Chapter 05 Speech and Writing

Group members: 

Cheung Wing Yau, Tam Tak Hei, Yuen Wing Tung, Hung Tsz Lok

There are various sub-topics that can be discussed in this chapter, such as Differences between speech and writing, Features of speech, Features of writing, Real speech and Real writing ,Overlap of spoken language and writing, and Comparison between Speech and Writing. After discussion, we have decided to focus on the following sub-topics Features of speech, Features of writing, Real speech and Real writing ,Overlap of spoken language and writing.

5.1 Feature of Speech

Speech is an intriguing topic to explore since it is a necessary element in our life. It is also a medium for us to link with others. Through transferring the messages and information, we understand different people more. At the beginning part, there will be a definition of speech. Then, the features of speech will be introduced, and will be followed by discussing the effects of non-verbal communication when people communicate with others in order to explore in depth. At last, introducing some real life conversations examples to show that conversation in real life generally implies spoken features.

5.1.1 Definition of Speech

Speech is one of the ways of how people communicate with others. Unlike writing, speech is mainly informal and transient, it is allowed to make mistakes and correct it immediately. By using lungs, vocal cords, tongue, lips and jaw, people can produce different and specific sounds. People can make words and sentences by combining the phonemes and following the patterns and structures, and the whole sentences will then become meaningful and comprehensible by others. For example, “We went to the shop.”(/wiː/ + /wɛnt/ + /tuː/ + /ðə/ + /ʃɒp/). We can see that each word consists of consonants and vowels, and when different words combine to form a sentence, it conveys a meaning, which is that they went to the shop in the past. That helps the listener comprehend the meaning when communicating or transmitting the information in different settings, such as daily conversations, small talks, public performance and lectures. All in all, speech is the main element of people communicating with others and it helps convey and understand thoughts from others, and form bonds with people.

5.1.2 What are the features when people speak in daily life? 

Regarding speaking, a variety of speaking features are used in daily life. The utilisation of different features are normal in our daily life.  

1.Informality

Regarding Informality, when people are having casual and ease conversation with others, they mostly speak informally (Crystal, 1997), and include with various features in spoken language, such as contractions and colloquial expressions. 

- Contractions

A contraction consists of two words which are combined with each other (OpenAI, 2023), such as “aren’t”represents “are not”, “we’ll” represents “we will”, “we’re” represents “we are”, “that’s” represents “that is”. 

Here are some example sentences:

“We’ll help you solve the problems.”

“What’re you going to do tonight?”

“That’s a fantastic suggestion!”

“They aren’t here”

In these four sentences, they use the contractions which are “we’ll”, “what’re”, “that’s”, “aren’t”. It shortens the sentences and helps the fluency and the smoothness of speaking tone. Through using contractions, it creates a friendly and less formal environment and it helps to strengthen the bonds of each other, so it is appropriate and natural to use contractions when having a daily informal conversation with your friends, family.

- Colloquial expressions

A colloquial expression is a word or a short phrase commonly used in casual conversation in a particular city, country or places, it can also be a slang (OpenAI, 2023). 

Here are some examples:

“In a nutshell”: it means to conclude what you have mentioned. 

“No sweat”: it means when others request you to do something, you can use this colloquial expression to indicate that it is not a problem. 

“Piece of cake”: it denotes that thing is simple to complete. 

“Full of beans”: it means that person is very dynamic and has lots of energy. 

By using colloquial expressions, the casual conversation would become direct and understandable for those people who are part of the culture or community. Since the length of a colloquial expression generally is not lengthy, people can introduce their ideas or thoughts without giving a long and dull explanation, for instance, when people say “Piece of cake”, people who are in the same culture and region will soon understand rather than saying “something is very simple to handle for me”. Moreover, using these kinds of colloquial expressions can make the casual conversation become vivid and engaging, for example, when people say “Full of beans”, a bean image will come into their mind so that it makes the casual conversation be intriguing and engaging. As those colloquial expressions are common from particular places, when people understand and use those expressions through conversation, it strengthens their relationship. 

2.Spontaneity

In normal conversations, people generally talk with others without plenty of planning before they start the conversation. To put it another way, they do not need to write a script, and start it naturally. When they start the conversation, people will use fillers, some unnecessary words and hedges for different purposes. 

 a. Fillers

People use fillers a lot when chatting. They will use it when they have to grab the information from their mind, and allow them to think for a moment in order to provide a more accurate answer, make sure they understand each other and keep the conversation continuing.

Types of fillers:

-Fillers for hesitation 

This type of fillers helps speaker to hesitate 

such as “umm”, “er”, “uh”. It means they are still finding the correct words, or still thinking about the answer.

-Fillers for confirming understanding

This type of fillers helps the speaker to convey the understanding to the listener such as you know. When speakers use this type of filler, that means they want to ask listeners if they comprehend what they are talking about. Moreover, the speaker might be seeking consent to the idea of the speaker or understanding from the listener so that it can assist the speaker in checking their similarity towards different daily topics such as interests, issues. It also can confirm things and link with the listener.

