Tertiary Education Commission Teaching Adults to Listen and Speak to Communicate: Using the Learning Progressions

Using formal and informal language

SpVoc SpL&T SpStr
The purpose of the activity
Most adults are able to adjust and adapt their speaking
to match the audience, the purpose and the situation
or context. For example, we can move from the
informal familiar talk at home or with friends to the
more formal style of talk needed in a job interview.
These are examples of changing the register.
Some learners may require support with recognising
and making these shifts, especially if English is not
their mother tongue. The purpose of this activity is
to raise awareness of these different kinds of talk
and to provide learners with options.
The teaching points
Learners will identify situations in which people
change the way they talk.
Variations in register (including specifc uses
of vocabulary and language and text features)
are discussed and practised.
Learners extend their repertoire and
understand when a different register is
appropriate.
Resources
Track 3.
CD or other player.
The guided teaching and learning sequence
1. Explain the purpose of the activity (to explore
the ways we talk in different situations) and ask
the learners to discuss situations in which they
talk in different ways. Do you talk to your best
friends the same way that youd talk to your
boss? Why is that? What are some of the things
you might say differently?
2. Have the learners role play in pairs, taking
turns to assume roles such as mother and
teenager (Turn that awful racket off!), worker
and the big boss (Would it be ok if I?), TV
reporter and person being interviewed, tagger
and police offcer. If necessary, remind them
to keep it clean although this may restrict the
range of vocabulary used!
3. Debrief, prompting the learners to think about
specifc words and phrases they use when they
are talking. For example, what words do they use
to refer to members of the opposite sex? How
well do they construct sentences when talking
to a friend compared with talking to a teacher?
4. Use examples to illustrate the continuum
between slang or informal speech and formal
writing. Model this if necessary, by giving
examples such as:
We might say, Give it to me now! but in a
book we might see it written as Could you
please pass that to me?
A person talking to a friend might say
The kids were always sticking flthy whatsits
in their gobs the mum was just useless.
A report written by a social worker might
read The children frequently put dirty
toys in their mouths. The mother was not
maintaining any order. Extend this concept
by using the follow-up activity below.
5. Encourage the learners to discuss these
differences, helping them to identify specifc
words and phrases they could use in
different situations.
Tertiary Education Commission Teaching Adults to Listen and Speak to Communicate: Using the Learning Progressions
Follow-up activity
Make a continuum to show the range of formality
from casual talking through to formal writing. Copy
the chart below and cut it up to make a set of cards.
Make a line across a table or the wall or foor and
write slang at one end and formal writing on
the other. Leave the rest of the line blank and ask
learners to place the cards on the line according
to how informal or formal the speaking or writing
represented on the card would be. They will need
to spend time discussing the placements and
changing positions as they share their ideas and
understanding.
Use track 3 on the CD to discuss the many examples
of informal or alternative language use. It may be
helpful to have the transcript on hand as you do
this: see Appendix F for details on how to obtain
transcripts for the CD tracks.
Phone a friend Write a shopping list Place an order for materials Write a profle on the
internet
Apply for a job Write a text message Buy something online Write a report
Email to family Write an assignment Leave a phone message
to make an appointment
Share a joke with mates
Give instructions at work Explain a procedure Describe an accident at
work
Make a speech or
presentation
Introduce yourself at a
po
-
whiri
Discuss sport with friends Meet new partners family Email a tutor to ask about
an assignment