OFFICIAL SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES

UNIT 5
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF WRITTEN TEXTS.
STRUCTURE AND FORMAL ELEMENTS
NORMS OF WRITTEN TEXTS.
ROUTINES AND FORMULAS.

1. INTRODUCTION.

2. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SPOKEN AND WRITTEN WORD.

2.1. Syntactic Alterations.

2.1.1. Repetitions.
2.1.2. Incomplete or Incorrect Grammatical Utterances.
2.1.3. Tags to Negotiate Intended Meaning.

2.2. Extra Linguistic Elements.

2.2.1. Gestures.
2.2.2. Body posture.
2.2.3. Eye contact.
2.2.4. Facial expression.

3. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPEECH AND WRITING

4. DIFFERENT TYPES OF WRITTEN TEXTS. STRUCTURE AND FORMAL

ELEMENTS. NORMS OF WRITTEN TEXTS. ROUTINES AND FORMULAS.

4.1. Narrative Texts.

4.2. Argumentative Texts.

4.3. Descriptive Texts.

4.4. Explicative Texts

4.5. Dialogic Texts

4.6. Specific Written Texts

4.6.1. Letters
4.6.2. Curriculum Vitae
4.6.3. E.Mails and Chatrooms

5. CONCLUSION.
1. INTRODUCTION

People often use the word language in a wide sense: the language of music, body
language, and so on.

Linguists describe language as :

..the specialised sound signalling system which seems to be genetically programmed to

develop in humans.

However, linguistics tends to deal almost exclusively with the vocal use of language,
notice the use of the word sound in the above description. Language goes beyond
sounds, gestures, inference, facial expressions, etc. can all come under the heading of
language. So too can writing. In this unit we will be focusing our attention primarily on
the use of graphic symbols to send a message.

Let us first look at what constitutes an act of verbal communication.

Before any communicative act begins there has to be a sender and a receiver, the first,
more commonly known as the speaker will encode a message that he will send through
the channel (in this case speech) to the second, otherwise known as the listener, who
will decode the message within the context of the situation.

We will try to make that a little clearer through the use of the following diagram:

SENDER MESSAGE RECEIVER

(ENCODES) CODE (DECODES)
CHANNEL
(SPEECH)
CONTEXT

 Message:
The intended communication from the sender to the receiver.
 Code:
The system of signs used to transmit the message.
 Channel:
The method used to transmit the message.
 Context:
The situation that the sender and the receiver are in at the moment of speaking. This
situation will help them to encode and to decode the message.

When we move onto written communication, the only parts of the diagram that change
are the channel and the context. The channel is clearly different. Here words are written
and not spoken. The context is different because both the sender and the receiver are in
different places, and often in quite different periods of time. For these reasons it may
often be the case that the message the receiver understands is quite distinct to that which
the sender intended.
We are going to begin this unit by paying particular attention to the differences that
exist between the spoken and the written word, and the system used to transmit them.
The information we will use has been taken from a variety of sources, including: The
Written Word, by A Phillips and Language in Use by Swan.

2. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SPOKEN AND WRITTEN WORD

It should be apparent that there are a great deal of differences between oral and written
discourse. For a start, oral discourse contains a lot of redundant information that comes
about as a result of the complexity of a process that forces both the listener and the
speaker to perform highly complex processes under time pressure.

The kind of redundant information that may occur includes the following:

2.1 Syntactic Alterations.

2.1.1 Repetitions.

It is quite common for the speaker to repeat individual words or phrases in a sentence
when he is speaking at a normal pace, for example:

So, I said to Mary, I said .. I said that I wouldn’t do it.

This clearly doesn’t happen during written communication unless the writer
intentionally uses it as a device to reflect realism in dialogue. The chances of repetitions
happening unintentionally and remaining in the text are greatly reduced, both because
the writer has more time to think about that which he is writing, and because he has the
time to read over and revise his work afterwards, presumably removing any unnecessary
or incorrect syntax.

2.1.2. Incomplete or Incorrect Grammatical Utterances

Even the most adept native speaker can make mistakes when he is speaking. These are
even more true of the language learner, who often makes mistakes about things that he
knows perfectly, due to the pressure that he is under in a discourse situation. Writers of
a language, both native and non-native, tend to make far fewer of these errors, thanks to
the extra time they have to prepare and plan their choice of words.

2.1.3. Tags to Negotiate Intended Meaning.

These can take the form of a question, such as you see? or you know what I mean?, or
they may be a simple noise that we make in order to buy more time to think about what
we are going to say next, such as er, um, etc. In written language, these words are
unnecessary, mainly because we don’t have the receiver in front of us when we are
writing, and therefore we cannot check to ensure that the channel is working.

