ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE IN THE WORKPLACE

ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE IN THE WORKPLACE

On work experience you will be collecting evidence of the way people use language so you can write your essay. It is useful to understand a few terms that will help you to explain how language is used. Your teacher will go through these terms and make sure that you understand what they mean and ask you to think of examples that will help you to remember what they mean. When on work experience you will need to collect three examples of language use that fits these categories:

DIALECT: the way our language varies when being spoken in different areas and by different social classes.

ACCENT: the way a speaker pronounces the sounds of a language. It is largely determined by regional and social influences.

HIERARCHY: the way that people are ranked within an organisation according to how powerful they are.

REGISTER: the way you change your use of language to talk to different people in different situations.

FORMAL LANGUAGE: the use of language designed for formal situations.

STANDARD ENGLISH: the register that is appropriate for formal situations.

INSTRUCTIONS: directions, orders or recommended rules or guidelines. The formality of the instructions will vary depending on the situation and who is giving the instructions.

ORDERS: instructions that must be obeyed.

INFORMAL LANGUAGE: language that is appropriate for everyday life or use.

GOSSIP: an informal use of language, usually about rumours concerning other people.

JOKES: something that is said or done for fun, -okes often use words in interesting ways.

SLANG: words or phrases used 'm informal situations which are not usually acceptable in formal conversations.

UPWARD DIVERGENCE: when a speaker changes their use of language to a more formal register.

DOWNWARD DIVERGENCE: when a speaker changes their use of language to a more informal register.