Text messaging.
The use of informal language in
encouraging intimacy, solidarity and
equality
Unit 3
Area of Study 1
What does this mean?
• Intimacy –
o a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving
personal relationship with another person or group.
o a close association with or detailed knowledge or dee
p
understanding of a place, subject, period of history,
etc.
o an act or expression serving as a token of familiarity,
affection, or the like
o Synonyms: closeness, familiarity, warmth, affection
What does this mean?
• Solidarity –
o union or fellowship arising from common
responsibilities and interests, as between
members of a group
o community of feelings, purposes, etc.
o community of responsibilities and interests.
o Synonyms: unity, cooperation, community
What does this mean?
• Equality –
o the state or quality of being equal;
correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank
or ability
o Synonyms:
equivalency, parity, correspondence, sameness;
justice, fairness, impartiality.
Find a text in your phone:
Find an example of when
informal language is being
used to create intimacy,
solidarity or equality
Metalanguage
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Standard vs non-standard
Situational context
Cultural context
Slang
Jargon
Swearing
Standard vs non-standard
• How does non-standard English help to
establish an informal register?
Situational context
• Function, field/domain, mode, setting,
relationships between participants
• How do these affect the register?
Cultural context
• Values, attitudes and beliefs of participants and
the wider community
• How do these affect the register?
Slang
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An in-group variety
Bound by time and generation
Informal
Usually spoken
Playful
Often employs metaphor, irony, sound
association
• Also often employs shortenings
• Slang is unstable, non-standard, not codified
Jargon
• Language shared by those in a profession, trade
or other occupational or sporting group
• Has the functions of serving as a precise
specialist or technical language for clear and
economical communication and
• To promote in-group solidarity (and possibly
exclude outsiders)
Structuring your paragraphs
• Noted element- What is standing out- what can
you expand on
• Explain- Where do you see this (line numbers)
• I- What is this use of language telling us about
the context/audience/register etc
•E
• I (Can be repeated)
• L- How does this link to a wider
purpose/context- IN the cast of this informality
Sentence starters
• Joel acknowledges this discourse structure
by….(discourse)
• Turn taking is done with good humour
(Conversational strategies)
• The judges’ language is mostly standard.(Lexical)
• This contrasts with the features of the language used
by Harrison and this reflects his personal identity
and position within the discourse. (LexicalHarrison)
• In their effusive praise of Harrison and his
performance, the judges are meeting Harrison’s
positive face needs – (Face needs-)
Example
The judges’ language is mostly standard. There is some use of
slang - ‘guys’ (line 2), ‘brother’ (line 10), ‘awesome dude’ (line 11,
34), ‘man’ (line 35) - and non-standard pronunciation – ‘wanna’
(lines 2, 58-59) and ‘interestin’ (line 12) – but this is appropriate
to the mode and context and probably appreciated by the
audience as it reduces the social distance between all
participants, and humanises the judges. There are some nonfluency features, like repetition (lines 43, 53), pauses (line 47),
fillers (‘you know’ line 48), and a repair (lines 75-76), indicating
the scripted nature of the speech, but, overall, the judges’
language is very coherent and fluid, thus not wholly informal,
this reflects their confidence in the public eye and the need in
this type of role, to be comprehensible for the wider audience.
Short answer task:
• Informal features- Locating them within a text.