Handout 2: Language and Medium

Aims:

To understand and be able to express in English the main

differences between language and medium.
To know and be able to express in English the major
differences between written language and speech.
To understand and be able to explain in English the
major differences between the aural medium and the
visual medium.

1. Language and Medium

If we compare a piece of written English with a piece of spoken
English, regarding them simply as physical objects or events and
forgetting for the moment the fact that they convey meaning to us, it
is apparent at once that they bear no resemblance to each other
whatever. The piece of written English consists of groups of small
marks arranged on a surface, while the piece of spoken English
consists of a succession of constantly varying noises. It would hardly
be possible for two things to be more different. However, we have
only to recall the fact that both of them convey meaning, to be in
doubt that, utterly dissimilar as they may be, they are both equally
English. As soon as we make explicit this identity lying behind the
complete difference, we have drawn a distinction between language
and medium: we have recognized, in effect, that the piece of spoken
English and the piece of written English are the same language
embodied in different mediums, one medium consisting of shapes,
the other of noises.
It is possible for the same language to be conveyed by different
mediums because the language itself lies in the patterns which the
mediums form, and not in the physical objects or events, as such, of
which the medium consist. When we distinguish language from

medium, what we are doing is to distinguish a pattern from its

material embodiment, of which, in a sense, it is independent.
Language, we could say, is form, while the medium is substance.
One thing all mediums have in common is that they mediate
between the producer and the receiver of language. Thus every
medium has associated with it two sorts of human activity: a
producing activity from which the medium results and a receiving
activity by which the medium is apprehended. The first involves acts
of the mobile organs, the second involves acts of a perceiving sense.
So far two language mediums have been mentioned, one for
language in its normal spoken mode, and one for language in its
normal written mode. Each is produced by a different sort of
muscular activity and each is addressed to a different sense. The
medium of language in its spoken mode is created by movement of
lips, tongue, larynx, lungs, and other organs, and is addressed to the
ear. The medium of language in its written mode is created by
movement of hands, arms and fingers, and is addressed to the eye.
These two mediums (which may be called the aural medium and the
visual medium respectively, according to the sense to which each is
addressed) are the best known and by far the most widely used; but
other language-mediums are possible. Theoretically there could be a
language-medium addressed to any one of the human senses, though
it is not very likely that either the sense of taste or the sense of smell
could be put to much practical use for this purpose. (David
Abercrombie, Elements of General Phonetics).
(From Widdowson, H. G. 1971. English Studies 8. London: Longman).

Questions
Read the above text carefully and answer the questions below:
1. What does written language consist of?

2. What does speech consist of?

3. What is medium?

4. What role do all mediums play in communication?

5. How is the medium of speech created?

6. How is the medium of written language created?

7. Summarize the main contents of Handout 2 in the box below.