Much of the vocabulary used in the broadsheet newspaper article is in fact sophisticated and the use of polysyllabic words has been profusely executed. This is typical of broadsheet newspapers and is in fact done to reach out to a specific audience. For instance, words such as: ‘prolific’, ‘inevitable’, ‘obliteration’, ‘succumbed’, ‘oblivious’, ‘perception’, ‘contemporary’, ‘demarcate’, ‘enthused’, ‘entail’ and ‘intrinsic’ would to some extent require a broad vocabulary (even if it were passive), perhaps stemming from a certain amount time spent within the bounds of education or studying. Furthermore, this article is highly informative, hence the use of modifiers to allow the efficient transmission of information, rather than for the purpose of emotional impact. The newspaper article contains numerous examples of modifiers and intensifiers: ‘inevitable obliteration’, ‘contemporary society’, ‘severely crippled’, ‘great harm’, ‘powerful addiction’, ‘psychological craving’ and ‘severe dependency’. These instantly have a significant effect on the density of the newspaper article, thus ensuring the formation of a highly developed standard of vocabulary employed by the broadsheet article.
From my choice of vocabulary used in the radio documentary, one may discern that, it is – as one would expect – very clear and has many striking similarities with the vocabulary of the broadsheet newspaper article. Moreover, a good command of the English language would be expected since the radio documentary serves as a transcript for BBC London radio. The fact remains however, that the purposes of these two texts – namely the newspaper article and radio transcription – are very different; consequently the palpable echoes of colloquial language are firmly established within this radio transcription. For example: ‘you re listening’, ‘all over the uk’, ‘i mean is this’. The choice of vocabulary does serve as a firm elemental factor, in establishing the interviewee’s significance and high status in academia. Lexis such as: ‘profound’, ‘prospects’, ‘academia’, ‘intrinsic’ and ‘comprehend’ are employed with such spontaneous and impulsive speech. Therefore, this reflects that the speaker has in fact acquired a high degree of knowledge and articulacy which is further exemplified by his title as a Doctor.
The broadsheet newspaper article has combined both a very formal and entertaining tone. I have purposely applied this, since this is a common characteristic of broadsheet newspapers. A specific register is therefore indispensable to conveying information on such an important social and heath field, but to an audience who are perhaps middle-class, educated, employed or retired. The manner of delivery also encompasses some facets of influential language, primarily consisting of: clarity, formality, moderate and standard rhetoric. The idea of conveying information while remaining entertaining can be observed from the first interrogative that appears in the second paragraph: ‘Or do we consider the stats to be fabricated?’ This gives the audience an opportunity to instantly reflect on the figures revealed within the same paragraph, and also to form an opinion about the nature of the interrogative. A continuation of similar rhetorical features is introduced thereafter: ‘After all, they didn’t really go around counting the number of people who smoke, did they?’ Once again, the employment of colloquialism (as a question tag) creates a path to speak directly to the audience, by asking them questions so that they are encouraged to respond. I have utilised the helpful feature that this device offers, by asking the audience to consider what is being said. Another important aspect which is a common feature in broadsheet newspapers is the relationship between the addresser and the audience. This relationship has been kept personal in the article by the use of the first person plural pronoun ‘we’. It has been significantly used as a linguistic feature, in order to build a pseudo-personal relationship with the audience.
The mode of address utilised in the radio documentary is that of a friendly and genial nature. For instance, the opening sequence: ‘good morning’ is positively exaggerated. The word ‘good’ here, as well as being uttered at the top of the presenter’s voice, would be drawn out to emphasise the impression of bonhomie the programme wants to create. This chord of geniality and cheerfulness is further demonstrated by the use of humour: ‘hahaha (laughs) well’. Humour plays an important part in creating a unique tone which pleases the audience. It is clear that implying a serious and sombre tenor would not in fact initiate high volumes of listeners thus making the programme unpopular. This aspect of playing to the audience in radio broadcasting requires something known as responsive design. This concept enables the broadcasters to create a mental image of their target audience and ensure that the content and style match it.
The broadsheet newspaper article possesses numerous examples of profound and exemplary grammar, pertaining to the typical features which are observed of broadsheet newspapers. The execution of longer sentences formulated by the frequent use of complex sentences and subordinate clauses makes certain demands on the reader. For example the following complex sentence appears at the inception of the third paragraph: ‘Which ever way we direct our perception, 120,000 deaths per year caused by cigarettes will certainly not decrease, and with the dedicated effort to appealingly associate celebrities with these drugs, it seems that the figures will most probably not remain the same.’ This sentence consists of two main clauses, which are fused together by the coordinating conjunction ‘and’. Hence, the final part of the sentence is highly standard since it complements the main clause. Another aspect of English grammar, which is conspicuous in this newspaper article, is the profuse employment and wide range of cohesive devices. Under the facet of grammatical cohesion pertaining to reference, the article offers several cohesive links: ‘This powerful addiction consists of a psychological craving for a substance that develops into a severe dependency.’, ‘The professor had a meeting with senior psychologist and member of the UBP, Dr Gerard O’Donnell. He claims that…’ The former is an example of an anaphoric reference since it is a reference to something already mentioned in the text. The latter however, involves a cataphoric reference since it is alluding to what is yet to come in the text. Such devices are used widely in broadsheet newspapers and other written texts, so that they may act as a catalyst for the reader and make the content of the writing flow with pace and meaning.
The apparent nature of both texts is undeniably different. Subsequently there are numerous aspects of the English language that subconsciously occur, thus implicating a striking demarcation between the nature of the two modes namely; spoken and written. I have endeavored to illustrate this through the medium of a radio documentary and newspaper article (Sunday supplement), both of which are very common platforms of communication and their popularity is increasing by the day.
It can be deduced from the radio documentary that much of the language is spontaneous hence the false starts and fillers: ‘i mean’ and ‘you know’. Moreover, the general atmosphere and audience tenor of the conversation is quite relaxed. As a result, traces of colloquialism can be seen: ‘yeh yeh’. It is imperative to acknowledge the fact that these prosodic features are part of the spoken English and it is common knowledge that spoken language cannot be altered, hence its permanency.
On the other hand, written English has many different characteristics. It can easily be altered, and is therefore constantly developing in its region of expanding the influences of the English language. Furthermore, there tends to be a higher level of accuracy associated with written English, as a result this written aspect is governed by a more prescriptive constitution, whereby ‘Rules’, ‘Regulations’ and ‘Correctness’ are on the frontline of the linguistic battlefield, attempting to preserve the ‘Correct’ or ‘Standard’ English language. Moreover, written English is perhaps more often than not employed by the world f academia, thus it is manifestly associated with Standard English.