- Some unnecessary words 

People will add some unnecessary words in their sentences in order to think longer about what they are trying to convey to the listener, for the unnecessary words, they may repeat the word after they have already said the word. Here are the example sentences:

“I mean I mean you should do more exercise. “

“He is a…a football player. “

b. Hedges 

It means some words or phrases that can reduce the impact of the tone and showing uncertainty(OpenAI, 2023), such as “I am not sure, but”, “It seems to me”, “like”. Here are some example sentences:

“I am not sure, but I think our party starts at 1 p.m.”

“It seems to me that they might solve the problem as soon as possible.”

“I have been doing exercises for, like, 1 hour.”

3.Interactive turn-taking 

For Interactive turn-taking, it means the speakers interact with each other, and they will take turn speaking and listening. When they are doing the

interactive communication, they will respond to the questions, confirming, repeating the information. 

- Responding

When people ask a question, listeners will answer it and try to respond to it. When listeners try to answer it, they will provide an answer that is related to the question. 

Here are some examples:

Person A: “What is your hobby?”

Person B: “My hobby is playing badminton.”

Figure 5.1.2 AI generated image

Frown: When people keep frowning when chatting with each other, it can be a sign of concern, upset or confused about the content of the conversation. 

Figure 5.1.3 AI generated image

Raising Eyebrows: When people are raising their eyebrows when chatting with each other, it indicates they are feeling surprised or curious about something. 

Figure 5.1.5 AI generated image

-Body language 

Posture: when people stand straight when talking with people, that means they are feeling confident about the topic, but if they are slouching, that means they are not interested or feeling insecure when talking about the topic. 

AI generated image

Hand gestures: when people open their palms when communicating with people, that means they are relaxed about the topic, but if they are clenching their fists, it denotes they are feeling worried or upset. 

AI generated image

Nodding: People usually nod their heads with eye contact to show comprehension or in favor of their ideas, and may use some fillers to emphasize they understand the content, such as “right”, “yeah”. 

AI generated image

-Tone of voice 

 For tone of voice, it is related to pitch, volume, intonation and rhythm OpenAI. (2023). It indicates the meaning, emotions of the speakers and conveys a specific meaning through the sentence. It can also make the same sentence change the whole meaning due to tone of voice. 

For example 

“I can’t believe you really did it”

For this sentence, it can be used in different voice tones to say it and convey different meanings, for instance surprised tone, disappointed tone. 

Surprised tone: when using this tone, that means the speaker didn’t imagine that the listener would really did that thing. This sentence could be positive or negative, when people are saying this with a smile that means it’s a positive sentence and think they did a great thing, otherwise, it’s negative. By using this tone, people usually raise their voice a bit, stress the words on “can’t” and “really” and raise their eyebrows as well.

AI generated image

Disappointed tone: when using this tone, that means the speaker feels upset after knowing the listener did that thing. This is a negative sentence. In this tone, people generally lower their voice, say it slowly and put stress on the word “can’t”. Sometimes they might frown when using this tone.

AI generated image 

5.1.4 Example of speech using different spoken language features in various informal settings

Casual Gathering 

AI generated image

Person A: Howdy, dude! How’re you doing? It’s been a while. 

Person B: I’m doing great! Just keep hanging out these 2 days. How about you?

Person A: Er…pretty bad. I am gonna go nuts due to the workload of my job!

Person B: I feel you, dude. It’s…It’s like a never-ending pile of tasks. By the way, do you wanna join my friend’s party next Sunday? It’s time to rest for a day. 

Person A: Sure. Next Sunday?

Person B: Right. I think the party might start at 10pm. 

Person A: I see. See you there. 

Person B: Ok. 

This is a casual gathering dialogue between person A and B relating to work, emotions and their future plan. It is also an interactive turn taking communication. 

In this dialogue, there are some colloquial expressions which are “Howdy”, “hang out”, “go nuts”, “I feel you”, “gonna” and “wanna”. “Howdy” means Hello, “hang out” means spending time somewhere, “go nuts” means becoming angry and “I feel you” means I understand, “gonna” means going to and “wanna” means want to. 

Apart from colloquial expressions, there are contractions as well, which are “How’re”, “It’s”, “I’m”. “How’re” is a combination of “how” and “are”. “It’s” is a combination of “It”and “is”. “I’m” is a combination of “I” and “am”. 

Also, “er”, which is a filler for hesitation, appears in the dialogue. “It’s…It’s”, which is a filler as well since the “It’s” is repeated. 

Moreover, it shows there are some confirmation words to assure that information is correct such as “Sure”, “Right” Furthermore, person A repeated the information about the date of the party to clarify if it’s correct. Lastly, some hedges such as “I think” and “might” were added in there to make the tone soften. 

