Introduction
Spoken and written language
Writers can pause, reflect, recast and revise, producing if they wish material with a high level of complexity. Speakers, composing in real time, are limited by working memory capacity in their ability to build up and keep track of elaborate structures. Equally, readers are far better able than listeners to decode complex material: one can read as slowly as one likes, backtracking as necessary, but one cannot listen at one’s own speed.
Because of this, writing tends towards ‘architectural’ structuring, with relatively dense packaging of information, while speech favours more linear, chained structures, with information-bearing elements more spaced out. The average length of an English clause in speech is seven words; in formal writing the average can be double this. Written noun phrases can become very complex, with determiners, adjectives, nouns and postmodifying structures all clustering round a head noun. Spoken noun phrases generally contain few modifiers; subjects most often consist of a single pronoun.
The gap between speech and writing has narrowed a great deal since the 19th century. In those days formal writing enjoyed very high prestige and could be extremely elaborate, while informal speech was seen as a kind of low-level badly-structured ‘poor relation’. Since that time, growing democratisation has led to increased respect for the language of ‘ordinary people’. Much modern writing is far closer to speech in its structure and vocabulary, and the growth of informal written communication through electronic media is helping to narrow the gap still further.
Nonetheless, speech and writing are separate channels of communication and each has its own necessary grammatical characteristics. For people – both native speakers of English and language learners – who need to be able to handle formal written texts, the conventions of formal writing still have to be learnt. This is especially the case for those who plan to use English in a university setting – academic English has its own characteristics.
This Section deals with some of the more important elements of formal writing, especially those which affect text construction and comprehension. Note that some of what is said here naturally applies also to more formal types of spoken text: for example the language of spoken reports, political speeches or lectures.
Dad’s just cut Dad shaving. (see here)
Lucy told Alice she had made a bad mistake. (see here)
The wall, it needed painting. (see here)
The results were disappointing for the third year running, consequently it was decided to close three of the smaller branches. (see here)
He confessed to 114 murders; the police did not believe, however, his story. (see here)
The banks have raised interest paid monthly rates. (see here)
We planned wonderful plans. (see here)
Dear Mr James Carter, … (see here) Note 6
Dear Ms Williams, How are you getting on? (see here) Note 13
She phoned me. As soon as she arrived. (see here)
I asked her what time it was? (see here)
The standard of living of the dock workers, was slowly improving. (see here)
Many of them were able to begin buying, their own homes. (see here)
The mainly foreign, labourers formed a large part of the work force. (see here)
Many commentators declared, that the economy was in serious trouble. (see here)
No one knew, how serious the situation would become. (see here)
a green red and gold carpet (see here)
Have you met our handsome, new, financial director? (see here)
The truck weighs 3,5 tons. (see here)