Audience

 

Audiences are the people you are addressing, either in person or in writing. Every audience will have its idiosyncrasies. Being able to choose the words and expressions you need to engage an audience is an example of professional language use – in either your native language or your acquired one. Pay attention to how authors tailor their language; analyze the differences between academic texts, children’s books, comic books, and newspapers.

 

There are a number of characteristics, beyond register alone, to keep in mind when addressing an audience (and this can be an audience of one or of many). Some of these, which we will discuss in some detail below, are:

 

    age - You will very likely change your choice of words, as well as the length and complexity of your sentences, depending on the age of your listener. With a child, you might use the word doggy; with an adult, the word dog. You might tell a child not to lie, but ask a peer not to prevaricate. As we grow up, our language changes – and this happens in all cultures.

    gender - gender can also require differing treatments. Depending on the society, there will be larger or smaller differences between the genders. In English, we refer to “girl talk” and “boy talk.” This reference is not only to topics of interest but also to the kinds of words we use. Boys tend to use more active words and expletives and girls more affiliative words, according to some researchers of the English language.

    social status - if you are talking to a high-society audience, composed of local political leaders, medical professionals, wealthy individuals, and whoever else in the culture is considered to be of “high status,” you will choose different words and grammar than if you are talking to a group of youngsters in the ghetto. If you use “high-falutin’” expressions with ghetto youngsters, you will find that they do not listen because you do not fit in, you “do not understand” them. Similarly, if you use ghetto speech in addressing a group of socialites, you will also be dismissed.

    Genre expectations - writing differs in the kinds of words, structures, style, discourse mechanisms, and text organization that are used for various categories of production. These categories of differences are called different genres. Let us take some specific examples. The former can be pretty informal in how you address the reader and pretty flexible in how you present your arguments. The latter will expect a formal level of address and a culturally appropriate logical development of thought and argument. Articles, conference presentations, and other written and oral genres have structures that differ one from another and that differ, depending on the language.

    educational background - if you will be talking to a group of people, either formally or informally, it is somewhat important to know their educational background. You will want to pick different words for delivering a conference paper at a professional association to a group of individuals who, in general, appreciate erudition and use bigger words themselves than you would choose for, say, a mixed group of parents.

    Specialization -  focuses on the kind of vocabulary you use depends very much on the level of specialization of your listener, as well as on your own level of specialization. Two pet owners talking together will probably refer to cats and dogs, but two veterinarians might refer to canines and felines. Specialists share a considerable amount of jargon. This jargon can only be used with other specialists.With lay people, it creates confusion and misunderstanding. When you learn new words in your foreign language – whether in class or through independent reading – make an assessment of whether these are specialized or lay words, so that you will have a range o synonyms to use, as the circumstances require.

 

The choice of formal and informal forms of address, as well as the use of honorifics, depending on the language and culture involved, are all an important part of tailoring language to reflect personal relationship. On a more individual, personalized basis, with some people you may feel free to use rather loose, vivid language (even “four-letter words” – although you should always be aware that these words carry powerful emotions that may not feel as weighty to you as a foreign speaker of the language as they do to a native speaker of the language).

 

Bibliography:

 

1.    Brown, H.D. (2000): Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. White Plains, NY: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. Gass,

2.    S.M. I L. Selinker. (2008): Second Language Acquisition. An Introductory Course. New York: Routledge. VanPatten,

3.    Leaver, B.L; Ehrman, M; Shekhtman, B. (2005): Achieving Success in Second Language Acquisition. CUP

4.    B. i J. Williams. (red.) 2007: Theories in Second Language Acquisition. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

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