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DOLLOSA, Janice T.

ABEL107 – Registers in English


III – ABEL B Mr. Jessie S. Paragas

TEXT 1 TEXT 2
The popularity of tattoos 1
Doctor: Good day Mr Banes! What brought you here today?
continued to grow over the 2
Patient: (coughing) I'm sorry doctor. I've been coughing for
last 200 years. In the about a week or two now.
nineteenth century, tattoos 3
Doctor: Would you like a glass of water?
became popular in England 4
Patient: Yes, please. I think my cough got worst overtime
among the upper-class. For especially at night. There's no phlegm present though. I took
example, Lady Randolph some over-the-counter cough medication to relieve it.
Churchill, Winston Churchill’s 5
Doctor: Are you feeling something else aside from coughing?
mother, had a snake tattooed 6
Patient: I had colds and a sore throat prior to having cough.
around her wrist. In the United 7
Doctor: Have you got allergies?
States, tattoos have been 8
Patient: None that I'm aware of.
historically associated with 9
Doctor: Have you had hospitalizations before?
sailors, motorcyclists, and 10
Patient: Yes. I was confined due to fatigue. Too much work,
prison inmates because tattoo you know?
shops were considered 11
Doctor: I'd like to ask some personal questions to help me
dangerous and socially figure this out better if you don't mind me asking.
unacceptable. However, since 12
Patient: I don't mind at all.
the 1980s this mindset has 13
Doctor: Is there anybody around you being sick these days?
changed considerably and 14
Patient: Yeah. Colds and cough are quite pestering a
tattoos are becoming number of my household lately.
increasingly popular among 15
Doctor: What do you do for a living?
men and women of all ages. 16
Patient: I work in a construction site as a mason. I tend to
overwork at times. That's probably the reason I got
hospitalized before.
17
Doctor: Do you drink? Do you smoke?
18
Patient: Yes, I do both. I like having a drink or two in a
week and I smoke a minimum of 8-10 sticks a day.
19
Doctor: Now, I want to do some examinations on you. Is it
fine with you?
20
Patient: Yes, it's fine.
21
Doctor: First, I'd like to look at your throat. Please open your
mouth. Next, I'd like to press on your cheekbones. Now, I'll
check if you have swollen glands around your neck and
shoulders. Now, I'll be listening to your lungs. Please deep
breath and I’ll listen to your lungs. (Auscultate) Now, I'd
examine your abdominal area. Please lie down. Now, I'll
examine your legs and arms. I'm done. Thank you for letting
me examine you.
22
Patient: So what's wrong with me doctor?
23
Doctor: Mr Banes, I think there are a few things that might
have caused your cough. A cough related to upper respiratory
infection could be for one. It's the biggest possibility we've got
now. Asthma, acid reflux, or other infections that might have
been triggered by your occupation could also be the cause. I
need to rule out first the exact cause though so I'll be running
some blood works and chest X ray on you. And depending on
the results, you may need additional tests later. In the
meantime, I'll give you some medications to easy out your
cough. Do you have any questions?
24
Patient: None for now. Thank you.

December 19, 2017


FIELD TENOR MODE
TEXT Affective
Activity Vocabulary Syntax Relationship Power Contact Channel Key Genre
Involvement
simple,
complex, and
compound- unequal due
complex to the writer impersonal as
plain words, sentences, being an low as the the topic written text,
information
technical hyphenation, expert (most focus of the pertains to an can either be
on the informative
TEXT 1

jargon, repetition, writer and likely a tattoo text is the object and a read from a successful and
historical and historical
collocation, active and reader expert) and historical substantial feature good
development text
names, passive voice, the reader is development distance is magazine or a
of tattoos
numerals spelled-out more likely a of tattoos created by the tattoo shop
numbers, client or written form
appositive, learner
third-person
viewpoint
plain words,
indicatives,
technical
declaratives,
terms or
interrogatives,
jargons, personal (as it
exclamatives,
name, is a face-to-
imperatives,
collocation, unequal as face
hyphenation,
discourse the conversation)
active and
medical markers, relationship low as the and frequent
passive voice, consultative
TEXT 2

consultation slang, presented is interaction is (due to the spoken (face- good and
repetition, doctor-patient and
and contractions, purely for procedural rate of to-face) effective
affirmatives, examinational
examination parentheses, consultative intentions only recurrence of
first- and
figures, and patient visit to
second-person
compound examinational the doctor as
viewpoint,
words (closed- described in
simple,
form), modal, the text)
compound,
affirmative,
and complex
compound
sentences
subjects
At the level of field, T1 (Text 1) and T2 (Text 2) regarding informative text and doctor-patient
interaction respectively. The texts are highly dominated by simple (T1: The popularity of tattoos
continued to grow over the last 200 years; T2: “I’ve been coughing for about a week or two
now”) and complex sentences (T1: In the nineteenth century, tattoos became popular in
England among the upper-class; T2: “Too much work, you know.”) and fixed (T1: prison
inmates; T2: swollen glands) and loose (T1: historically associated; T2: personal questions)
collocations. Interrogatives (T2: “What brought you here today?”, “Is it fine with you?”),
imperatives (T2: “Please open your mouth”), and indicatives (T2: “Colds and cough are quite
pestering a number of my household lately”) are also greatly utilized.

