Spoken English Essay

Introduction

Biber (2007, as cited in Elbow, 2010) writes that there are few differences between spoken and written Englishes. Fundamentally, spoken Englishes require an understanding of phonics, and written Englishes an understanding of graphics (Crystal, 2005). To understand spoken language is to take meaning from the speech of others (Bangalore, Hakkani-Tur & Tur, 2006). Spoken Englishes involve speaking and listening and written Englishes involve writing and reading (Essberger, 2001). Both modes can be either formal or informal depending on the context and medium required (Elbow, 2010). While there are innumerable contexts, the purpose of this report is to focus on the classroom and home contexts. This report will also note the differing

Instructions can be; casual, semi-formal or formal. Age and cultural or language background of the receiver, along with subject matter, impact the formality and complexity required for each interaction. Young children in preschool and students who use English as a second language require simple, casual language such as “sit on the mat”. Whereas older children understand increasingly complex and formal communications such as, “please open your Mathematics workbook and complete the exercise”. Feedback communications may be semi-formal when discussing a child’s work; “well done on your times tables”. Verbal teacher-student interactions within a classroom should use elaborated code (Emmitt, 2010) which is clear and does not depend on shared context knowledge. Interactions within the playground could be more informal and casual; “pick that up, please”. When writing to students, teachers should ensure elaborated code is

They may speak in Aboriginal English (AE), ASE, or any number of languages and will have no trouble understanding each other. Parents may refer to their child as “bub” in AE, “abni” in Arabic or “son” in ASE. Restricted code (Emmitt, 2010) and colloquial vocabulary are often used. The cultural background of families impacts how children address parents. Australian culture promotes what seems to be an increasingly casual mode of addressing parents and many forms of address are acceptable such as Mum, Ma, Mummy, Mumma. Other cultures insist that parents be addressed as Mother or Ma’am. Parents and children will verbally communicate to give instruction, ask questions, converse, to build rapport and for phatic communication (Nordquist, 2015).

Written forms of parent-child-parent communications generally use restricted code (Emmitt, 2010) as they communicate via notes, emails, text messages and over social media. Academic writing principles do not apply to these communications. The abbreviations used in text messaging and social media can create a barrier to communication if both parties do not share prior knowledge of abbreviations such as, “LOL”, “BRB” and “SMH”.

Child-Child