Family Conversation at home

AI generated image

Parent: Hey, have you seen my phone? 

Child: Um…it’s in the…er…kitchen earlier. 

Parent: Ok. Thanks for telling me. By the way, did you prepare for the test tomorrow?

Child: Not yet, but I’m sure I’ll finish it until 9p.m.

Parent: Ok, just remember all the efforts you’ve put in. Break a leg. 

Child: Ok. I’ll do my best. 

This is a casual conversation between a parent and child discussing the phone and the test. Contractions such as “it’s”, “I’m”, “I’ll”, “you’ve”, are put in the dialogue. Also, fillers for hesitation, for instance, “Um”, “er”are in the dialogue. The child also used “OK” to respond to the speaker. Furthermore, this dialogue has a colloquial expression “Break a leg”, which means “good luck”.

Therefore, through these examples, spoken language features are commonly used in our daily conversation, and helps people connect, transfer information to others.

5.2 Features of writing 

It is an exploration of  the features of writing, as to deeply learn about features of writing. At first there are definitions of writing to introduce what is writing and the role of it. After that are the  different forms of the examples, and to analyse. Besides discussing how writing affects the  21st century within a few examples. And the last is about the differences between speech and writing, what are the advantages of both speech and writing. 

5.2.1 Definition of Writing 

According to Cambridge Dictionary(2023), one of the meanings are in written form and the skill or activity of producing words on a surface. And writing can be defined as the act or process of expressing thoughts, ideas. To put it simply, it is a skill that allows us to communicate and express any thought. Besides writing it also can be defined as the act of communication through. And can be formal and informal, it depends on who will receive the message or what it is about. 

So writing is complex and involves many processes such as planning, organizing thoughts, selecting appropriate words, constructing sentences and paragraphs, and revising and editing for clarity and coherence. It can be done by hand using a pen on paper and can even be typed digitally composed on computers to express all the processes but it doesn’t have any limited ways to share.  

In basic form writing encompasses a wide range of forms and genres such as essays, stories, articles…which means writing requires ability and creativity. Because it needs to engage with the intended audience in a visible way.

When we represent language through writing, it uses written symbols, such as numbers or letters to convey meaning of the text. And language itself is a communication system consisting of the rules, structures, even the grammar and style used to express feelings and messages. 

5.2.2  Features of Writing

Writing plays a significant role in daily life. It is a key to communication, organization, language and self expression. 

1. Learning and Education: writing is the most important part in this section, use writing to take note of the lesson, complete the homework. All these are fully showing how much students have learnt during the lesson and demonstrate their understanding of subjects. Note-taking through writing helps us capture and synthesize information effectively.

Figure 5.2.1 AI generated image

2. Expression of creativity: it can help us to explore creativity. Through writing a story or a personal reflection, it can provide a place for those imaginative and express emotions at that moment. Like a story needs to think about character, different rich plot and characteristics to create a compelling story and engage with the audience.

On the other hand, through personal reflection we can provide for ourselves. Like it had a platform to record our inner world, mostly to reflect emotions, what we discover on the growth and the values. 

3. Social media and Online chatting: In the 21st century and the digital age, we all have at least one digital device has become a prominent feature of online communication. Using different social media platforms to online communicate with others, for those all are using writing express thereby engaging to the posts and  discussions. 

Figure 5.2.2 AI generated image

4. Persuasion and influence: through persuasive writing, aim is to convince the audience that our viewpoint or ideas can be used to persuade and influence. Like having a clear and compelling point involves well-supported arguments that make a particular position. Besides it can use evidence or examples to support. That includes facts, expert opinions and even research findings. It can strengthen the arguments and convey an understanding of the topic. Is common in a variety of settings, such as advertising, debates, speech… thereby affecting the audience's attitudes or taking desired actions. 

President Obama's best speeches

CNN.(2017, January 11). President Obama’s best speeches[video].Youtube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7hddyiR47k

And here is an example of the 44th president of the United States-Barack Obama. In 0:11-0:31, Obama is telling the public what they have done is for their victory not just for an election. To put it simply it had a clear viewpoint and told the public thank you for their vote on him. Undertake to bring the public in advance. 

5. Communication and documentation: writing is a way to communicate in various contexts. Such as sending emails or text messages. Although it can’t be face to face conversation, it also allows us to express ideas. Obviously communication and documentation are key features of writing in daily life, especially in the digital age we exchange ideas and engage in dialogue through a variety of media. It is quite similar to social media. It also enables us to be efficient and communicative.

Writing provides a permanent record to those messages and to be understood in the convenience.

In addition it is not just for communication and documentation, it is also used for formal documentation like reports or official letters. That provides a standardised way of information and clarity in professionals. 

6. Public Communication: is another feature of writing in daily life. Writing is used to create public announcements, notices, and advertisements. Through creating public announcements like government notices, announcements or community events. Writing can convey that information to the target and let them be aware of any change. The form of writing for public communications needs to take what the target needs, what they are interested in. Can effectively attract attention and make an impact, its capability to increase the positive social impact in the public. 

