Improve English Writing - Register and Style

Nov 23, 2010 Marlene de Wilde

Choose Appropriate Register and Style - Photo by Marlene

Before tackling any writing task in ESL, make sure you understand why you are writing and who you are writing to.

There are two basic questions we ask ourselves before we write – who are we writing to and why are we writing. This is true whatever the language, and it is irrelevant whether the writer is a native speaker or a language learner. The answer to these questions will give the appropriate register and style to use. Register means using the correct vocabulary according to who you are writing to and the situation you are referring to whereas style has come to mean the degree of formality used.

Difference Between Formal and Informal Style

Mistakes in the register and style of written language can lead to disastrous consequences. Put yourself in the place of an employer seeking a new secretary receiving this in the mail, "I saw your ad in the paper. I want a job and I need some dosh so how about it?" The grammar is correct and the sentences complete but this is unlikely to get the applicant the job. Unfortunately, the applicant has not taken into account the fact that he is not writing to a friend, and a much higher degree of formality needed to have been employed.

An email to a football buddy which begins, "I am writing to you in response to your letter dated the 5th of November in which you enquired after my availability for practise on the 10th. I would like to inform you …" may even result in the player being thrown off the team. Someone who writes in that way is unlikely to be a very good team player as he gives the impression of arrogance and superiority. Reverse the registers and style of the application letter and the email, however, and the responses to both will be much more positive.

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Improve English Writing Skills

These are all things that the English as a Second Language learner must take into account. This is harder for many learners than the learning of the grammar rules and vocabulary. The latter can be learned from a book with some application, whereas the appropriateness of language requires judgment and logic. Many of the rules governing social interaction are unwritten and furthermore, what is acceptable in one culture may be frowned upon in another. While we mostly absorb appropriateness whilst growing up in our own society, to have to learn its applications in a foreign culture or language is not so easy.

English as a 2nd Language

The most basic questions an ESL learner need ask themselves before speaking or writing is "Who am I in this situation?" – "Who am I addressing?" and "What is my purpose?" This is information which is second nature to a native speaker and usually comes naturally without much preparation. Anyone who has not learnt to apply the rules and adjust register and style accordingly will find themselves ostracised – that is how important it is.

Read more at Suite101: Improve English Writing - Register and Style http://www.suite101.com/content/improve-english-writing---register-and-style-a311970#ixzz18ziIpWSi