Module 1: Mode Continuum

Most ‘written-like’ features

 Build knowledge of written language, including its features, functions and
graphological expression
 Understand complexity of language in terms of lexical density

Written Language: - Tends to be distinct from spoken language

- Has its own function, feature, and ways of meaning
o Priority to those that need to be learnt explicitly by
students.
- Language in Reflection
o Used to reflect on experience, in a way that is planned,
edited, and thought through in advance
- Independent of Context
o Explicit enough about its meanings that it can be
understood across contexts
- Product-Like
o Typically read as a final product, polished. Unlike
spoken, which is spontaneous and unfolding.
- Expression:
o Layout, font, punctuation, image

Complexity in Lexical Density:

Language:
 The degree of lexical words and their precision
 Written language is often more lexically dense, whereas spoken
language is often less lexically dense
 A simple measure of how much ‘meaning’ is packed into the
words of a text.

Grammatical Intricacy:

 Spoken language is often more grammatically intricate,

whereas written language is often less grammatically intricate.