Assignment No.

2
Romarate , Niña Mae B.
MAED English
SPEECH REGISTERS

Introduction

Beaugrande (1993) and Matthiessen (1993), the forerunner of the concept of

register was the restricted language – a term coined by J. R. Firth, who defined it as a
variety ‘serving a circumscribed field of experience or action’, which ‘can be said to
have its own grammar and dictionary’ (Firth 1957: 87; 98).
Firthian ideas were further pursued by his disciple, the British Australian linguist
M.A.K. Halliday, who is credited to have introduced the term into mainstream
linguistic discourse. He contrasted the concept of register with that of dialect, labeling
the former as a variety according to the use, and the latter as a variety according to the
user. In other words, ‘a register is a variety defined by reference to the social
context – it is a function of what you are doing at the time’ while ‘a dialect is a
variety of a language that is defined by reference to the speaker: the dialect you speak
is a function of who you are’ (Halliday 1978: 157). A register is thus a variety of
language which corresponds to a variety of situation, and should be viewed as a
semantic concept. ‘Since it is a configuration of meanings, a register must also, of
course, include the expressions, the lexicogrammatical and phonological features,
that typically accompany or realize these meanings’ (Halliday and Hassan 1991:
39).
Below are two registers that are knowingly to have significant differences. These
registers were chosen and carefully presented to the respondents for their individual
responses to elicit their defining characteristics. The first register is when the
student has a face-to-face conversation with his/her teacher, who is also a friend,
inside the classroom (Formal). Second register is when the student has a face-to-
face conversation with his/her teacher, who is also a friend, outside the classroom
(Casual). The guiding questions used are below:

1. How do you conversate with your teacher, who is also a friend, inside the
classroom?
2. How do you conversate with your teacher, who is also a friend, outside the
classroom?
3. What is the level of formality of the language used?

Discussions

The following are the responses for register 1.

The student has a face-to-face conversation with his/her teacher, who is also a
friend, inside the classroom (Formal).

The data gathered from the written interview show that the informants use a
formal language in having conversations with their teacher, who is also a friend,
inside the classroom. The informants also exhibit great high respect to their teacher
inside the classroom even though they are friends outside the classroom.
But as seen in the response of informant one, it is stated that when a teacher starts
to converse in friendly manner, then that will be an indication that he/she can respond
in the same manner. But, it is also stated that even though the teacher speaks in a
Assignment No. 2
Romarate , Niña Mae B.
MAED English
friendly manner, how they normally speak outside, he/ she will still instill the respect
because they are still in the school.
On the other hand, informant 3 and 4 stated that it is always important to instil
discipline in school. Regardless of the how close you are with your friend, boundaries
and gaps between you and your different roles inside the school especially in the
classroom should be highly observed.
Lastly, the informants have a consistency in the formality of language used in the
classroom. They all stated that they use formal language to express their full respect
to their teacher regardless it’s their friend.

Informant 1: The level of formality I conversate my teacher (friend) inside the

classroom is high, but sometimes it depends if the teacher started the friendly-type
conversation but still my respect is still high. Inside the classroom is I have to
consider decency.

Informant 2: Inside the classroom we should know that being a friend and a student
are separate things if we are inside the classroom we should respect and treat our
friend like a teacher

Informant 3: We all can be friends with our teacher, but for me (chaaroot rani
whahah) I will talk to the teacher with respect and know the boundaries even
though were friends. As a student, I must also have the discipline on the proper
approach to a teacher. Have formality during classes.

Informant 4: If my teacher is my friend too, I’ll talk to him/her according to our set
up as student and teacher relationship. I will respect her more as a teacher. I still put
a gap between our status.
if we’re inside the classroom and have our student teacher relationship I must be
formal to my teacher whom my friend at the same time. Inside the classroom, he/she
is not my ordinary friend but a teacher. No matter how close are we to each other but
still I have to give her my full respect give her my full respect to her profession.

Informant 5: in the formal way, giving the teacher respect. I don’t really see my
teacher’s superiority I treat them as my guiding family member my teacher is also my
friend inside the classroom. this is balance it depends in the person in front of me
sometime I use formal

The next part are the responses of the informants on the second register presented (
The student has a face-to-face conversation with his/her teacher, who is also a
friend, outside the classroom (Casual).

