Lesson II.

Registers of English/Language Register

When it comes to language variation, the terms genre, register,

and style are often encountered. David Crystal (2008) defines
register as “a variety of language defined according to its use in
social situations e.g. a register, scientific, religious, formal English.
(p. 409).” “He added: “In Hallidayan linguistics, the term is seen
as specifically opposed to varieties of language according to the
characteristics of the users (viz. their regional or class dialect),
and is given a sub-classification into field, mode and manner of
discourse (p. 409).

Crystal (1964) further discusses style and register:

Language, being the product of interaction among the members of society, must ultimately be
studied according to the social context in which it is found. Within a language, there are
variations in style and register, which differentiate and formally characterize distinct social
situations. Style refers to the degree of formality attached to particular interpersonal social
situation, which is reflected by differences in language – for example the kind of language used
while talking to friend will differ noticeably from that used in addressing a superior, in otherwise
the same situation. Register refers to a kind of language whose forms are of a definable social
institution, regardless of the status of the participants – thus one finds the register of legal
language, liturgical language, and so on (p. 149).

It is to be noted that genre and register overlap and are sometimes used interchangeably.
According to Lee (2001), whereas genre is associated more with the organization of culture,
register is associated with the organization of the situation. To this end, register is understood
as the context-specific variety of language to which the field-mode-tenor framework is
important.

To give a concrete example, with the genre of recipe, field may be analyzed in terms of the
social setting and the communicative purpose in which the text is produced. Tenor may be
described in terms of the role/s required of the writers and readers including the cultural values
shared by both. Mode could be explained in light of the knowledge of other texts required of
speakers/listeners and writers/readers as regards the genre including the formal text features.

Language register then refers to the formality of language which one speaks. Different registers
are used in different situations. It is through register that you are able to determine the kind of
lexicon or vocabulary to use as well as the kind of structure to be used. Even in writing, you may
use a formal or an informal register. In some instances, even a neutral language register is
identified.
The formal register then is used in formal speaking and writing situations. In a state of the
nation address classified as a formal communicative situation, the speech is usually delivered
using a highly-polished language, read from the manuscript. This is certainly allowed since the
President occupying the highest position in the country could not afford to make mistakes. On
the contrary, a priest delivering his homily, more often than not, speaks extemporaneously and
uses ordinary language. This is so since the audience is composed of various audiences coming
from different walks of life. The priest should be able to convey his spiritual message to the
listeners without difficulty of comprehension on their part. The priest should also be able to
touch the very core of the listener’s hearts so that they live the preaching they hear.

The formal register is likewise appropriate for use in professional writing like project proposals,
position papers, and business letters as in the case of writing to superior or to a head of a
certain organization. It is more impersonal, objective and factual. Informal register, which is
more casual in tone, is appropriate for people with whom you have established a more personal
relationship as in the case of friends and relatives. This type of writing may sometimes be
emotional, as an intimate relationship exists between the speaker and listeners or writer and
reader.

Earlier in the discussion, it was mentioned that register refers to the kind of language whereby
the forms used to define the social situation, notwithstanding the status of the interlocutors.
Thus, legalese or legal language is highly characterized by archaic expressions, technical jargon
intrinsic only to the community of legal professionals, embedded structures, nominalizations,
passive voice, as well as long, kilometric sentences, which are not the features of textese, or
language of texts. Conversely, the features of SMS language or textese language are exactly the
opposite – use of abbreviations, acronyms, slang words, and expressions. This is so since
messages used to be limited to a certain number of characters/spaces that made texting much
easier and quicker. However, misinterpretation and/or miscommunication in text messaging may
arise if vocabulary and knowledge of context are limited. Hence, extra care should be practiced
when comprehending text messages.

Teacher’s Insights
Language has formal and informal registers. These registers have
forms that define the social situation. The kind of register to be
used affects the way one speaks and writes. As a student, you
should read carefully the text to identify its register. Through
comprehension, you can easily know whether what you are
reading uses legalese or textese. Be sure also to be aware whom
you speak or write, because the register vary from one situation
to another. By doing this, as an interlocutor, you can avoid
miscommunication.
 Task 1. Language Registers (Quiz)
Directions: Fill in the column by writing the expression or
vocabulary you commonly encounter in the registers indicated
below.