5.2.3 Examples of Writing 

Writing is usually more formal than Speech. It had careful planning and rules. Therefore, here are some examples for explanation.

1. Short Story: The most common techniques used in writing. Mostly it focuses on a single plot and theme. Readers can be read in one sitting and the length compared in novels are shorter. Entertain and engage readers within a limited word count. And it had 5 key features of the short story. First is the length, plot, characters, setting and resolution. It offers an opportunity to explore the idea and theme with focus brevity. Here is an example of short story 

“The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson | The New Yorker

In this sample, it is easy to see the settings of the story. For example, the place is in the village between the post office and the bank. Which in the last paragraph turns out a dark side of human nature and the shocking tradition between the characters, they both had incredible relationships.

2. Personal Essay: Is a piece of writing that needs to discover a personal reflection and opinion. Besides, it should include the writer’s emotions and thoughts. Sometimes it may blend in the writer's memoir and analysis of the message. But a personal essay cannot be about telling a story or recording memory. Thereby, it should be inherently subjective with reflection. Follow the structure: introduction, body, paragraphs and conclusion. Therefore, personal essays can cover a wide range of topics, and are a platform for writers to share insights and evoke empathy to the readers. 

3. Research Paper: A research paper is a formal document and in academic settings. Because it serves to give insights to the academic community and communicate the results. It presents the results of original research and analysis on a particular topic. Moreover it must be taken and analyzed the information to ensure transparency and reproducibility. And one of the main parts of the research paper are summarizes the findings and implications. It may suggest avenues for the future based on the outcomes, thereby resolving any inconsistencies. 

So the topic of a research paper can vary widely but it also depends on which subjects. Here is a small sample of research paper topics, like literature discussing “Feminism and gender representation.”

5.2.4 Differences between Speech and Writing

Speech and writing are two different forms of communication, each with its own advantages. Speech and writing communication are complementary, and they serve different purposes in different situations. The advantages of writing are more precise with lasting messages. The advantages of speech are immediate and can interact with the audience with body language and facial expression. Express fully about the message. 

The advantages of Writing: Writing gives us time to reflect, create and correct. It provides an opportunity to edit into better structure. Because of the opportunity to edit it can be more thoughtful to respond, like using a well-reasoned manner to express the viewpoints.

Figure.M Cecil Smith,(n.d).The Benefits of Writing  https://www.niu.edu/language-literacy/_pdf/the-benefits-of-writing.pdf

1. Global Communication on the internet, using social media, blogs as essential for online platforms. Full of different countries and cultures to enable people to have connections and to share ideas. And it provides individuals the right of an audience in the digital age besides all the words will be recorded to make sure yourselves understand the duties and responsibilities of any wording.  

2. Writing overcomes communication barriers, like language differences. It is always a way to communicate with people. Because of books, articles and online content can be translated, that allows people to exchange ideas and emotions through wording wherever they are. 

Its strengths make writing  to be valuable skill that allows individuals to express themselves, share knowledge and interact with the world. 

5.3 Real speech and real writing

It is an expansion of the features of both speech and writing, and to learn more details about real speech and real writing. There will be few examples about real speech and real writing, and to analyse both features of real speech and real writing. Then, discuss the features of an unreal English textbook for learning to find out the difference between daily conservation and English textbook. Last but not least, analyse the authenticity of dialogue to summarise the above sub topics.

5.3.1 Real Speech

There is an obvious difference between speech and writing. When transcribing what we actually say in written form, it is different from conventional written language. Multiple factors affect the result of transcribing spoken discourses. For example, the features of spoken language, the presence of disfluencies, regional accents, dialectal variations, and the use of colloquial expressions and slang.

1. Features of spoken language

As mentioned above, people tend not to speak in complete sentences, or tend to use incomplete phrases, and more relaxed grammar, in the features of spoken language. When transcribing spoken language to written form, these features might affect the result.

Example:

     Transcribed spoken language: Dinner tonight?

     Conventional written language: Do you want to go to dinner with me tonight?

2. Disfluencies

In daily life, people rarely speak fluently like conventional written language. The disfluencies include hesitations, repetition or correction, and filler words, such as “Hm…” or keep repeating the sentence. These disfluencies are effective in communication strategy. For example, extend the planning time to find a suitable lexeme, or to enhance the importance of a lexeme. (Astrid, 1993, as cited in Danila, 2019)

Example:

     Transcribed spoken language: Hm… What about McDonalds? Or… or Pizza Hut?

     Conventional written language: What about McDonalds? Or Pizza Hut?

3. Regional accents

People from different regions have their own accents. They have particular accent pronouns which show where they come from. (Collins Dictionary) It is hard to transcribe the spoken language with different regional accents, especially unfamiliar accents. 