Most of the informants stated that outside the classroom they converse with their
teacher, who is also their friend, formally, informally, and casually but it also depends
on the degree of closeness.
Informant 1 stated that the degree of closeness will greatly impact the way how
they conversate with each other. He further stated that if he/ has a very close bond
with the teacher so he/she will use a very informal language just like how they usually
talk with each other. But, it is also stated that there is still a gap observed since his/
her profession is a teacher.
Assignment No. 2
Romarate , Niña Mae B.
MAED English
However, informant 3 stated that every time he/she approaches the teacher
outside the classroom, he/ she always observe formality but there are a lot of times
that he/she forgets about it especially when they share ideas or talk about things. So
all in all, he/ uses semi-formal language or a mixture of formal and informal just like
the rest of the informants.
Informant 4 added that if they are outside the classroom, they should avoid
talking about school works or anything that is happening inside their classroom. But,
it is also exhibited that casuality in the language is used as a medium of
communication.

Informant 1: The level of formality I covers ate my teacher (friend) outside the
classroom depends on what kind of friend-relation we have. If we have a relation
like "wild" friends then the level of formality is low but still i have to be aware of
the gap we have and also put all the jokes in place and my respect still high as we
are in the classroom

Informant 2: Like normal friends. I use casual language in talking with her since
we are outside the classroom.

Informant 3: I approach the teacher with formality but there are times also that I
forgot to be formal hehehe. Especially when sharing thoughts... For me the level of
formality is somewhat semi-formal

Informant 4: If my teacher is my friend at the same time, I will communicate him/her

outside as how we’ve known each other. If we can avoid not to talk about what’s
happening inside the class outside then we’ll surely do.
if we’re outside the classroom. I am casual to my teacher for I know that we have
to consider also our status as a friend. I believe that their is always a right place for
everything. If we can act as normal student and teacher inside the classroom then we
can act also outside the normal status that we have.

Informant 5: formal same time informal if the teacher is in the same in line with
my age and knowing my limits how ever elderly teachers still conversate with
formality and respect . a friend outside? classmates but also my teacher i also had a
teacher who is always know to have fun outside and be formal in the classroom

In this paper, the first register is a Formal Register while the second one is a Casual
Register.

The informants elicited that the characteristics of a Formal register considerably

respects the place of discourse. In the first register which is the formal register, the
informants used formal tone of language. There is expression of respect in
acknowledging the boundary or the gap. There is also and indicator when it comes to
their role in the classroom.
In the second register which is the Casual Register, the informants elicited that in
talking with their teacher outside the classroom, they instil the language of respect of
their friend’s profession. The language used and words are semi formal and casual.
With regards to the degree of closeness and topic talked about, the language used also
vary from casual to informal.
Assignment No. 2
Romarate , Niña Mae B.
MAED English
The only similarity is that, regardless of the place of discourse, there is still some
kind of formality in some language used considering that their friend is a teacher. The
profession of the person was used as basis for the language used by the informants.
The responses of the informants went over the papers expectations that they will
change the language used in the classroom informally because of the change in the
place of discourse. Instead of changing, the formality of language was expressed even
outside the classroom. The informants elicited a consistent answer in both registers.

Below are the applicable situational characteristics of the two registers: the student
has a face-to-face conversation with his/her teacher, who is also a friend, inside
the classroom (Formal) and the student has a face-to-face conversation with
his/her teacher, who is also a friend, outside the classroom (Casual).

 Participant. The conversation between the participants has something to do

with their individual differences. The other participant is a student and the
other is a professional one. The presence of the on-lookers also impacted how
they converse with each other.
 Relations Among Participants. In both the registers, personal relationship
between the participants impacted how they converse with each other.
However, in the second register, shared knowledge in both the participants
may also open casual conversation.
 Channel. Both of the registers are using face-to-face conversation. This can
actually delimit their conversation.
 Production Circumstances. Since the registers happened in real time,
conversations are actually just softly flowing between the participants.
 Setting. The place of communication is shared by the participants in both
registers. In the first register, the setting could be seen as private/ formal since
it is in the school and probably participants will exhibit formality and
professionalism in conversation. While in the second register, the setting is
public since it is happening outside the school. This can greatly indicate how
participants converse with each other.
 Communicative Purposes & Topic. In both the registers provided, there is
no communicative purposes and topic mentioned.