Purposes

Formality - General OUtline

• Planned, rehearsed, edited, 

  • Carefully construction of purposes

• Is lexcially dense - more precise and has clarity - is easily understood by a wider audience

• Occasionally requries expertise to understand (using jargon) - has a large social distance (not familiar with one another that much)

  • The setting and matter (thing being talked about) determines the language used within formality - context affects the level of formality, and what language is used

Things that indicate formality being used in tiers

Purposes

Asserting authority or reinforcing social distance

Establishing Expertise

Establishing social harmony, building rapport and negotiating taboo

Face Needs & Politeness

Obfuscation

Manipulation

Clarity

Asserting Authority or reinforcing social distance (Large Social Distance) - (Purpose)

Formal language is more broad and inclusive (avoids slang or any language that people may not know about - can exclude) - also avoids social taboo or offensive terms

Is a reflection of a large social distance

Salient Language features of having a large social distance

Euphemisms (negotiating around taboo topics)

Hedging (avoids threatening or challenging those of a higher power hierarchy)

Asserting Authority (Purpose)

Reinforces existing power hierarchies between groups or people

Used to validate position of higher ranking individuals - used portray them as trustworthy and of high status especially in times of crisis

Salient Language features of asserting authority

• Deferential language (honorifics, titles)

• Nominalization and depersonalizing language (shifts focus to action/rule - making it unquestionable or unopposable)

• Passive voice and agentless (if there is blame - it takes out the responsibility of the person) passive - depersonalize texts

• (Unhedged) Imperatives - by superiors to subordinates (direct command - indicates the power)

• High modality verbs (must, should, will - reinforces the power present)

Establishing Expertise (Purpose)

Showing that a person is very knowledgeable and adept within a field - differentiates those who are not particularly knowledgeable in the field.

e.g. Rocket scientist vs layman

Language use demonstrates a complex and sophisticated understanding of the matter

Purpose of establishing expertise

Can enhance a speaker’s ethos (trustworthiness or credibility) to create gain trust from audience - elevates their ability to persuade

Conative (persuade) + referential (inform)

Can actually attend to one’s own positive face needs as it makes them more respected, trustworthy; also attends to negative face needs as it validates what they are saying and gives them more credibility and authority.

Salient language feature so establishing expertise

Jargon, Patterning, Nominalization, Complex-compound structures, Honorifics, Cohesive Devices

Jargon

Specific terminology associated with a specific field

Can confuse, obfuscate people - used for manipulation

Or even establish in-group membership amongst those who know what the term means

Can communicate efficiently, precisely, clearly and efficiently - economy of expression

Patterning

Nominalisation

Highlights concepts and actions over agents (people doing it)

Creates an academic and authoritative tone - may come across as being sophisticated

Impersonal and objective presentation - can strengthening the expertise of the indivdiual

Compound complex structures

Shows full understanding of scenario

Can come across as being more academic and sophisticated

Honorifics

Mr, Dr, Mrs, Master - indicate their expertise within the field and the associated level of understanding they have

Cohesive Devices

• Structuring arguments clearly (logic and reasoning).

• Linking ideas across complex sentences (clarity and flow).

• Demonstrating command of technical vocabulary and precise language.

• Guiding the reader through the writer’s thought process (authority and professionalism).

Establishing Social Harmony, Building Rapport & Negotiating Taboo

A strong inclination to ensure a peaceful, inclusive and comfortable environment for all participants, accentuated in formal contexts when social distances are large and speakers/writers don’t know their audience too well.

Social Harmony (Purpose)

Breakdown of social barriers between people and promotion of inclusion and tolerance.

• Using language in a way that keeps people happy, polite, and avoids conflict.

• Basically, it’s about getting along well when talking or writing.

Can be done to exemplify the author/speaker’s moral character and perception of social values - displaying ethos (moral value/character)

Salient Features of Social Harmony

• Non-discriminatory language (NDL)

• Euphemisms

• Politeness strategies (hedging, softening, indirect requests)

• Inclusive language

• Lexical ambiguity and semantic patterning

• Ethnolects, AbE (this is unit 4), code-switching

NDL

• Language that does not unfairly exclude, stereotype, or offend people based on things like:

  • Gender

  • Race / ethnicity

  • Age

  • Religion

  • Disability

  • Sexual orientation

• Basically, it’s inclusive and respectful language.

To broaden audience and to not label any group or individual (can employ lexical ambiguity)

Pros Of NDL

• Encourages positive thinking about minority groups. (doesn’t explicitly state “LGBTQ” people or label people)

• Reduces prejudice and unconscious bias (reducing overgeneralization)

• Promotes social harmony and inclusivity.

Cons of NDL

• Can feel like it limits free speech.

• Changing language may not change attitudes.

• Risk of tokenism or focusing on words instead of real issues.

• May provoke backlash if seen as “thought policing.” - pushing people to use certain language can create backlash and people may fight against it - e.g. using gender neutral pronouns - infringe speech

Tokensim

Showing something to be fair and equal on the surface however, doesn’t really make a change - can be symbolic of a change through language, but doesn’t create a change itself

Link back to cultural context (template)

Link with: The role of cultural context in shaping any social barriers and values that are acceptable in today’s society.