Example: Different accents to speak “Church”

Battle of the African Accents😆😆 - YouTube

Chech?  Charge?  Or Choch?

The above examples show differences between transcribed spoken language and conventional written language.

5.3.2 Real Writing

1. Real Speech vs Real Writing

When we are talking, we will think and speak aloud at the same time. We rarely plan our conversations first. We can say that the plan of real speech is transitory.

Compared to real speech, real writing is typically more planned and deliberate. When writing an article or novel, we usually formulate an outline before writing. 

2. Features of Real Writing

Before writing, the author will consider the information of readers already known and avoid repeating the information. Thus, the author can focus on new and unknown information to help readers to understand the writing. This helps the structure and context of the text.

Example

Story of Little Red Riding Hood

Everybody from the town called her Little Red Riding Hood. 

This pretty girl loved this gift from her grandmother and wore it every day and night. 

Her grandmother made a little red riding hood for her. Once upon a time, there was a pretty girl who lived in a little town. 

In the above story, the structure is not well planned. We cannot figure out the information when reading this story. 

For example, the sentence “gift from her grandmother” is before the sentence “Her grandmother made a little red riding hood for her.” 

The “gift” is unknown information and we did not know what it actually is before reading the whole text.

Figure 5.3.1 AI generated image

Rearrange

Once upon a time, there was a pretty girl who lived in a little town. 

Her grandmother made a little red riding hood for her. This pretty girl loved this gift from her grandmother and wore it every day and night. 

Everybody from the town called her Little Red Riding Hood. 

After rearrangement, we can see the basic information of the main character at the beginning, such as gender and where she lived. Thus the author gave us more new and unknown details of the story in a well planned structure. 

Real writing is typically more planned and deliberate to give readers a better understanding.

Figure 5.3.2 Timeline 

5.3.3 Authenticity of Dialogue

Authenticity of dialogue refers to the natural and genuine language exchange that occurs in real-life conversation. In general, we can say real speech is completely authentic and real writing is not authentic. 

An example is much easier to explain the way of distinguishing whether the dialogue is authentic or not.

Dialogue 1

Tom: Hey Mary, how was your trip to Japan?

Mary: Oh, it was absolutely fantastic! Japan is such a fascinating country. I visited Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, and each city had its own unique charm. I loved exploring the ancient temples and shrines, like the serene Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto and the bustling Senso-ji in Tokyo. And the cherry blossoms! They were in full bloom, creating a dreamy atmosphere everywhere I went.

Tom: Did you get a chance to try any traditional Japanese cuisine?

Mary: Absolutely! I dove into the world of Japanese cuisine. I devoured bowls of piping hot ramen, slurped on delicious udon noodles, and indulged in fresh sushi at the renowned Tsukiji Fish Market and the street food. I couldn't resist trying takoyaki, yakitori, and okonomiyaki from the vibrant food stalls. Each bite was a burst of flavors I had never experienced before.

Dialogue 2

Tom: Hey Mary, how was your visit to Japan?

Mary: Oh, it’s amazing! I’ve been having a lot of fun these days.

Tom: Where did you visit in Japan?

Mary: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. All places are fun!

Tom: That’s good! Which itinerary is your favourite?

Mary: Hmm… That’s a hard question… I would say the bustling Senso-ji in Tokyo. I really loved the great vibe there.

Tom: I know your feel bro… That’s really memorable.

Figure 5.3.3 AI generated image

Which dialogue is more authentic? Obviously dialogue 2. When comparing the authenticity, we can focus on the following points: natural language patterns, spontaneity, realistic content and context, interactive exchanges and turn-taking, emotion and spontaneity of reactions, contextual cues.

From dialogue 1, we can see the conservation between  Tom and Mary is lack of interactive exchanges. Mary shares her own experience most of the time while Tom responds passively. Also, the sharing of Mary is too nag and without a pause.

On the other hand, we can see the conservation in dialogue 2 is interactive and full of incomplete phrases. We can see their emotion and spontaneity in this conservation. The way of asking and responding by Tom and Mary is much more natural and authentic.

5.3.4 Unreal textbook English for teaching

We have learnt about the authenticity of dialogue. How about an English textbook? Is an English textbook authentic for learning? When we look at an English textbook for teaching, we can find that written conservation is different from speech in daily life. English teaching emphasises answering complete sentences as they provide clear examples of grammatically correct and coherent language use. Textbooks usually focus on how to construct and understand complete sentences. 

On the other hand, as mentioned above, people tend not to speak in complete sentences, or tend to use incomplete phrases, and more relaxed grammar in spoken language. 

Example1:

Animal Mystery

An English mini game on asking questions

Players “What colour is it?”

Computer “It is brown.”

Figure 5.3.4 :Online quiz

From the above example, we can see the computer will answer the player in complete sentences, which is in full form and not authentic. 

But in general, when we ask this question “What colour is it?” In our daily life, most of the answers will be “brown”, which is in reduced form and completely authentic.

