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Oral and Written English

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For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

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Oral and written English

This unit will look at the differences between written and spoken English in this unit.

Can you think of any?

In groups, brainstorm any ideas you have.

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Oral and written English

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Oral and written English

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Once upon a time there was these three pigs. So one day the pigs’ mum and dad -their parents- told them-er-they said you’ve got to…you’ve gotta leave home. They weren’t-er- cross with them or anything, it was just, y’know, time to grow up and start on their own.

Well..so..the pigs..the little pigs that is…

hesitations

casual grammar

information to make sure speaker is being understood

How did you know the second version was the transcript?

Oral English

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Speakers can use their hands to make gestures to help illustrate a point or give emphasis.

Gesture

Speaker techniques

Facial expression

The expression on your face can help to illustrate a story or show how you feel about what you are saying.

ToneThe tone of your voice can add a great deal of meaning to the story. Pausing on purpose or raising or lowering your tone can create suspense or emphasis.

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Audience participation

That’s a good point John. As you said,

the US system is very different to that in the

UK…

What about elsewhere in Europe?

In many spoken situations the audience can ask questions or even join in, creating a dialogue.

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Oral English

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Oral and written English

Imagine you have been asked to explain the differences between spoken and written English to a group of Year 6 pupils.

First choose a subject. It could be a joke, a story, an explanation (for example, about some aspect of life at your secondary school) or some idea of your own.

Next prepare two versions of your topic. One is a written version and the other is a spoken version. Then present both to the class.

At the end of the presentation explain to the class how the two versions illustrated the differences between spoken and written English.

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Remember

Spoken English uses tone of voice, pauses and body language to make the meaning clearer.

When we speak we tend to be more repetitive in order to help our listeners follow.

Speech usually has more hesitations.

Often the audience can join in.