Unit 4c Book: Stylistics: Written and Spoken Language

4. Stylistics: Written and Spoken Language

Below, you can see a table with two extracts from the second listening task in Section 3. Compare the two extracts with the single instructions listed below the table. Out of these single instructions, choose the two that match the two extracts.

Transcript (two extracts)	Single instructions
So now look at the wires of the component that are sticking up, because you’re going to bend them outwards a little to make the component stay on the board. Is that OK? But don’t do it yet. Because it’s a resistor, it’ll get hot when it’s being used on the board, so just push the wires in a little bit and lift the component away from the board slightly, enough to let air move around under it. Understood? Now, at the same time as you’re pushing the wires slightly, take your pliers and bend the wires outwards a little, like this, so that the component will stay on the board. Have you bent them? That’s very good.	?
So now you’re going to turn the board upside down, but you don’t want the component to fall out of the holes, so first of all you need to put this pad on top of the board. All right? Now, take the board out of the clamp and keep on holding the pad against the board and at the same time turn the board over and clamp it again. OK? Is it clamped tightly? Excellent.	?

1 Secure the circuit board with a clamp to avoid movement during soldering.

2 Bend the component wires using pliers to allow insertion into the correct location on the board.

3 Insert the component on the correct side of the board, flat and parallel to the board’s surface.

4 While holding the component in place with a pad or sponge, turn the board over and secure it.

5 While pushing the component slightly away from the board (to permit air circulation when hot), bend the

component wires outwards.

6 Trim the protruding wire ends using wire cutters.

7 Clean all the parts to be soldered.

(From: Bingham, C. & Wright, L. (2013). Technical English Level 4 Teacher´s book. Pearson Longman, p. 42.)

If you chose instructions 4 and 5, your answers were correct:

Transcript (two extracts)	Single instructions
So now look at the wires of the component that are sticking up, because you’re going to bend them outwards a little to make the component stay on the board. Is that OK? But don’t do it yet. Because it’s a resistor, it’ll get hot when it’s being used on the board, so just push the wires in a little bit and lift the component away from the board slightly, enough to let air move around under it. Understood? Now, at the same time as you’re pushing the wires slightly, take your pliers and bend the wires outwards a little, like this, so that the component will stay on the board. Have you bent them? That’s very good.	4) While pushing the component slightly away from the board (to permit air circulation when hot), bend the component wires outwards.
So now you’re going to turn the board upside down, but you don’t want the component to fall out of the holes, so first of all you need to put this pad on top of the board. All right? Now, take the board out of the clamp and keep on holding the pad against the board and at the same time turn the board over and clamp it again. OK? Is it clamped tightly? Excellent.	5) While holding the component in place with a pad or sponge, turn the board over and secure it.

Now compare the two columns of the table. You can see that the meaning is the same, but the two columns differ in the level of formality. The first column sounds very informal and is typical of spoken English. The other column, however, is more formal and is typical of written language. When speaking, you can use contractions, phrasal verbs and incomplete sentences, including rhetorical questions. Study the examples copied from your book (Bonamy, D. (2013). Technical English Level 4 Coursebook. Pearson Longman, p. 30):

Written

Spoken

while pushing…

to permit air circulation

the component wires

the protruding wire ends

at the same time as you´re pushing…

to let air move around it

the wires of the component

the wires of the component that are sticking up

There are lots of other differences between formal and informal English. If you want to learn them all, study the table below.

Detailed Information on the Aspects of Formal and Informal Language

Aspect	Informal	Formal
Use and organisation	Preferred in spoken conversation Unplanned, spontaneous, hesitation	Preferred in writing Planned, happens alone, accurate, clear
Reader	Family and friends	Officials, academics, professionals
Content	Conversational topics	Serious thoughts and information
Style	Mostly simple and compound sentences joined by conjunctions such as and or but	Complex sentences showing considerable variety in construction
Forms	Short forms – contractions: There’s… The test didn’t show…	Full forms: There is The test did not show
Point of view	Subjective and personal	Objective and impersonal
Point of view	Asking rhetorical questions: Why did this happen?	Using qualifying language: One possible reason may be…
Vocabulary	Colloquial, use of slang, phrasal verbs: Info Dad Guy About, around Like Thing Lots of Little/Big Good/Bad You Take off	Academic language used accurately: Information Father Man Approximately Such as, for example, for instance Topic, issue A significant/considerable number of Small/Large Positive/Negative One Remove
Use of nouns and verbs	Use of verbs: We need to carefully consider how we apply the results.	Use of nominal groups (noun forms): The application of the results needs to be carefully considered.
Phrasal verbs	i.e. two-part verbs: Get better Get worse Go up Go on Bring up	Not used; one-word equivalent instead: Improve Deteriorate Increase Continue Raise
Grammar	May not always use complete sentences	Should be error-free
Who/whom	Who should I send this to?	To whom should I send this to?
Split infinitive	He began to slowly realize what had happened.	He slowly began to realize what had happened.
Voice	Use of the active voice: In recent years, researchers have published several analyses of survey data.	Use of the passive voice: In recent years, several analyses of survey data have been published.