Legalese Textese Other type (Academese)

e.g., whereas e.g., LOL (laugh out loud) e.g., commodification
feministing

Task 2. What Do You Mean? (Class Standing)

Directions: Analyze each utterance – its meaning, context, and register. Fill in the table with
your answers.
1. Just a sec, please!
2. Could you please hold on for a while? I will just call her.
3. I really apologize. I do not mean to hurt you.
4. So sorry for my mistake.
5. Am not interested in your party.
6. I can’t make it to your party. I’ll make it up next time.
7. Good morning, Mr. Alcaraz!
8. Hello, Sir Alcaraz!
9. Our sincerest congratulations on your forthcoming promotion!
10. Congrats! You made it!
 Meaning Context of the Situation Register (Formal or
Informal)
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Directions: Using the scale below, how would you rate yourself utilizing the different registers
in various situations of your communication? Why?

Excellent = 4 Good = 3 Fair = 2 Poor = 1

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Chapter IV. Evaluating Messages and Images

Key Terms universalism particularism

melting pot collectivism ascription

cultural pluralism individualism

Lesson I. You Say More Than You Think

We have already established in the previous chapters the fact that there is more to what you
say than meets the eye. With culture, business, and language interplaying with one another,
the extent by which we can stretch the impact of language points us to differing directions. In
this chapter, we are going to focus on the specificity, or at least, what we perceive to be
specific in the messages we put out there for everyone to understand and interpret. Like the
discussion in the previous chapters, the context in which you become embroiled in the world of
work, professional world will be the focus of this chapter.
Figure 1.
This print advertisement features a “better” groomed black
man about to throw into the air an image of his old self
across football field. This image elicited a deluge of
negative comments mainly focused on how the ad
promises users of Nivea to be re-civilized version of a black
man who shouldn’t sport the Afro hairstyle. If you do not
have an Afro, this ad means differently to you, but the fact
remains that a large population of black men have
naturally curly or Afro hair and that this ad undermines
them. This add was pulled out in no time after generating
wild negative buzz.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/most-deserved-apologies-of-2011-for-offensive-ads-
2011-12#nivea-1
Figure 2.

What was thought of as a simple message of making

dark chocolate relevant to the times has been dubbed
to be condescending by no less than the supermodel
alluded to in this ad, Naomi Campbell. Campbell added
by saying ”It’s upsetting to be described as chocolate,
not just for me but for all black women and black people.
I do not find any humor in this. It is insulting and hurtful.”
Cadbury pulled out the advertisement and apologized profusely to the black community and to
Ms. Campbell for having inadvertently undermining them with this ad.

Figure 3. Earlier this year, Summer's Eve launched a

completely bizarre ad campaign that featured -- we
kid you not -- an ethnically diverse array of talking
hands that represented an ethnically diverse array
of talking vaginas.

Said hand-ginas also spoke in racially stereotypic

cliches.

After being parodied on The Colbert Report, the commercials were eventually pulled. Still, those
responsible refused to apologize.

The Richard's Group told Adweek, "We are surprised that some have found the online videos
racially stereotypical."

Figure 4.
This is a picture of Lakshmi, an Indian Goddess of Wealth, who
appears, to fancy eating beef burgers. This is, for obvious
reasons, forbidden under Hindu religion. This depiction
provoked widespread displeasure to the point of anger with
its suggestion that the deity eats beef.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/worldnews/asia/india/5786561/Burger-King-apology-to-
Hindus-for-advert.html?bo=1

Burger King, the owner of this ad, quickly withdrew the advertisement and issued an apology to
Hindu leaders all over the world.

Figure 5.
This is a Chapstick advertisement entitled “Where do lost
Chapsticks go? This ad was posted by its manufacturer
Pfizer to Facebook to which users are allowed to comment
“however” way they can. In the end, Pfizer was compelled
to apologize to Facebook for having attracted comments
like, “after looking at this pic. I know where I wanna hide
my chapstick.”
Pfizer ended up discontinuing the offensive advertisement and promised to “comply with
Facebook guidelines and remove posts that use foul language and are menacing to fans and
employees.”

Figures 1-5 clearly demonstrate the emergence of “global” village emphasized by the “smart”
technology. Now, it can be argued that in order to succeed in a highly globalized world,
businessmen must make it their business not to undermine the cultures of the world in the
areas of marketing, management strategies, relationships, and communication among other
business affairs. This was explained well in (Peretemode, 2012).

The above cases specifically point out that international business organizations must have an in-
depth knowledge and understanding of national culture differences to be able to maintain a
certain level of acceptance, and more importantly, belief in their product. UNPFA (2013) clarifies
that indeed there exist:

 The realities and social cultural assets of societies;

 The influential power structures and pressure groups that can be potential allies or
adversaries to management and; and
 The internal cultural tensions and aspirations of the subcultures.

