Linguistic Aspects of English Communication - Essay Example

Spoken and written English texts may differ from each other linguistically Table of Content Serial Number and Heading Page Number 0 Introduction 02 2.0 Analysis 03 3.0 History of Influence 06 4.0 Conclusion 07 5.0 References 07 1.0 Introduction English is spoken by almost all people around the world today. English is ubiquitous in the sphere of business and pleasure. Without spoken English, various countries would find it difficult to communicate and develop relationships. This does not mean that non-English speaking countries don't manage their PR well. They do, but with the help of interpreters and translators. A lot of countries that do not have English as their mother-tongue have English as their first or second language. This tool (language) is acquired to assist people in social action. Does a spoken and written English text differ from each other linguistically This question has fascinated numerous academic researchers who have shed light on the learning process and the nature of the language itself; how language works and how it is used (Mercer and Swann, p.1, 1996)1. In conversation, linguists have viewed informal conversation as rather disorderly, the ubiquitous inexplicitness in usage; predominant from one country to another, frivolous use of subject matter and postulated with a high proportion of grammatical errors. Informal talk is of course largely unplanned because it comes spontaneously, without the speaker pausing for a moment to think. Welcome to the world of spoken English. Spoken and written English texts can differ from each other linguistically. There is a high percentage of local language influence in the way a person talks or writes. Besides, a look at an informal conversation exposes the linguistic difference between the medium of speech and letters. The conversation between Julie and her tutor (Cheepen and Monaghan, 1990, p.199) reflect the depth of variation in an informal conversation, when recorded on paper. Before we proceed to dissect two examples; one written, and the other spoken, a few points that characterize fundamental changes in writing and speech are: While in speech, one has the facility to change intonation pattern to convey moods, the same cannot be said of the written channel. In order to bring some semblance to such a theory, effort is made through underling, parenthesizing, punctuating and denoting of words and letters through capital letters. Speech is accompanied by gestures and movement to express situations. This is nowhere possible in written media. However, various styles of writing do try to bring an analogy to such situations. Where a speaker uses pauses and silence, an identical situation is created through the use of gaps and dots. There are no direct equivalents to names or places as seen in written, where Capital Letters start a sentence or names. Though there is a likeness to writing of spoken English, the differences are too conspicuous to be hidden under the rug. There is a spectrum of difference between spoken and written English linguistically (Czerniewska, Differences in structure and function, 1985). 2.0 Analysis In order to understand the difference between written and spoken language, the following sources; one written and the other spoken have been selected for analysis: 1. letter sent to G.D. Jayalakshmi Well; both Chi, Sow, Sukanye and I, are very pleased to learn that the children liked the toys I posted. This time I have sent a few books which they may like. We are pleased to learn that Dr. Lakani was very much impressed by their progress in speech. We are also happy to hear that the children, they are standing erect and trying to move in the erect positive. We are eagerly awaiting to see their later photos. Town, Chi-ry, Jaggu has safely landed in GAINSVILLG. We heard that the he landed safely at New-York and had to stay their for the night as he did not have time to catch his flight to Orlando. Perhaps, he must have reached his destination safely by Sat. evening (American time). He may join his duties as per schedule on 23/5/94 by the grace of God. May God bless you all. Pl.reply From the above letter sent to G. D. Jayalakshmi, we see that the writer has penned lines as if he were talking to her. The influence of local dialect can be seen in the usage of words Chi and Sow. He starts the letter with the word 'Well' and there is a break (pause) in the sentence, before he continues. This style of writing is similar to a person in conversation. The writer by inserting a semi-colon after 'Well', is attempting to stress an emotional expression. The letter moves from one plot to another without a semblance of sequence. The letter is more of a dialogical representation, than a formal letter. The writer anticipates Jayalakshmi's assumption of what is being written and leaves it to the reader to apprehend. The sentences lack coherence and this reflects on the bad grammar of the writer. This could have been a good conversation, but lacks basic linguistic qualities. The phrases 'eagerly awaiting, latest photos and erect posture', suggest the formality in writing, but the numerous references to people and feelings can be seen to be closer to the subjective involvement of oral communication. The letter represents a more informal style of conversational personal letter. There are obvious differences between speech and writing. Spoken language includes hesitations, self-corrections and interruptions, and a part of the meaning can be conveyed through intonation and gestures. Besides, spoken language is pro-active and a speech is countered by another, which either asks a question or makes a statement. The dialogue is spontaneous and certainly dialogic. On the other hand, written English should be organised, and follow standard conventions that preclude spelling, punctuation, and the organisation of text to form proper sentences and paragraphs. 