In addition to these syntactic alterations, we also find extra-linguistic elements that we

use during spoken communication, but not during written.
2.2. Extra-Linguistic Elements.

2.2.1. Gestures.

Most of the gestures that we use when speaking are universal, although there are some
that do not translate into another language, or translate differently. The speaker will
make use of gestures such as shrugging the shoulders or moving the hands to animate
his point.

2.2.2. Body Posture.

The way that we stand says a lot about how we are feeling. When we fold our arms
across our chests we are subconsciously saying that we don’t feel 100 percent
comfortable, and the person that we are speaking to is able to interpret it in this way.
For this reason, when we are speaking to someone we often unintentionally give away
our true feelings.

2.2.3. Eye Contact

How we make eye contact with others can, like body posture, send signs and signals
that are not those that we want to make public. Our pupils grow larger when we are
looking at something or someone that we find attractive, whilst the opposite happens if
what or who we are looking at is unappealing to us. Also, we may find ourselves
avoiding eye contact if we are embarrassed or lying.

2.2.4. Facial Expression.

This is one of the most common tools that the speaker uses in order to add to that which
he is communicating. The raising of the eyebrows to show surprise, frowning or
grimacing to show irritation or revulsion, smiling to show pleasure or happiness, etc.
are all techniques that we use, either deliberately or involuntarily, to add to the message
that we are sending orally.

Clearly, none of the extra linguistic elements mentioned above are available to the
writer, sometimes this can be an advantage and sometimes a disadvantage.

The main disadvantage that the writer has is that he cannot check if he is being
understood or not. The speaker, simply by observing his listener, can tell if the message
being received is the one that he has intended to send.

The speaker also has the advantage of being able to use the natural rise and fall of the
voice. In a stress-timed language such as English, rhythm and intonation play a vital
role in ensuring that the message is received in the correct way. Although the writer can
make use of rhythm, the all-important intonation is impossible to reproduce in writing.
The reasons for choosing one or the other medium depend on the type of encounter that
is to take place. For example, a husband would rather speak to his wife face to face than
through a letter. As valuable as a letter from a loved one is, it doesn’t replace time spent
together.

However, the written word, such as a newspaper, gives the reader time to assimilate the
information at his own pace - a luxury that is denied to those who watch the televised
news. A letter can be read over and over again, whereas oral language is a temporal
medium.

When we come to the world of business we find that communication is carried out by a
mixture of the mediums available. Phone calls may be made, meetings arranged, letters,
faxes or e-mails sent. This mixture leads us to the next point to be discussed:

3. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPEECH AND WRITING

Like speech, written communication is a two-way process which includes the use of
both a productive and a receptive skill. When we write we use graphic symbols, in
other words, letters or combinations of letters which relate to the sounds that we make
when we speak. This basically is the relationship between the two mediums. The way
that we link the sounds and the symbols together is the way that we make the sentence
into a coherent whole. Of course, in written language we have to take into account
further graphic elements such as punctuation, margins, underlining things for stress,
spelling, and so on. In speech, stress patterns are easy to recreate, and punctuation can
be made clear through pauses and deliberate hesitations. Clearly margins are not
necessary, and spelling problems do not exist.

One form may be used as a result of the other. Think about a secretary who writes down
a letter that is dictated to her, or a student who takes notes during a lesson. In these
instances, speech is transformed into writing, but it can just as easily happen the other
way around, for example, if we think about an actor who first learns his lines from a
written script, and then reads them out aloud to an audience, or a teacher who may read
out the words that are written in the course book.

Now that we have looked at written communication in relation to speech, we are going
to move onto looking at writing as a means of communication in itself.

In this section we will also include an examination of the structure and the formal
elements of the text types, as well as the norms of written texts, the routines and the
formulas. These will become clear through a description of the different text types, and
for that reason do not have a separate section.

4. DIFFERENT TYPES OF WRITTEN TEXTS. STRUCTURE AND FORMAL

ELEMENTS. NORMS OF WRITTEN TEXTS. ROUTINES AND FORMULAS.

As the field of writing is so large it would clearly be impractical to mention all of the
different text types, therefore that which follows is only a selection.
4.1. Narrative Texts

The narrative text is the telling of a story. There are three basic kinds of
narrator

 The speaker or poet who uses his own voice.