Nevertheless, T1 is specifically exhibited by numerals (e.g. 200, nineteenth) and appositives


(e.g. Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s mother ) while T2 by compound words (e.g.
abdominal area), modals (e.g. “Would you like a glass of water?”) discourse markers (e.g. next,
now), contractions (e.g. I’ve, I’d, I’ll), and slang (e.g. yeah). Both T1 and T2 are characterized
by plain words (T1: popular, century; T2: aware, week ), technical terms or jargons (T1: tattoo
shops; T2: auscultate), and repetition (T1: tattoo; T2: cough and colds ). The use of active (T1:
In the nineteenth century, tattoos became popular in England among the upper-class; T2: “I had
colds and a sore throat prior to having cough”.) and passive (T1: However, since the 1980s this
mindset has changed considerably and tattoos are becoming increasingly popular among men
and women of all ages; T2: “Asthma, acid reflux, or other infections that might have been
triggered by your occupation could also be the cause”.) voice sentences are also noticed.

In addition, T2 is marked by first- and second-person viewpoints while T1 exhibits a third-person


viewpoint as the writer is addressing a general information about the topic at-hand. While T1
uses hyphenation (e.g. upper-class), T2 utilizes parentheses (e.g. (coughing)) in its composition
which indicated that an action is being performed while the interaction is in progress.

Speaking of tenor, there is a writer-reader relationship illustrated in T1 and a doctor-patient


formal relationship in T2. Power is unequal and affective involvement is low in both T1 and T2,
which shows the superiority of the writer and doctor over the reader and patient respectively
when it comes to knowledge and experience on their particular fields. Contact is impersonal in
T1 but is personal and frequent in T2. T1 is marked by experiential distance whereas T2 is
denoted by interpersonal distance. The experiential distance exhibited by T2 is due to the level
of expertise the writer has on the topic at-hand vs. the reader who is the receiver of the new
information presented by the writer. On the other hand, T2 is marked by interpersonal distance
because of the very fact that the text presents a face-to-face scenario in a question-and-answer
mode of interaction which usually occurs in medical facilities.

At the level of mode, while the channel of T1 is written and generally formal, T2 is spoken and
incorporates slang within the interaction. Although T2’s setting is more professional (clinic /
hospital), the interlocutors should use a language that will not be problematical for all
participants. Using a language which makes use of more technical words or jargons (as they are
inside medical facilities) might cost the objective of the text; thus, the use of informal language
or slang was used along with other plain words. Despite the similarities and differences of T1
and T2, both texts have achieved their contexts of purpose, thus the key being good, effective,
and successful. Conclusively, the two texts display different facets: T1 is narrative and T2 is
consultative.

On the account of BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) and CALP (Cognitive
Academic Language Proficiency), T1 takes the written mode, which is common in academic or
informative contexts, while T2 takes the spoken mode, which is a usual mode in everyday social
interactions. It can be seen that T1 exhibits a crafted and compressed written mode while T2
exemplifies the casual and fluid characteristic of the spoken language.

Comparing the two texts, we notice that face-to-face, spoken conversations (T2) seemed to be
characterized by the use of contractions (e.g. I’d, I’ll, I’ve), first (e.g. I) and second-person
pronouns (e.g. you), simple sentences (e.g. “I took some over-the-counter cough medication to
relieve it”), affirmatives (e.g. yes), and exclamatives (e.g. “Good day, Mr Banes!”). There is
seemingly a lack of technical terms or jargons (unless needed in the conversation). These lexical
terminologies and grammatical preferences have the capacity of communicating personal and
emotional connection. Furthermore, the here-and-now context has been effectively shared by
the interlocutors (doctor and patient, Mr Banes), who are involved in a concomitant, dialogic
communication, by taking turns to speak to each other in a question-and-answer interaction.

In contrast, an excerpt from a magazine or shop display (T1), which belongs to the genre of
informative and historical text, is typified by a higher occurrence of technical terms (e.g.
tattooed), passive voice structures (e.g. However, since the 1980s this mindset has changed
considerably and tattoos are becoming increasingly popular among men and women of all ages ),
complex sentence forms (e.g. In the nineteenth century, tattoos became popular in England
among the upper-class), and an overall lack of personal pronouns. These lexico-grammatical
choices have the influence of delivering experiential or social distance. In reality, the writer of
the text (T1) is not in the here-and-now context due to the writer-reader relationship of the text.
The text, in contrast with T2, is monologic than dialogic. Although as pointed out in the text,
despite its impersonal nature, the objective of informing the reader about the topic at-hand was
accomplished.

Gestures and non-verbal cues are also a factor to communication. They are mostly used in
spoken / verbal communication as shown in T1. Oppositely, T2 is written but marked with a
serious tone due to the topic at-hand. T2’s objective is to inform its readers about the topic and
to provide additional knowledge about it. Due to its communication form, T2 is gesture-free.

Additionally, if both texts are compared through their language variation, we can attest that T1
is an example of an academic register, whereas T2 is an everyday register. This is due to the
fact that the choices of words and grammar presented on both texts differ in order to fulfill its
purpose of communication – one is informative (written mode), the other consultative (spoken
mode).

In conclusion, the two texts shows how language greatly differs in accordance to its
communicative purposes and circumstantial factors – one is cognitively simple (T1), the other is
cognitively complex (T2).

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