Style and genre in the English

language syllabus
Hilde Hasselgrd

Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

Abstract of talk
The new English syllabus has an increased
emphasis on the learners ability to distinguish
between formal and informal language use
and to adapt their own usage and their texts
to different genres and media. Through text
examples I will illustrate some linguistic
features of formal and informal English and
personal and impersonal style and relate
these to genre.

Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

From the general Objectives of

the subject
To succeed in a world where English is used for
international interpersonal communication, it is
necessary to master the English language. Thus we
need to develop our vocabulary and our skills in using
the systems of the English language; its phonology,
grammar and text structuring. We need these skills to
listen, speak, read and write, and to adapt our language
to an ever increasing number of topics, areas of interest
and communication situations. We must be able to
distinguish between spoken and written styles and
informal and formal styles. Moreover, when using the
language in communication, we must also be able to
take cultural norms and conventions into consideration.
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

Communication I
The main area of communication focuses on using the
English language to communicate. Communication is
achieved through listening, reading, writing, prepared
oral production and spontaneous oral interaction,
including the use of appropriate communication
strategies. It also includes participation in various social
arenas, where it is important to train to master an
increasing number of genres and forms of expression.
Good communication requires knowledge and skills in
using vocabulary and idiomatic structures,
pronunciation, intonation, spelling, grammar and
syntax of sentences and texts.
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

Communication II
New media and the development of a
linguistic repertoire across subjects and topics
are an important part of this main area.
Knowing how to be polite and taking social
conventions into consideration in any number
of linguistic situations are also important skills
to master. This goes hand in hand with
adapting the language to the recipient and
the situation, including distinguishing between
formal and informal, written and spoken
registers.
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

Programfag
VG1, Internasjonal engelsk: bevissthet om sprklige
virkemidler i ulike sjangrer. Tilpassing av sprkbruk i
ulike sosiale, kulturelle og faglige situasjoner str
sentralt i hovedomrdet.
VG2, Samfunnsfaglig engelsk: bruk av sprklige
virkemidler i ulike typer tekster. Tilpassing av
sprkbruk til ulike sosiale, kulturelle og samfunnsfaglige
sammenhenger inngr i hovedomrdet.
VG2, Engelsksprklig litteratur og kultur: bruk av
sprklige virkemidler og stilistiske trekk i litterre
tekster. Tilpassing av sprkbruk til ulike sosiale og
faglige situasjoner knyttet til litteratur og kultur str
sentralt i hovedomrdet.
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

Some findings from learner

language research
Advanced Scandinavian learners of English tend
to
Write in a relatively informal style, irrespective
of genre

Use of contracted forms

Informal sentence connectors (and, but, so, then)
Use of approximators (and so on, kind of)
Underuse of non-finite clauses
Incomplete sentences

Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

 they also tend to

Write in an involved, interactive style
First and second person pronouns
Questions and imperatives
Explicit expression of personal opinions (subjective
stance); I think, I guess, I feel
Conversational discourse markers; well, you know

Mix styles i.e. show a lack of style / genre

awareness

Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

Some conversational features

in Norwegian learner writing
Frequency
per 10,000
words

NICLE

Native
students

Conversatio
n

you

61.7

0.9

228.3

I/me

95.0

19.2

404.1

Well (discourse
marker)

1.8

40.7

You know

0.8

40.2

Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

The use of subjective stance markers of

the type I think (per 10,000 words)

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A text example from NICLE

Essay question:
Some people say that in our modern world,
dominated by science, technology and
industrialisation, there is no longer a place for
dreaming and imagination. What is your
opinion?
Extract from the end of an essay on handout.