 One who assumes the voice of another person or persons, and speaks in a voice not
his own.
 One who uses a mixture of his own voice and that of others.
So, anyone telling a story may begin as narrator, using his own voice, then introduce a
narrator who tells the story, in which there are characters who have their own voices and
who may also narrate.

The narrative text should have a beginning a middle and an end. The beginning should
attract the attention of the reader and make him wish to continue. The events that follow
may be in chronological order, but this isn’t always necessary, and many authors make
use of flashbacks in order to advance the plot.

4.2. Argumentative texts.

The main idea here is to persuade the reader to change his point of view about a given
topic.The writer is basically defending his thesis (his proposal) and hoping to secure the
support of the reader.

When we write an argumentative text we have to think very carefully about the structure
that we are going to use. The text itself needs to be a carefully planned document that
takes into account the ideas and the theories that we have developed in our mind, and
that we now wish to commit to paper. An important consideration is if we have made
our argument more believable through the use of examples.

When we start to write we have to think carefully about the order that we wish to use,
and also about how we are going to connect our points. All the major points in an
argument should be placed in order of importance and interrelated.

One of the best styles for writing an argumentative text is that of thesis, confirmation
and antithesis. These are then followed by a support idea and a conclusion.These can
be further explained thus:

THESIS:

First you should present the main ideas that you have, and then support these ideas
through the use of examples.

CONFIRMATION:

Write a brief summary that provides support for the main idea of your argument.
ANTITHESIS:

A common device. You argue against your own thesis, trying to disprove it. Of course,
you don’t actually succeed, but instead you answer the doubts that your readers may
have, before they know that they have them.

SUPPORT IDEA:

This will take the form of another point related to your topic. This will also have
examples to back it up, and be followed by a brief summary and another argument
against it.
CONCLUSION:

Here you bring together all the arguments that have been propounded in your text in
such a way as to present them and prove them.

4.3. Descriptive Texts.

The main idea of a descriptive text is to provide the reader with a mental image of a
scene, a person or a concept that the he is removed from. The writer will make full use
of devices such as adjectives, metaphores, similes, comparatives, etc.

We can divide the types of descriptive texts up into the following categories:

Pictoric:

Here we have to think of a photograph. Nothing is mobile. The writer will describe the
scene, but in terms of colour and light. An example is as follows:

..the silver and black stemmed trees, with their characteristic tufts, the pale grey boughs
of beech all appeared now as black and flat outlines upon the sky.

(Thomas Hardy, Under the Greenwood Tree.)

Topographic:

Here the writer is moving past an object that is stationary, such as the description of
someone walking along a street or in a train, as in this example:

We hurried towards London,

Past fields of wheat spread out in the sun,
(Philip Larkin. Adapted from The Whitsun Weddings)

In the example above, you can see how the poet has described not just the things that he
saw, but also the most characteristic details.

Cinematographic:

Here it is the writer who is stationary whilst the object is in motion:

The car raced past, red and blue with silver stripes making
the noise of a jet engine, leaving a trail of leaves blowing
gently in its wake.
(William Trevor: Two Lives)

We must also take into account the type of language that is used in descriptive texts.

Scientific:

Here the language is used to describe the components of an object. There is nothing
creative about the language, as in this extract from an instruction manual:
 The printer functions as a laser with a resolution
of 300 and a velocity of 10ppm.

Literary:

As can be seen in the examples above. Here the objective is to make the reader feel a
particular sensation, as though he is taking part in the action that is being described.

4.4. Explicative Texts

An explanation is a point by point discussion of a complex matter. The methods that we

can use to explain something are numerous, among them we may include:

Comparison and Contrast:

This is where we explain something by setting it against something else. For example
we may describe Paris as being:

...bigger than Madrid, but not as big as London.

This would give us some idea as to the size of Paris.

Illustration:

As the name suggests, we give a direct example of something in order to explain it,
usually introduced by phrases such as: for instance... We may say something like:

There are some really nice towns in Andalucia, for instance; Granada.

Definition:

This is one of the most direct ways of explaining sonething. A definition gives
knowledge of what a thing is, for example:

A lion is a member of the cat family.

4.5. Dialogic

Finally we will look at dialogic texts. These can be defined as a kind of conversational
interaction of discourse, which involves either a spoken or a written exchange involving
participants communicating in accordance with their perceptions, feelings, etc.

It involves the act of an addresser sending a message to an addressee, using a code that
is appropriate in the given context of a situation. The dialogue normally progresses
through a series of moves, with one person waiting for the other to finish speaking
before adding something. However, in many conversations there are extra elements, and
often turn-taking is forgotten and people speak over one another.
Now we are going to move onto looking at some of the more specific types of texts that
our students could learn to write.