Example 2: 

Figure 5.3.5: English Textbook (ISAC office, 2017)

The above example also answered the question in complete sentence, which is in full form. In an authentic way, we will answer the questions more shortly, such as “Australia, I want to ski.”

Why do textbooks use unreal English for teaching?

The reasons for using complete sentences include grammar instruction, comprehension and clarity, writing skills development and standard language usage. Using complete sentences since childhood helps children to have a better concept of the structured framework of English language. As the concept of the English language of children is well developed, they can explore more authentic spoken language features into their communication. 

Although the English textbook is not a completely authentic spoken model, it helps children to develop their concept of English language. 

5.4 Overlap of Spoken Language and Writing

In the previous sections, features of spoken language and writing have been interpreted, these two forms of communication share common elements such as similar grammar structure and conventional nouns used, and simultaneously possess the distinct characteristics such as the retention time and the formality of messages. Both similarities and differences have been highlighted.

Whereas in reality, the classification between spoken language and speech is not distinct all the time, as there are some situations where speech and written expression intersect and interact, blurring the boundaries.

According to Sandra and Ronald(2021), “all communication is purpose-driven” (p. 14). To make a choice on the form of language we use, the purpose of using language as the communicating medium is considered. For instance, we choose to speak informally with friends and parents for spontaneous interaction, as to maintain good relationships, or we choose to write articles for elaborating our academic perspectives as a durable and condensed record of information.

Likewise to the above, we also intend to use spoken language to convey condensed narration, or we want to interact with relatives without a serious attitude, and these are the circumstances where overlap of speech and writing occur. 

Figure 5.4.1: Talking with friends (image generated by Padlet) 

5.4.1 Scripted Speech 

To discuss speech which is not “typical” in terms of its definition, scripted speech is an appropriate example. Spoken language with well-organized structure ,which resembles the structure of a written article and the logic of ideas has been carefully arranged before presenting in front of audiences, could be defined as a scripted speech, as well as planned speech. 

A famous example of scripted speech is I HAVE A DREAM, presented by Martin Luther King, Jr., the receiver of the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1963.

I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King .Jr HD (subtitled)

Figure 5.4.2: I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King .Jr HD (subtitled) (Youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s )

The following paragraph is an extract from Martin’s speech:

“But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self‐evident, that all men are created equal." 

In the transcript of the speech, precise vocabulary can be frequently found, such as “ the manacles of segregation” and “the chains of discrimination”.With the refinement of wordings, the speaker convey the messages more accurately and effectively, without meaningless pausing time or any repeated word or phrases to disturb attention of audience from the content.

In this situation, the speech seems to be less “speech-like”, it is static, relatively formal, lexically complex, and well-formed, as same as the features of writing possess. 

Another extract from Martin’s speech:

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!”

Still the speech reserves some of its interactive features, which is conversational and engaging to the audiences. For example, in the above extract, we can discover that there are addition of intonation and  emphasis by repetition of theme sentence “I have a dream” , meaningful pausing time for listeners to respond by clapping, and other paralinguistic features in the speech. Besides, the speech is also interpersonal, its use of first person “we” as his grammatical persons involves listeners to be on the same side of the speaker.

Whilst looking back to the theme of Marin’s speeches, we know that he wants to promote his cogitation of pursuing racial equality, especially focused on the rights of African Americans. “The voice can be a powerful source of information because it often provides valuable insight into the emotional and cognitive states of the communicator”(Guyer , Briñol,  Vaughan-Johnston, Fabrigar,, Moreno, & Petty, 2021, p. 480), thus Martin took spoken language as the communication medium to listeners. Simultaneously,  as the speaker wants to ensure coherence and clarity in the delivery , he makes the speech planned, which allows him to provide maximum persuasive effect to convince audiences. 

Figure 5.4.3: I have a dream by Martin Luther King Jr.'s (image generated by Padlet) 

As there are often some situations where we want to make good use of the exclusive features of both spoken language and writing, overlap of two language forms is a norm.

Besides public speech, there are also other scripted speeches which have the similar purpose as public speech does, such as presentation in a meeting or in a lecture, jokes, and dialogue in a screenplay.

5.4.2 Film Dialogue

To explore the aim of dialogue in a film, a question should be first pondered: What is a film for, or target to? The answer is hinted at by the reason film theory endured, as “movies make us think”(Rushton & Bettinson, 2010, p. 2). Based on this purpose, we can understand that the dialogue was written under meticulously designed, then speak out through the characters, leading the audience to understand the thoughts behind the film.  

Dialogue under scripted often exhibits a higher level of eloquence than everyday speech, which constitutes more complex vocabulary and sentence structures, and this refined style of expression may enhance the dramatic impact of the performance. In addition, film dialogue sometimes may also incorporate figurative language, including metaphors, similes, or symbolism, for the artistic effect of the film.    