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Informal features
Things have changed. Having the girl, or boy, and a job
isn't enough anymore. We want more now, don't we?
Instead of 'going steady' with the love of our lives, we like
to stay single and free agents, don't we? Then we'll have
more time to spend on ourselves and we don't have to
worry about the other person, children etc. Instead of
faithfully working at the same place for year after year
it's better to change jobs biennially, isn't it? Because if
you stay in the same place for a long time you'll lower
your chances for self-realization, right?
I'm not meaning to be reactionary about anything.
Actually, you know, I'm not a reactionary kind of a
(modern) man. But I honestly think that we tend to accept
this 'life in the fast lane' kind of development without
giving it any greater reflection.
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Interactive features
Things have changed. Having the girl, or boy, and a job
isn't enough anymore. We want more now, don't we?
Instead of 'going steady' with the love of our lives, we like
to stay single and free agents, don't we? Then we'll have
more time to spend on ourselves and we don't have to
worry about the other person, children etc. Instead of
faithfully working at the same place for year after year
it's better to change jobs biennially, isn't it? Because if
you stay in the same place for a long time you'll lower
your chances for self-realization, right?
I'm not meaning to be reactionary about anything.
Actually, you know, I'm not a reactionary kind of a
(modern) man. But I honestly think that we tend to accept
this 'life in the fast lane' kind of development without
giving it any greater reflection.
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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Mixing of styles

Formal features
Use of non-finite participle clauses
Noun phrases with generic reference: the
average modern man
Nominalization: self-realization, development,
reflection, impersonality, industrialization,
commercialization
Some formal vocabulary; biennially
(bianually), self-realization, reactionary,
reflection, opening remarks

Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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A model for register analysis:

Hallidays concepts of field,
tenor and mode

Field refers to the field of discourse, what kind of

social action is actually happening, what the
participants are engaged in.
Tenor refers to the tenor of the discourse, who the
participants are, the roles they are adopting at any
point, what their social relationships are to each other.
Mode refers to the mode of discourse, the kind of role
the language is playing, its function in the particular
context, the channel used (spoken or written or some
combination of the two) and also the rhetorical mode:
what is being achieved by the text in terms of such
categories as persuasive, expository, didactic and the
like.
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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A simplified model: Questions to

ask before preparing a text
What is the text going to be about?
Who are we speaking/writing to?
How well do we know them?
How old are they?
Do they have the same social/professional status as
ourselves?
Are they familiar with the topic?

Is the discourse private or public?

What is the purpose of the text? (Do we want to
make social contact, argue a case, sell something,
apologize, describe something, tell a story, issue a
warning or something else?)
Does the text need to fit into a particular format?
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What is genre (register)?

Genres = different configurations of field, tenor and mode
(Halliday)
Registers are varieties of language that are associated
with different circumstances and purposes (Biber et al)
Some variables: spoken/written, interactiveness and real-time
production, shared situation, main communicative purpose, audience)

The context of language use, the purpose of the speaker

or writer, the subject matter of what is being said or
written these are some of the other factors which
influence the form language takes. (Chafe & Danielewicz
1987: 84)
(The term genre is often used about outward criteria,
and register for linguistic characteristics)
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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Chafe & Danielewicz 1987: A study of four

different genres of English: conversations,
lectures, letters, academic papers
Some main findings re. vocabulary:
Speakers tend to operate with a narrower range of
lexical choices than writers.
Speakers also tend to use more approximators, such as sort of,
kind of, like instead of looking for a more precise word.
(lectures and conversations did not differ much from each other,
but both differed from writing.)

Writing is typically more explicit than speech; full noun

phrases rather than pronouns
Speakers and writers do not choose from the same
supply of vocabulary (i.e. colloquial vocabulary tends
not to be chosen by writers, while literary vocabulary
tends not to be chosen in spontaneous speech)
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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Some findings re. grammar and

syntax
Written clauses tend to be longer than spoken clauses
Information density is higher in writing than in speech
Prepositional phrases as noun modifiers,
nominalizations and attributive adjectives are more
frequent in writing.
lectures and letters are rather similar as regards the frequency of
these features, while conversation has very little and academic
papers very much of them.

Conjoined phrases are more frequent in writing (she

tried to help the children focus and structure their
discourse)
Participles (as adjectives or as verb in non-finite
clauses) are more frequent in writing.
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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More findings re. grammar and

syntax
Co-ordination (of main clauses) is more frequent in
speech (particularly conversation)
Subordination (complex sentences) is more frequent in
writing.
Features of involvement and interaction belong to
spoken particularly dialogic genres (e.g. responses
and you know, use of first and second person
pronouns).
Abstract subjects and passive constructions were more
frequent in the two academic genres, less frequent in
letters and conversation (formality level independent of
the speech/writing dimension)
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Conversation about cooking