4.6. Specific written texts.

4.6.1. Letters

We can divide letters up into two different types, formal and informal. The informal
letters are normally of the type that we would send to family and friends. The tone of
language and the layout is very diffrent to the formal letters.

Here is a short example of an informal letter:

19, Lawn Ave,

Birstall
Leicester

21st Feb

Dear Sue,

Hey, how are you? Look, I’m really sorry for not having written sooner, but you
know how lazy I am. Anyway, it was great to get your letter.

I’m really writing to ask you to do me a favour. When you see John again, could
you give him my number? I want him to phone me, but the truth is I’m a bit
embarrassed to write to him myself!

Anyway, I’ve got loads of news for you. When you come over in March we can
catch up with all the gossip, especially about how I finished with Mike.

I’m sure that you are just dying to know the news. Well, gotta go as the kettle is
starting to boil.

Write back,

Lots of love

Carol.
xxxxxxxxx

P.S. Give John a big kiss from me!

We can see that the letter begins with the address of the sender on the right hand corner.
The date is below this, here written informally, usually without the year being added.

The sender begins the letter with Dear followed by the christian name of the person
they are sending the letter to. The first paragraph normally opens the letter with an
introduction. There are some standard phrases in an informal letter, which could be put
under the heading of Routines and Formulas. These include the following:

Sorry for not having written sooner.

How’s it going?
It was great to get your letter.

The second paragraph normally contains the reason for writing and the third adds some
extra information about the sender. The last paragraph acts as a conclusion, before
adding a final line as a goodbye. Typical examples are:

Write soon.
Take care.
Keep in touch.

The closure of the letter is normally, love from but when men write to other men it may
be more normal to use yours or the very informal cheers. The x’s at the end of the letter
signify kisses.

P.S. Post-Script. This is what the English write when they want to add something that
they may have forgotten to the letter. You may also notice the use of the colloquial
gotta in the final paragraph, meaning got to.

Formal letters, of the kind that we would send to companies, may take the following
form as shown below. Clearly there is a need for a completely different linguistic style.

Beason -Cooke Ltd,

Belgrave,
Leicester
LE4 4HQ
22.2.02

Jones Parts Distribution.

Eccles Way,
Manchester
M6 6DB

Dear Mr. Jones.

I am writing in response to your letter of the 25th in reference to the parts that we
requested in our order placed on the 20th, but which you have been unable to acquire.

If you are unable to supply us with the part in question within six days of the date of this
letter, please inform us immediately and we will look elsewhere.

I hope that this will not affect our future trading.

Yours sincerely,
Philip M. Snide.
Stores Manager.

Firstly, look at the layout. In England and America, the margins are blocked on both the
left and the right hand sides, paragraphs do not begin a few centimetres in from the
margin. This is an influence of the computer.

The address of the sender is placed in the right hand corner, and the date is written in
either numerals or 22nd February 2002.

The letter is addressed to either Dear Sir or Madam, or if the name of the receiver is
known, to Mr. Mrs. Miss or Ms. (The latter is used if the sender does not know if the
female receiver is married or unmarried. It is used widely in Britain and America to be
politically correct and is pronounced muz).

The first paragraph states the purpose of the letter. The second explains what you want
from the addressee, and the last one is a conclusion.

If the name of the addressee is known it is customary to sign Yours sincerely. However,
if the name is not known, sign Yours faithfully.

Also note that the language is clear, concise and without room for creativity.

Next area we are going to look at is one that most people have to do at some point in
their lifes, the making of a Curriculum Vitae.

4.6.2. Curriculum Vitae

This is a form that is usually sent with an application for a job, and which outlines all of
the most relevant aspects of a candidate’s life and experience. The idea is that it is brief,
so that companies who normally receive a large amount of applications for jobs can
scan the C.V’s quickly to find those candidates who are worth interviewing.

The information should include the basics such as name, address, phone number, date of
birth and marital status.

Then the C.V. should list, in order of achievement, all of the relevant qualifications that
have been acquired. Once this is done, you should make a list of the work experience
that you have, including post held, start and finish dates, responsibilities, reason for
leaving and a contact name for a reference.

In addition to this it is usual in Britain to include a list of hobbies and interests.