A part of dialogue from the film The legend of Sleepy Hollow (Burton, 1999, 18:10) will aid for clearer explanation:

Baltus: And so it has been for twenty years. But now the Hessian wakes -- he is on the rampage, cutting off heads where he finds them.

Ichabod: Are you...saying...? Is that what you believe?

Hardenbrook: Seeing is believing!

Doctor Lancaster: No one knows why the Hessian has chosen this time to return from the grave.

Steenwyck: Satan has called forth one of his own.

Steenwyck: They tell me you have brought books and trappings of scientific investigation -- this is the only book I recommend you study.

Ichabod: Reverend Steenwyck...gentlemen...murder needs no ghost come from the grave. Which of you have laid eyes on this Headless Horsemen?

Hardenbrook: Others have. Many others.

Baltus: You will see him too if he comes again. The men of the village are posted to watch for him.

Ichabod: We have murders in New York without benefit of ghouls and goblins.

Baltus: You are a long way from New York, sir.

Ichabod: A century at least. The assassin is a man of flesh and blood, and I will discover him.

Figure 5.4.4: The character Ichabod portrayed by Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow, Adapted from screenrant by A. Tyler, 2023, https://screenrant.com/sleepy-hollow-burton-movie-real-location-legend-explained/. Copyright 2023 by ScreenRant.com 

In the above dialogue, the conversation is fluent and comparable complex in sentences than that in reality communication, and some metaphors are used instead of telling thoughts straightforward, for example Ichabod says that “We have murders in New York without benefit of ghouls and goblins” is implying he believe the murderer should be a human but not a fantasy creature, and then Baltus’s respond “You are a long way from New York, sir.” is also an implication that is refuting Ichabod is lack of consideration about things happened in their current environment. 

Otherwise, the rapid-response dialogue showcases clever wordplay and intellectual exchange between characters, which produce better effect for audiences  fascinated into the film. 

Although dialogue in the screenplay is scripted as well as public speeches, it remains a more speech-like feature for natural performance, which will not break the immersion by not giving a “planned” consciousness to audiences, compared to public speeches. For example, when Ichabod asks the question “Are you asking”, he speaks with hesitation which shows his doubt of Baltus' belief. The speech is more authentic when including these spoken language features, and convey characters’ emotions at the same time, to achieve both relatable and clarity effects.

By combining these speech features and written-like features, film dialogue becomes a powerful tool for character development, storytelling, emotional impact, and audience engagement. Similarly, the unique style of language, which is a hybrid form of speech and writing, is developed in film dialogue.

From the discussion of scripted speech, we have explored that taking advantage of different forms of language for best effect in communication at particular situations, leads to the overlap of speech and written language. The phenomenon  also occurs in “speech-like” writing, in the upcoming section, we will take “text message” as our analyst for discussion.

5.4.3 Text Conversation 

In modern cities, the proliferation of the internet affects our daily life a lot, and the way of communication is also no exception. A practical example is the text message which we use to talk with others everyday.

Text messages often adopt a more casual and informal style, similar to spoken language. Abbreviations, acronyms, emoticons, and emojis are commonly used to convey emotions, tone, and non-verbal cues that would typically be present in face-to-face conversations.

The following is an example of online chat message between interlocutors A and B(White, 2015):

A: Hey!

A: What’s up?

B: Heyyyy. Nothing much. Just chilliin.

B: U?

A: Same. Watchin some tv.

B: Nice nice. Whatcha watchin?

A: Parks and Rec.

B: I love that show!

B: Treat yo self!

A: Haha yeah It’s so good.

B: sooooo goooddd lol

A: Who’s your favorite character?

B: lol I like chris traeger.

B: he’s LITERALLY my favourite person ever.

A: haha I agree! My favorite is probs tom! Haha we’re basically twins

A: And we both hate Jerry. Dumb Jerry.

B: ……

B: I actually like Jerry

A: Hahaha no I was kidding! Just in character lol 

Figure 5.4.5: a conversation starts between a man and a woman by text messages,  Adapted from REAL TEXT CONVERSATIONS: DATING IS HARD by C. White, 2023, C+ Comedy. https://www.cpluscomedy.com/comedy/2015/5/20/real-text-conversations-dating-is-hard. Copyright 2015 by C. White 

As belonging to a type of writing, the text message reflects the spontaneity of spoken language. In the above example, interlocutor A starts chatting with a “Hey!”, followed by “What’s up?” to initiate the conversation casually. In the whole interaction, expressions of both interlocutors remain short and straightforward. The immediacy and simplicity of text message prioritising direct communication over formalities, and facilitate the efficiency of a conversation.

Besides, the text message overcomes some restrictions of writing, by its spoken-like features. In a speech, intonation and pausing time of the speaker differentiates the impression on various contents, which is lacking in typical writing. However, the same effects can be achieved in text conversation, by using ellipses and repetition of characters, mimicking the rhythm and intonation of speech. In the above example, “sooooo goooddd” is imitating the lengthening pronunciation in speech, while “LITERALLY” in capital letter to give a feeling of  louder sound, and “......” is representing a silence.