Ann It's lovely Joyce it's really nice
Joyce Mm
Ann do it with mince meat and it's cheap and erm, but my, erm
<..> chopped onions, I can't, I'm allergic to mushrooms, it's
nice with mushrooms in, if you like mushrooms
Joyce Oh yeah
Ann erm chop my oni-- onio-- onions er onions up and erm, what
do they call it? <pause> It's sort of like cucumber
Joyce <-|-> Oh er <-|->
Ann <-|-> green stuff <-|-> not <unclear >
Alec courgettes
Ann Yeah, courgettes <-|-> do a little brown frying <-|->
Joyce <-|-> Yeah, yeah <-|-> yeah
Ann and then cut some bacon up, put that in saucepan just let it
brown a bit
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Informal / interactive
features
Dialogue turn-taking response markers
(mm, yeah)
Repetition (of own and others words), pauses,
incomplete structures
Approximators (sort of like), metatextual
comments (what do they call it), vague
expressions (green stuf)
Short (main) clauses, co-ordination
Active voice
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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Academic text about cooking

No doubt this perception of cooking's creative potential
is also influenced by advertising and by the attention
devoted to cooking in women's magazines and similar
literature. The object of the exercise as presented in
such channels of communication is not how to get the
most nutritious meals prepared in the shortest possible
time but rather how to go beyond the usual range of
meals with time-consuming inventiveness and culinary
skill. The aim is not simple efficiency. Instead it is an
elaboration of the task, designed to subtract it from the
category of "work" and add it to the creative pleasure
dimension. This treatment of cooking, reflected in the
comments of these housewives, is a particularly clear
demonstration of how the social denial of housework as
work operates.
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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Formal features
Examples of formal vocabulary: perception, creative
potential, similar, nutritious, inventiveness, culinary,
elaboration, social denial.
Formal grammar: non-finite clauses (devoted to , as
presented in , designed to subtract , reflected in );
long and complex noun phrases (cookings creative
potential, a particularly clear demonstration of how the
social denial of housework as work operates ); no
contracted forms; nouns that are formed from verbs or
adjectives (perception, inventiveness, efficiency,
elaboration, treatment, demonstration, denial), conjoined
phrases (e.g. time-consuming inventiveness and culinary
skill).
No signs of interaction with addressee.
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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Notes about style and

register
Since Norwegian learners normally master informal registers
of English better than formal ones, they should be aware that
a more formal style is often required, e.g. in academic essays,
reports, and texts that are intended for publication.
Correct spelling and grammar are important in more formal
registers.
A varied and precise vocabulary is (even) more important in
formal (written) English than in informal (spoken) English.
Formal written English has few interactive features.
Some registers of spoken English are formal. When speaking
formally, e.g. in formal presentations, public speeches /
debates or job interviews, one should avoid slang and
swearwords and excessive use of other informal phrases,
such as you know, I mean and you see.
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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Examples of exercises to train

style and genre awareness
Go through a text that is typical of a genre and
identify some stylistic features (e.g. look at
pronoun use, use of passive, use of non-finite
clauses, use of questions, literary/informal
vocabulary). Use those features to write parallel
texts (pastiches)
Rewrite a text in different style.
Let pupils/groups write texts in different genres on
the same topic. (Example: picture of a dramatic
event, e.g. car crash: write short newspaper
notice, postcard, insurance claim, eyewitness
report, story to tell in pub, propaganda for road
safety)
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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Last but not least

It is impossible to teach all individual genres
It should be possible to master a number of
genres by being aware of features of informal
and formal language use and coupling them
with the purpose of and the audience for the
text.

THE END
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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Some books/articles that

include notes on style and
genre/register

Biber, Douglas, Susan Conrad, Geoffrey Leech. 2002. Longman

Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. London:
Longman.
Magne Dypedahl, Hilde Hasselgrd and Berit Lken. 2006.
Introducing English Grammar. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget.
Hillier, Hilary. 2004. Analysing Real Texts: Research Studies in
Modern English Language. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Chafe, Wallace, Jane Danielewicz. 1987. Properties of spoken and
written language. In Horowitz, R. and S.J. Samuels,
Comprehending Oral and Written Language. San Diego: Academic
Press, 83113.
Hasselgrd, Hilde. Thematic choice and expressions of stance in
English argumentative texts by Norwegian learners. To appear in
K. Aijmer, Corpora and Language Teaching (Amsterdam:
Benjamins)
Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

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