The audience in passage A is very informal, I believe that she is having a general chat with a fellow worker, because the level of speech is quite informal, ‘that’s the main thing like isn’t it you know’, I feel that it is interpersonal, the speaker and listener are in close proximity. While extract B, in my opinion will have an endless audience, because it can be seen over thousands of miles and thousands of years. I believe that the audience will benefit a particular age group, quite elderly people, who understand the particular dialect used.
The genre itself is very different as well; principally passage A is a simple review of past and present mangers in which the worker has come across. Whereas on the other hand passage B is a suspenseful story, basically a thriller. You can identify this because of the language used throughout the text. “I don’t like leaving the children in bed, and nobody in the house,” she said. From this you notice that something eventful has occurred in which has permitted her to leave her children at home by them selves.
The language used in both passages is entirely the opposite, the speaker in passage A, tends to be very informal, this can be identified by the great deal of colloquialisms that is used throughout. “That’s the main thing like isn’t it you know”, the speaker uses a less formal lexical choice. This occurs in several sentences throughout, another example, “And she trusts you and that’s imp”. Very simple words and phrases are quite common, ‘ oh yeh you say’, whereas when looking at passage B, the language is much more mature, and well structured, “Offered the man, afraid of appearing alarmed, afraid of taking liberties”. You can identify that this type of language has been well thought through, in comparison to passage A, the writer’s use of complex sentences signifies how much more detailed a written account can become with preparation than spontaneous speech it self.
Elision, a grammatical technique, which is frequently used in passage A. Elision, is a routine feature in speech of all kinds but is rarely represented in formal writing, basically it is the sliding together of adjacent syllables to produce a single item. For example, the word ‘isn’t’ is spoken numerous times in the passage, if this was to be written it would become, ‘is not’.
You can also identify that the surface grammar is extremely untidy, use of pauses and fillers allow the speaker to explain what she is trying to get across. In passage A, there is a great deal of pauses, as it is spontaneous speech, the speaker needs time to think about she is going to say next. Fillers again help the speaker get to the next point, it allows you that split second to think, for instance, ‘course as I say when you do your work you don’t need erm a boss do you that’s what I say’. The word ‘erm’ allows this to happen. From passage B you can identify that there is a higher degree of grammar used compared to passage A. “I don’t like leaving the children in bed, and nobody in the house”, shows the writes use of speech marks to signify a different character speaking, this occurs throughout the passage. In this passage the writer also uses paragraphs, this again points out the planning that is put in to writing the passage rather on the spot think like the initial passage.
Another point that I singled out was the time period in which both passages were set. Passage A seemed to be extremely modern; you could see this by the type of language used and objects described within, ‘were all walking around with four lighted cigarettes in our hand and having a drink off every one…’ however passage B was quite the contrast, you could distinguish a certain accent used by the characters and the lexis said, in allowed you to think that it was quite an old passage. For instance the first line reads, “Asna e come whoam yit” you can tell straight away that the phrase is not perfect English, it’s a dialect which was used in the midlands many years ago. Another point to show how old the passage was is that the characters worked as miners, a job which is not commonly associated today.
In conclusion, I believe that both passages, written and spoken are entirely different from each other in numerous ways, initially speech is quite interpersonal, meaning the speakers and listens are in close proximity. You can also gauge a listener’s response quite easily, by use of body language, repetition, and the language used. Also speech tends towards a less formal lexical choice, more likely to contain colloquialisms. While writing, can allow readers to communicate across thousands of miles and thousands of years. Writing is structured grammatically using punctuation, and a much higher degree of explicitness is needed when writing. You can also see that planning is taken into account, in-order for the inclusion of paragraphs and speech to be used, as well as the language used.