Moreover, to achieve the above statements, cultural knowledge and backgrounds, their
similarities and differences, and having the sensitivity to consider them before making any bold
business moves will always be an advantage to a business organization wanting of continued
relevance.

How do you then, as a would-be professional, deal with diverse culture in the business world?

Trompenaars and Hampden (1997) reiterate that there are dimensions to recognizing cultural
diversity in national cultures and that the manner by which people respond to certain questions
about culture are attributed to the uniqueness of their culture. In (2009), Duanmu and Geppert
underscored changes in these dimensions and listed them below:

1. Universalism vs. Particularism. Universalistic culture people adhere to general rules,

codes, values, obligations; that regardless of circumstance, same rules apply to different
situations. Standards in universalism take precedence over the needs and claims of friends and
other relationships. Particularistic people on the other hand make judgments according to their
relationships. This culture of particularism is based on friendships and intimate relationships
affecting situations on a case-to-case basis. Therefore, what is appropriate in one situation may
not be right in another.

In matters of international business, particularistic culture values relationships and that these
relationships can be basis of bending rules and regulations of a business organization. The
companies of the figures given previously certainly valued the friendship they wanted to build
or they already had built in countries where they sell their products. For example, when Pfizer
or Burger King decided to apologize to the cultures they offended, they must have realized that
maintaining friendship was more important than creating a media campaign to boost their sales.

The same companies obviously turned against the universalistic culture which dictates that laws
supersede culture. This culture puts less emphasis on personalities and of course, the culture to
which they submit. If the advertisements did not violate any existing laws of the society in
which the advertisements were used, then a universalistic company would not have problems
with the continuing use of marketing figures and would argue that no laws were violated.
2. Individualism vs. Collectivism. The individualistic culture puts emphasis on the
individual’s wants, happiness, fulfillment, initiative, and welfare above those of the
community’s. Collectivism in turn decides for the greater good and values what works for the
community undermining personal wants and desires. The manufactures of the products shown
in figures 1-5 are by no means collectivistic for having taken the route of discontinuing
advertisements that offended certain communities.

3. Specific vs. Diffused. The specific culture is about a man who considers his work a place
where he functions as an individual. For this man, he can work effectively and achieve his
career goals even without maintaining real relationships with his co-workers. The diffused
culture is opposite of the specific as it encourages relationships and camaraderie among co-
workers. For a man in diffused culture, he thrives on the collective desires of the people around
him irrespective of his own desires.

As a future professional, you will be subjected to experiencing having to deal with colleagues
who subscribe to either the specific or diffused culture. It is then up to you to determine
whether to choose one, or to balance your way through two culture dimensions interplaying
with one another.

4. Achievement vs. Ascription. This dimension is about the attainment of one’s status. For
those who value achievement, they regard others on account of their education, ability,
success, in chosen career, competition, and so on. In ascription, people value you according to
your social connections, age, or gender, your origin, or your religion.

In the business context, the achievement dimension gives value to you as compared with your
co-workers in the organization based on your work performance. On the other hand, the
ascription dimension evaluates you according to natural admiration and to the loyalties you
have established in a company over time.

The challenge for a college student is again to strike a balance between achievement and
ascription. On one hand, you have to show that you are competitive when the situation or your
boss calls for it; on another hand, aim to show admirable qualities to your co-workers in order
to enjoy the benefits of both dimensions.

5. Neutral vs. Affective. In a neutral culture, people make an effort to conceal their feelings
because they have been taught that way. They are often perceived to be guarded and
controlled. For the affective, they “wear their heart on their sleeves” and spend their time at
work with laughter, expressions of displeasure or happiness, bold gestures, and dramatic non-
verbal expressions.

At best, hide your emotions if it means sparing your co-workers from feeling worse than they
already do during challenging times in the workplace. But, if there are enough reasons for you
to express happiness over something worth celebrating, it would not hurt to do bold gestures to
show how you feel.

6. Time Orientation: Sequential vs. Synchronic. If you think that there is a time and place
for everything to be done, then you are the sequential type. Furthermore, you follow a strict
and particular order in doing things and a change in this order will cause uncertainty for you. If
you are synchronic, you connect the past and the future but you do not focus on one or the
order with which the two take place. You deal with things as they come and you think of
different ways of achieving your set objectives in numerous and possible combinations of time
and order.

Ideally, we should be fluid in achieving our goals. There will be times that we ought to
acknowledge that we need to follow a process in order to produce desired results at work.
However, when things dictate that we do not time and sequence our activities to be able to
arrive at a surprisingly successful ending, we should also take the time to be unpredictable and
“full of surprises” around our co-workers.