Moreover, those paralinguistic features of speech assist better transformation of emotion, which allow receivers to decode meanings with lesser deviation. In text messages, emojis which have the similar effects as well as facial expression and gestures used in face-to-face conversation, are often utilized as the “paralinguistic feature” of writing.

The text conversation in online is spoken-like, it can occur in real-time, having spontaneity, and allow interlocutors to engage in instant back-and-forth exchanges, as well as a face-to-face conversation mainly constituted by speech. Spontaneously, the underlying structure of written language remains, the messages are stored permanently, and basic grammar rules are still operating whilst texts are written, also people can still choose to communicate in slower pace, and in asynchronous manner as writing often be. 

Text message brings together the best of both spoken language and writing, catering to the immediacy and convenience of modern digital interactions, and tells the meaning for it being a hybrid of two language forms for people living in modern cities.

Reference

Danila. Z. K. (2019, November 8). Pragmatic functions of repetitions in spontaneous spoken dialect discourse. De Gruyter Mouton. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/dialect-2019-0007/html?lang=en 

Definition of 'accent'. Collins Dictionary. (n.d.).

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/regional-accent

ISAC office. (2017). Textbook Material. https://www.isacteach.com/information/textbook-in-primary-and-high-school/

YouTube. (2017). President Obama’s best speeches. YouTube. Retrieved October 30, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7hddyiR47k.

Writing. Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d.). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/writing

Cornbleet, S., & Carter, R. (2001). The language of speech and writing (1st ed.). Routledge. 

King, M.L., Jr. (1963, August 28). I have a dream [Speech transcript]. The Avalon Project. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/mlk01.asp

RARE FACTS. (2017, November 8). I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King .Jr HD (subtitled)[Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s

Guyer, J. J., Briñol, P., Vaughan-Johnston, T. I., Fabrigar, L. R., Moreno, L., & Petty, R. E. (2021). Paralinguistic features communicated through voice can affect appraisals of confidence and evaluative judgments. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 45(4), 479–504. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-021-00374-2 

White, C. (2015, May 20) REAL TEXT CONVERSATIONS: DATING IS HARD. C+ Comedy. https://www.cpluscomedy.com/comedy/2015/5/20/real-text-conversations-dating-is-hard

Burton, T. (Director). (2006). Sleepy Hollow [Film]. Paramount Pictures.

Rushton, R., & Bettinson, G. (2010). What Is Film Theory?. McGraw-Hill Education.

OpenAI. (2023). GPT-3.5 Model [Large language model]. https://poe.com/poe  

Crystal, D. (1997). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Smith, M. C. (n.d.). The benefits of writing - Northern Illinois University. The Benefits of Writing. https://www.niu.edu/language-literacy/_pdf/the-benefits-of-writing.pdf

Shirley Jackson.(1948).The Lottery.The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery

deagreez1. (2015). Portrait of surprised girl with raised eyebrows [Photograph]. Depositphotos. https://depositphotos.com/photo/portrait-of-surprised-girl-with-raised-eyebrows-92987848.html. 

Comprehension questions (Chapter 5) 

Please answer the following multiple choice questions

1. Which examples is a right choice for features of writing

A. Short story

B. Poem

C. Personal essay

D. All of the above

(Key : D)

2. Compared to real writing, real speech is typically more planned and deliberate 

A. True

B. False

(Key: B)

3. What are the characteristics of  authenticity of dialogue

A. Natural language patterns 

B. Spontaneity of reactions 

C. Realistic content and context 

D. All of the above

(Key: D)

4. Which type of dialogue is most authentic?

A. Novel

B. English Textbook

C. Screenplays

D. News article

(Key: C)

5. Why writing need to be in formal way?

A. Permanence

B. Reviewed and referenced over time

C. Time to reflect, create and correct

D. All of the above

(Key: D)

6. Which of the following is an example of Speech-like Writing?

A. Speech

B. Textbook Dialogue

C. Text message

D. None of the above

(Key:C)

7.  Which of the following is/are the correct description(s) of text message?

A. Text message does not reflect the spontaneity of spoken language.

B. Using repetition of characters in text message can imitate lengthening pronunciation in speech.

C. Interlocutors participated in text message cannot choose to communicate in asynchronous manner.

D. All of the above

(Key: B)

8. Which of the following is NOT the features of writing?

A. Hesitation

B. Persuasion and influence

C. Learning and Education

D. Expression of Creativity

(Key: A)

9. What are the features of speech are included in daily life?

A.      Fillers

B.      Hedges

C.      Interactive turn-taking

D.      All of the above

(Key:D)

10. Tone of voice helps conveys a particular meaning through the sentence.

A.      True

B.      False

(Key:A)