
6. Interruptions and overlapping are common, as well as backchanneling devices (Mmm, Yeah, I see).
7. Interactive expressions are frequently used (you know, do you know what I mean?, tag questions).
8. Noun phrases are short and, post-modification is less frequent.
9. Lexical density is low.
10. Nominalisation is rare.
11. Vague language is common (expressions like sort of, and so on); more general words are used (e.g. thing, stuff).
12. Omission of words is common (e.g. leaving out the subject in a sentence).
13. Repetition and paraphrase are common.
14. Vocabulary consists mainly of high frequency items.
LAS Activity 405. Contrasting Spoken vs. Written discourse (PORTFOLIO)
Instructions
1. Study the following conversation and see if you can work out what it is about. If possible, dramatise the dialogue by reading it aloud.
Jim: Oh, this is beautiful!
Ros: Oh, yes, that’s right.
Jim: Is that how you… you wanted it hard boiled, didn’t you?
Ros: Yes, that’s… that’s what I call hard.
Jim: Well, uhh… do you want to have this one?
Ros: No, you have that one, ‘cause this one must be harder, mustn’t it?
Jim: Doesn’t necessarily follow.
Ros: Yes, surely it… oh, you’re right, it doesn’t.
Jim: Depends which one went in first, you know.
Ros: Yes, you’re right, well, look, ehh… in a minute we’ll know.
* Now consider this written account of the conversation.
Fran, Jim and Ros went away together one Easter holiday weekend. They spent the first night in a holiday cabin. In the morning, they got up and prepared breakfast in the tiny kitchen.
Ros and Jim both decided to have boiled egg, while Fran, who didn’t like eggs, settled simply for a toasted Easter bun and coffee. The breakfast preparations proceeded very cordially, though some confusion was caused by the fact that Ros placed the two eggs in the boiling water at different times. Subsequently, she was not able to tell which egg had been in the water longer, though she particularly wanted a hard-boiled egg herself.
Adapted from Nunan (1993).
2. What differences can you notice between the two extracts?
- Enumerate the differences and relate as many of them as possible to the features of spoken and written discourse mentioned in LAS 404 Spoken vs. Written discourse.
- There is an example for each case at the beginning.
- Download the following Word file.
LAS Activity 405 word document
3. Once you finish this activity, save it as PDF, name it LAS_405_LastName_FirstName, and upload it in Eminus in the corresponding section in ‘Actividades’.
This portfolio activity is 0.3 from your total portfolio points (2.0).
This portfolio activity is 0.3 from your total portfolio points (2.0).As can be seen, unplanned spoken discourse and planned written discourse are very different from each other. Nevertheless, we have also mentioned that they do not always occur under these circumstances. This material, for example, uses a few expressions that are more commonly found in spoken discourse, such as question tags or fillers. Why do you think it is so? Well, it is mainly to make the material not that formal and more interactive in order to establish a sort of more personal relationship with the readers… Hope it’s kind of worked...