4.6.3. E.mails and Chatrooms

In the modern world, faxes and e-mails are the most common ways for businesses to
communicate with each other. Faxes have practically been forgotten by the wide spread
use of e.mails, so it is this area that we will look at in greater detail.
These are normally short and concise, allowing only for the information that is
necessary. A new way of writing has appeared in e-mails, with speed doing away with
the need for punctuation and capital letters. This means that an e.mail may appear thus:

hello john ian here can you send me a price list for the new parts thanks

Many abbreviations have appeared as a result of the e.mail, such as:

cul8r = goodbye (see you later)

btw = by the way
tnx = thanks

It is also worth mentioning the rising popularity of chatrooms, where people may
contact others from all over the world and converse on a variety of subjects.

These chatrooms have their own language, as well as a series of symbols to demonstrate
feelings. These symbols are known as smilies and are visuals made using various keys.
To see the image, rotate it 90º.

>:-( This shows anger. ( A frowning face.)

:-o This shows surprise. (A face with the mouth open.)
:-) This shows happiness. (A smiling face.)

6. CONCLUSION:

As we have seen, writing is a long and involved process. Like speech, it uses a system
of symbols to send a message, but unlike speech these symbols can be checked and
analysed to ensure that they are correct. Writing is involved in many different functions.
In the past, writing was seen as the main aim of learning a second language, and there
was very little communication in the classroom. Although this is no longer seen as
desirable, writing is still a valuable way of helping the students to spot their own
mistakes, consolidate the language they have learnt and to communicate in a way that
requires different linguistic skills in order to negotiate meaning.

Nowadays, with the growth of electronic communication, it is more important than ever
that the students are able to communicate in the written word as they may find that their
future career requires them to send e.mails to people in other countries.

The first thing that we have to take into account when we are teaching writing is that we
somehow have to make it as communicative as possible. A classroom full of students
writing is not desirable as it is a waste of classroom time. Instead writing should be
done as a part of the lesson, with the other three language skills being equally exploited.

The teacher must ensure that he has clear objectives for a writing activity. If it is done in
a classroom, it may be better if it is in short pieces, such as the answering of questions,
rather than a long, drawn out activity. The students should be placed in groups in order
to discuss that which they have written.

Longer writing exercises should be done as homework, and can form part of the
evaluation process, as often they are the only real way that a teacher has of doing an
individual evaluation.
UNIT 5 WRITTEN TEXTS
Themes Notes
Language is used as a term in a wide sense. Language goes
beyond sounds. Before any communication act there has to be a
sender and a receiver. The sender will encode a message that he
sends through a channel for the receiver to decode within the
context. In speech redundant information may occur, such as
repetitions, tags to negotiate the meaning, or incomplete or
grammatically incorrect utterances. There are also extra linguistic
elements, such as gestures, body posture, eye contact, and facial
expressions. None of these are available to the writer. He cannot
check if he is being understood or not. The speaker can also use
the natural rise and fall of the voice to add rhythm. The written
word can give people time to take the information in. The way
that we link the sounds and the symbols together is the way that
we make the sentence a coherent whole. One form may be used
as a result of the other, such as a secretary, or an actor. Narrative
Texts are the telling of a story. There may be several voices who
narrate. It should have a beginning, a middle and an end.
Argumentative Texts are used to persuade the reader to change
his point of view. One of the best styles is that of thesis,
antithesis, support idea, conclusion. Descriptive Texts: The
main idea is to present the reader with a mental image of a scene.
This can be pictoric, topographic, cinematographic. The language
that is used can be scientific or literary. Explicative: point by
point discussion of a complex matter. Many methods can be
used: Comparison and Contrast: we explain something by setting
it against something else. Illustration: A direct example of
something is given to explain it. Definition: Gives knowledge of
what a thing is. Dialogic: Conversational interaction of discourse.
Normally progresses through a series of turns, although this is
sometimes forgotten in real speech.
Letters: The letters can be either of an informal style, or a formal
one. Letters begin with the address of the sender in the top right
hand side. The date is below. In an informal letter, the first
paragraph is the introduction, the second contains the reason for
the letter, and the last paragraph acts as a conclusion. The closure
is normally love from, and xxxx’s are added to signify kisses.
Formal letters take a different linguistic style. The first paragraph
states the purpose of the letter, the second explains what you
want and the last acts as a conclusion, as in informal letters, but
the language tends to be of an elevated standard.
CV’s include personal details, work experience, qualifications
and hobbies.
E.Mails and Chatrooms are two of the most common forms of
writing nowadays. They have developed a new style and new
abbreviations.

Now test your knowledge of unit 5 by answering the following questions:

1. Explain the meaning of message, code, channel and context.

2. Which extra-linguistic elements can be found in speech?

3. Describe the five stages that can be found in an argumentative text.

4. What are the categories of descriptive texts?

5. What are the differences between a formal and an informal letter?