Negotiating Taboo (Purpose)

Avoiding topics or concepts that may be discomforting to the audience

Consider role of cultural context - e.g. In a room full of people with financial problems - talking about money is considered taboo

What Taboo can look like

Can be more ambiguous language choices, or more technical (and hence, confusing to the general populace).

Being deliberately vague and confusing can alleviate the strictness of a taboo topic - deliberate and strategic vagueness (negotiating taboo)

Salient Features

• Non-discriminatory language (NDL)

• Euphemisms

• Nominalisation

• Jargon

How does Jargon negotiate taboo

• Softens sensitive topics → makes them less direct or shocking.

  • Example: “The patient expired” instead of “The patient died.”

• Creates professional distance → reduces emotional impact.

  • Example: “Excretion” instead of “poo.”

• Allows precise communication within specialist groups → discusses taboo topics safely.

  • Example: Lawyers use “sexual harassment claims” instead of crude language.

• Maintains social and cultural acceptability → polite and formal way to handle delicate subjects.

Link negotiating taboo towards

The role of cultural context, and what is shaping the taboo

• Consider if the speaker/writer is working within the cultural context and social expectations of formality.

What social harmony can slso do to minority groups

• Uses polite, inclusive language → shows respect.

• Avoids stereotypes or offensive terms → protects self-esteem.

• Promotes belonging and acceptance → makes groups feel valued.

• Encourages cooperation and trust → strengthens relationships.

Building Rapport Salient Features (Purpose)

• Salient features

  • Hedging

  • Politeness markers

  • Inclusive language

What Is Building Rapport

Building rapport = making someone feel comfortable, respected, and connected through your words and behavior.

Politeness Markers

• Hedging / softening: perhaps, maybe, I think

• Indirect requests: Could you…, Would you mind…

• Formal titles / honorifics: Sir, Madam, Professor

• Apologetic phrases: I’m sorry to bother you, Excuse me…

• Inclusive / respectful language: Chairperson, people with disabilities

Politeness & Face Needs (Refer to Informal Language)

Is increased in formal scenarios

Deferential Language

Language showing power, prestige, social status, age, expertise

Obfuscation (Purpose)

Intentionally using language to mislead or to confuse the audience - making it hard for them to interpret

Lets the author/speaker mask the true meaning or outcome of an event or action (especially in political contexts)

What is it used for

• To negotiate social taboo, making unpleasant truths more acceptable (we are downsizing positions -we are firing 50 people - makes it more acceptable)

• Makes people (sometimes) feel better about socially sensitive topics and hence maintains positive face needs (passed away - died)

• Avoid blame and responsibility (Mistakes were made - doesnt say who or what)

  • Cover up damning information and protect oneself - hide embarrasing details or wrongdoings

Salient Features

• Weasel Words

  • Overly complicated, seemingly sophisticated words that sound like something meaningful but really just make a vague claim.

• Rhetoric

• Jargon

• Doublespeak

• Nominalisation

• Patterning (semantic - ambiguous; morphological - abbreviations)

• Agentless passive

• Euphemisms

Weasel Words

1. Avoid commitment or accountability

   • Example: “Many people say…” instead of naming exactly who.

2. Make claims sound more impressive than they are

   • Example: “Experts agree that…” → vague, could refer to one or many “experts.”

3. Softens statements

   • Example: “Some studies suggest…” → makes it less direct or less certain.

4. Can manipulate or mislead

   • Often used in advertising, politics, or PR to create positive impressions without giving hard facts.

Rhetoric (S-tier)

Persuasive language of all sorts; positioning readers/listeners to act/believe a particular way convincingly:

Salient features

Subsystem patterning (especially syntactic) - more sonorous and rhythmic

Prosodics - amplifies the point made

Repetition

Euphemism

Modal verbs (high modality)

Connotations

Emotive function

Manipulation (Review)

Leads the audience to think about one thing, and draw attention away from another part

Can be positive or negative

Salient Features Of Manipulation

• Information flow (front/end focus, clefting)

• Prosodics

• Patterning

• Paralinguistics and vocal effects

Clarity

Anything that is clear and easily understandable

Is crucial in certain contexts - such as in a crisis - need to warn everyone

Why must there be clarity (purpose)

• Clear and easy-to-read language meets readers’ negative face needs → doesn’t impose on them.

• Public texts (e.g., in Australia) require high clarity to be understandable by everyone.

• Clear texts are more likely to achieve their purpose and function effectively.

Salient Features of Clarity

• Modifiers (intense use of adjectives, adverbs)

• Subordinate clauses

• Jargon

• Cohesion

• Coherence (formatting, logical ordering, conventions)

• Prosodics

• Listing

• Simple sentence structures

How do modifiers create clarity

They specify and add extra detail to the noun - giving greater clarity and in turn much better understanding about the matter