2. Conversation between Lorina and Karen Lorina: 'Igh School was all right, I reckon, in Bourke Karen: Yeah it used to be good when we all, when all our friends, but they all dropped out Lorina: Like, well I was, I was about the last one left out of all my friends at 'igh school, so Karen: You went right through, we all pull out Lorina: It was sort of lonely, actually, like I was, I was left there and I was sort of like there was no one else you can talk to, so () Karen: I reckon it was good there, at first, in year seven when we first went, we thought we was real big there too (laughter). () Maybe not, in year seven, eh. Lorina: All these big, all these other g- fellas eh, all the other kids. (em) Those days out on the ramp, sitting out there in recess you know, sitting out in the sun out in winter time. Karen: Sit down there, never used to move there, didn't like moving out of the sun The above snippet from the conversation between Lorina and Karen shows how, when translated on paper grotesquely reveals the flaw of language grammatically. Spoken language includes hesitations, self-corrections, interruptions, emphasis on syllables, and a general part of the exercise using intonation and gestures. This when written on paper has wide implications on structure and language. They hardly make any sense, without interpretation. This is overtly conspicuous in the dialogues between Lorina and Karen. Consider the following sentence used by Lorina, "All these big, all these other g- fellas eh, all the other kids. (Em) Those days out on the ramp, sitting out there in recess you know, sitting out in the sun out in winter time". This strongly suggests that some features of spoken English are lost in transcription. The conversation is full of punctuations stressing actions, repetitions, and nonsensical sentence developments. This may be excused as being a part of speech, but when interpreted in writing, the language is a mixture of blatant irregularities and sophistry. We have seen that written English is organised along certain standard conventions concerning spelling, punctuation, and the proper organisation of words into sentences and paragraphs to produce a sensible text. 3.0 History of Influence It is estimated that there are over 300 million native speakers and over 300 million users of English as a second language. Apart from this there are a further 100 million users, who use it as a foreign language. So what attracts so many people to this language A very popular language the world over, English is the most common medium of communication in the world of business, and commerce. It is the language of science, aviation, computing, diplomacy, and tourism. Globalisation has made English that much more important. It is the universal language. It is the only official language that is listed as the official or co-official language in over 45 countries and spoken extensively in other countries where it has no official status (Krysstal, 2002). We have seen that English is now a popular language spoken by natives of almost all nations around the globe. The same language that was inherent as English, is influenced by others, who have borrowed words from languages other than English to suit themselves. A lot of countries have their own native language or 'mother tongue', as it is popularly referred to as. Most of these words have now found their way into the English vocabulary making it a truly international language. With the import of words from other languages, writing differs a lot more than speech, and this is reflected in the grammatical representation of sentences as well (David Crystal, 2003, English as a Global Language). 4.0 Conclusion We have seen that written and spoken English differ from each other linguistically. In conversation, the laws of grammar are thrown out of the window. English being a global language has undergone a lot of transformation, through the import of regional words. First it was Latin, German and French. Subsequently, the spread of English across the globe led to the development of Singlish, Franglais, Tex-Mex, Chinglish, Japlish, Spanglish, Denglish, Angleutsch, and so on. These influences have also led to the differences in written and spoken English. 5.0 References 1.0 Neil Mercer and Joan Swann, Learning English development and diversity, The Open University, Routledge, 1996 2.0 David Crystal, English as a Global Language, Second Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2003 Read More