Writing on Formal and Informal Language

Stylistic features of informal/formal speech

Phonological PatterningAlliteration, Assonance, Rhythm, Rhyme, Consonance, Onomatapaeia Syntactic PatterningAntithesis, Listing, Parallelism, Passive Voice, Nominalisation Morphological PatterningAffixation, Compounding Lexical Choice and Semantic PatterningIrony, Metaphor, Simile, Autonomy, Synonymy, Idiom, Denotation, Connotation, Euphemism, Dysphemism, Stylistic Features of Informal SpeechPauses, Repetition, False Starts, Repairs, Openings and Closings, Adjacency Pairs, Overlapping Speech, Interrogative Tags, Discourse Particles, Ellipsis, Self Correction, Contractions and reductions, Fillers

Discourse Features of Informal Language Encouraging intimacy, solidarity, and equalityMaintaining positive face needsPromoting linguistic innovationSupporting in-group membershipInclusive LanguageSlangJargon- Supporting in-group membership and inclusive

languageNeologisms- Promoting Linguistic Innovation and age specific

Neologisms

Discourse Features of Formal LanguageReinforcing social distance and authorityEstablishing expertisePromoting social harmony and negotiating social taboosClarifying, manipulating and obfuscatingReinforcing social distance and authority Use of titles, formal expressionEstablishing expertise JargonPromoting Social Harmony and negotiating social taboos EuphemismClarifying, Manipulating and obfuscating Double speak, euphemism

Conversation StrategiesOpenings/ClosingsTag QuestionsGetting/Holding the floorTurn TakingAdjacency PairsManaging TopicsNon- Fluency featuresSilenceAccommodationBackchannel signalsMinimal responsesListening noises

Coherence and Cohesive Ties

Coherence: The semantic connections that exist within a text to make it meaningful; ie, if a text is coherent, it makes sense.

Cohesion: The linguistic connections and ties that exist between the words and sentences to give structure to a text.

Coherence and Cohesive Ties: Deixis, Substitution, Ellipsis, Collocation, Repetition