register

=What is register?=

How do you know if something probably comes from a postcard, a novel or a scientific journal? The answer is the register. This refers to the linguistic choices made to communicate a message to a certain audience in a certain way or context. If you are writing a novel, the character, his or her feelings and what he or she does, are important but if you are writing for a scientific journal the "character" or individuals will not be as important, probably, as the topic you are discussing. In the quiz in the vocabulary page, the character "nodded off" and we are interested in him, but in a scientific journal we might be discussing the phenomenon of overtiredness and the tendency to "drop off" when studying. The linguistic choices we make to stress the focus when communicating, therefore, will be different.

Exercise One:
Look at this picture. Who do you think he might be? Where do you think he might be from? What is his job? Discuss your ideas with a partner.

Now look at the vocabulary below. Match each item to a suitable definition. Does this give you any more clues as to who the "mystery person" might be?


 * **Lexis** || **Definition** ||
 * It took a huge amount of will || A situation where everyone must be inside at a certain time. Otherwise they may be shot. ||
 * Scared (adj.) || A hand bomb which makes a loud noise. ( I think!) ||
 * Falling debris || This means it was extremely difficult to do something ||
 * A military curfew || A sharp feeling when something hurts you. ||
 * An Israeli settlement || frightened ||
 * A shot of pain || Expert army killers, trained to use guns with telescopic sights. ||
 * Military snipers || A place where people are living, possibly temporarily. ||
 * A sound grenade || Pieces of rock, walls, wood etc. which fly in the air when there is an explosion. ||

Read the information which appeared on the front page of the newspaper about Tom Hurndall, the mystery man.(The article by Terri Judd is taken from "The Independent"Tuesday 11th April 2006) "April 6 2003. I have been shot at, gassed, chased by soldiers, had sound grenades thrown within metres of me, been hit by falling debris and been in the way of a 10-tonne D-9 that didn't stop. As we approached, I kept expecting a part of my body to be hit by an 'invisible' force and shot of pain. It took a huge amount of will to continue. I wondered what it would be like to be shot, and strangely I wasn't too scared. It is strange to know that each night people are shot and killed for breaking military curfew, and in the darkness on the north west side there is an Israeli settlement and a few hundred metres away with military snipers in between and any one of the four of us could be being watched through a sniper's sights at this moment. The certainty is that they are watching, and it is in the decision of any one Israeli soldier or settler that my life depends. I know that I'd probably never know what hit me, but it's part of the job to be as visible as possible." //This section of the article was on the front page separated from the rest of the article. Why do you think it was published in this way? What do you expect to come next? Now read the document below to see://



//Now read the rest of the article to find out what happened.// The headline claims that his death was "unlawful". Do you agree? What position is the writer speaking from? (Think about the choice of words like"activist". Do they make a positive impression on the reader, for example.)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article357010.ece
 * __Discourse Analysis__**

Look at the sentences below, taken from the newspaper article about Tom Hurndall. There is something in each of them that reveals the journalist’s personal point of view. Sometimes it is a particular language choice or it may be the topic he has decided to focus on. For each sentence decide what it is that reveals his attitude.

1. In a rare move the coroner concluded the inquest…. 2. …..was trying to save children from a volley of bullets when he was shot in the head… 3. ..an Israeli soldier was eventually convicted of manslaughter….after a protracted fight by the family ( this refers to the Hurndall family). 4. 2 Palestinian teenagers were shot for no apparent reason. 5. He died days before his 21st birthday. 6. The inquest saw graphic footage of the young man…bleeding 7. … the events of that day which contradicted the original assertion that the Israeli Defence Forces had fired at a Palestinian gunman in camouflage.


 * ACTIVE OR PASSIVE?**

Now look at the way the passive is used in this article ( in these sentences)


 * Israeli gunmen shot some teenagers**. ( The focus here is clearly the “actor” It could come in this text if the writer chose to focus on the gunmen and what they did.)


 * 2 Palestinian teenagers were shot.** ( The focus chosen, however, is the “victims” those who are suffering the effects of decisions taken by those in power.)

Find other examples (both active and passive ) in this article which you think highlight ‘an actor’ or a ‘victim’ in a particular way.

//This work has shown how it is almost impossible to write or speak without revealing some element of attitude. The writer of this article clearly has reservations both about the legal systems involved and what actually happened. The choice both of the details to focus on and the words and phrases reveals a lot about the writer's attitude.Lexical and grammatical choice can be used intentionally to shape a particular argument and win sympathy or unintentionally as we choose the words and language forms we want to use. In any case, when reading critically it is essential to bear these factors in mind, and not simply accept what is written at face value.//

Summary
With this article it was particularly interesting to consider: Layout Choice of formats (Diary, Chronological breakdown,Report and Discussion, Images) Choice of tense Choice of voice Choice of lexis Choice of connectors

Remember when you go on to do the writing work that the linguistic choices you make can also affect the success of your message!

=Now let's look at another recent article which appeared in a British newspaper.= Look at the headline and decide what type of newspaper this appeared in. = = =How Romeo and Juliet killed Verona, 'the city of love'= By TOBIAS JONES -

Now look at the four photographs and match them to their captions. Now decide what type of message the writer is trying to send and what parallels he is drawing.
1) 2)  **3) 4)

Caption a)** __Star-crossed lovers__: Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni __Bogstandard__: The balcony where Juliet __pined__ for Romeo, __like__ the whole of Verona has undergone __a tasteless Disneyfication__ __Tragic lovers__: Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting as Romeo and Juliet on screen Today, the only thing the city does __with any zeal__ is promote Romeo and Juliet and __pass strange laws__. Above, visitors have left love messages at the tragic heroine's house.
 * Caption b)**
 * Caption c)**
 * Caption d)**

Look at the language choices which have been underlined. Which captions mix different registers and what is the effect? What can you tell about the writer's attitude from these captions?

If you want to read the complete article you can find it by following the link below:
[|Romeo and Juliet]

===We have been looking at journalism, and the articles we have studied were designed to appeal to readers' emotions. When reading academic texts the writers are not aiming for an emotional reaction but are aiming to //**persuade**//. The register, and, therefore, the linguistic choices made are just as important.===

Now, look again at the International English article (see the vocabulary page) and consider these questions:
What is personalised here? Why? What makes readers realise the writer is treating this topic seriously? How does she lead readers into the next part?
 * The Introduction**

The Main Body of the text
Look at the use of examples: How are they used to back up the writer's line of reasoning? How effective are they for the reader? What is the main argument and how is it developed? What do you notice about the writer's lexical choice? What expressions tell you something covertly about her attitude? How effective is the combination of colourful, informal language with blander more neutral language?

The Conclusion
Is this the "standard" way to conclude? Is there a standard way to conclude? How does this conclusion "round off" the article leading the reader back to the beginning? How effective is it?

Perhaps the most important question to consider here is the "audience". Who is this article designed, or written for? How do the linguistic choices show you this?

In English what comes first tends to be the focus of our message, and in systemic functional linguistics the first element in a clause is referred to as the theme (See Halliday's work such as //"An Introduction to Functional Grammar 2nd Edition//" (Edward Arnold 1994). This does not mean the "theme" in a general or literary sense, but the first element which may be a subject, an adverbial phrase, a complement or a verb etc.

Look at these two phrases where the **themes** are highlighted:

//**They** were happy because they could speak their version of "Italian English", warts and all!
 * The Italian Version of English together with all its variant forms** was acceptable.//

What differences do you see in the linguisitic choices being made? What type of reader is the second phrase designed for, do you think? Why?

Now look at how the second paragraph of the original EIL text has been modified for a different audience in the text below. What do you notice?