7. Inner – Directed vs. Outer – Directed Orientation. The inner-directed culture thrives on
people making a conscious effort of controlling the environment where they are in. While nature
is complex, the inner - directed culture allows its people to have a mechanistic view of nature
and control it with skill and precision. The outer - directed culture for its part believes in the
domination of nature over mankind. People, therefore, should always look into the challenges of
nature, to what the outside world presents, and then use them in making decisions.

In business, they are those who think that they dictate what consumers need and play up those
needs in order to bolster sales for the company. If you will be an employee of an inner -
directed company, the ability to innovate is the qualification you should be developing. On the
other hand, there are companies that respond to trends set by the outside world, abide by
them, and then operate the business around what is perceived to be popular.
As a nation, the US remains to provide a distinct manifestation of the interplay of the different
cultural dimensions discussed above so much so that they introduced the term “melting pot”.
This term encourages assimilation, and “being American” as the mainstream culture. In the
process, a differing culture loses itself to what is considered “American”. Immigrants coming to
the United States were expected to set aside their language and culture in favor of the
“American way”. Schools over the US were also compelled to order their immigrant students to
submit to American customs, beliefs, and ideas in order to truly assimilate with the dominant
American culture.

The term “melting pot” however did not last very long in the mainstream psyche of the
Americans ever since “cultural pluralism” came into the scene. This term focuses on a
diverse population of cultures interacting with one another to form a society.
Cultural Pluralism is likened to a salad bowl with a variety of ingredients each one contributing
to the final taste of the salad. Not one ingredient is taken for granted, each one makes up the
whole.

Indeed, the concept of cultural pluralism has been with us for more or less sixty years. Among
the many writers who pushed for recognition of the concept are Horace M. Kallen, Gunnar
Myrdal, Tamotse Shibutani, Kian M. Kwan, Milton M. Gordon, Robert Blauner, and Albert
Memmi.

Anthropologist Peggy R. Sanday underscores the concept od cultural pluralism this way:

. . . defined as existing in any society where there is more than one style dimension, where
there is more than one set of cultural themes, information components, and behavior styles
sanctioned in a society. Sub-cultural systems are open systems. Because of the mechanism of
intra-cultural diffusion if the members of these systems are in differing degrees articulated in
the mainstream culture and hence can share elements in the culture. Depending on the barriers
to diffusion, sub-cultural systems definable at one point in time on the basis of certain
characteristics may over time become assumed into the mainstream culture.

With the foregoing definition, we can surmise that cultural pluralism is a condition in which
people are able to organize communities regardless of differences of race, age, sex, religion,
language and cultural lifestyles. Furthermore, this condition is attained in a society where
culturally diverse communities interact with one another on the basis of a healthy functioning of
the society that are a part of. Cultural pluralism then will not thrive when culturally different
communities do not get along.

Also noteworthy are what Stent, Hazard, and Rivlin (1973) said about cultural pluralism, that it
is:
“a state of equal co-existence in a mutually supportive relationship within the boundaries of
framework of one nation of people of diverse cultures with significantly differing patterns of
beliefs, behavior, color, and in many cases with different languages. To achieve cultural
pluralism, there must be unity in diversity. Each person must be aware of and secure in his own
identity, and be willing to extend to others some respect and rights that he enjoy himself.”

Therefore, we may assume that cultural pluralism is an issue that will remain relevant in the
years to come as there are stronger demands now more than ever for nations of differing
cultures to interact with one another. When the Chinese government recently announced its
intention of drafting the “code of conduct” with all the neighboring nations, staking claims of
ownership of certain parts of the South China Sea, it is an indicator of the willingness of a
dominant nation like China to participate in a system of culturally diverse countries coming
together for a common goal of order in the Asian region.

Teacher’s Insights

As what Bennet and Hammer (1998) assert, the more experience a

person has for cultural differences, the more that he will develop
intercultural competence. This competence is necessary in working for
intercultural relations and in attaining effectiveness when working across
cultures. Hence, as intercultural communicators, we should bear in mind
to respect and value the differences of other people. In this way, we can
be able to develop intercultural competence and work harmoniously with
professionals of various cultures anywhere in the world.

Task 1. Diverse Commercials/Ads in Diverse Communities (Quiz)

Directions: Among the commercials you see on magazines and television
today, which ones do you think offend gender, cultures, religion,
orientations and other diversities? Explain your answer.

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Task 2. Unity in Diversity (Class Standing)

Directions: Name some movies that encourage “unity among diversity”? Do you think they’re
powerful? Explain your answer.
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