FORMALITY IN

WRITING
ASPECT OF PROFESSIONAL AND
ACADEMIC LANGUAGE

MR. FELINO LLAVE MORALES

DISCUSSANT
HOW DOES FORMALITY EXIST?
 How well you follow standard English
conventions;
 How often you use slang or idioms;
 How objective you are about your
topic;
 How familiar or intimate you assume
you are with readers.
WHY IS FORMALITY IMPORTANT?

 Formality reflects your

dignified stance in your writing
as a member of the academic
community.
having or showing a formal and
serious or reserved manner
WHY IS FORMALITY IMPORTANT?

 This means that since your audience

are members of the academic
community, the language you use
requires sophistication to make it a
“legitimate” piece of academic
writing;
conforming to the
law or to rules
WHY IS FORMALITY IMPORTANT?

 conscious about words and

expressions to be used;
 not writing the first thing that comes
to mind;
 not taking on a conversational tone.
AVOID PHRASAL/TWO-WORD VERBS

 Gymnast Carlos Yulo went on to win

a gold medal. proceeded
 Hold up a minute. I want to check
wait
something.
 Richard left work and came back
returned
home early.
AVOID PHRASAL/TWO-WORD VERBS

rejected
 Parents turned down the proposal.

avoid
 He tried to keep away from danger.

follow
 Do not try to come after me.
AVOID COLLOQUIAL WORDS /
INFORMAL EXPRESSIONS

 Colloquial words are characteristics

of informal style of spoken language.
 Colloquialisms are common saying
that people use in everyday speech
and some are very old expressions.
AVOID COLLOQUIAL WORDS /
INFORMAL EXPRESSIONS

 I felt “down in the dumps” is a

colloquialism for feeling depressed
or miserable.
I need to go to the John.
AVOID THESE, TOO!
 “stuff”
 “a lot of”
 “as a matter of fact”
 “sort of”
 wanna
 gonna
COMMON ENGLISH ABBREVIATIONS
 AKA
 - Also known as
 ASAP
 - As soon as possible
 AWOL
 - Absent without leave
COMMON ENGLISH ABBREVIATIONS
 ESL
 – English as a Second Language
 TESOL
 – Teaching English as Second Language
COMMON ENGLISH ABBREVIATIONS
 FAQ
 - Frequently asked questions
 HR
 - Human Resources
 IQ
 - Intelligence Quotient
COMMON ENGLISH ABBREVIATIONS
 MIA
 - Missing in Action
 SOS
 - Save Our Souls/Ship
 TBC/A
 - To Be Continued/Advised
BE REMINDED OF THE FOLLOWING:

 Formal language is used in business,

academic, and government writing;
 It is written for an audience who
already know something about the
topic;
BE REMINDED OF THE FOLLOWING:

 It makes careful use of specialized

vocabulary. (This can make formal
writing challenging to write and to
read.)
 Contraction and abbreviation are
written out.
 First person writing is avoided.
THANK YOU SO
MUCH!