Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← English
EnglishSpoken language and academic voice26 min★★ difficulty

Register: spoken and written English

Speech and writing are not better or worse than each other; they do different jobs. Knowing which job you are doing is the skill.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Writing: Consciously control levels of formality, including through the use of Standard English, and know when it is appropriate to use
  • Grammar and vocabulary: Know and understand the differences between spoken and written language, including differences associated with formal and informal registers, and between Standard English and other varieties of English

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Know and understand the differences between spoken and written language, including differences associated with formal and informal registers, and between Standard English and other varieties of English

Key learning points

  • • How speech really works
  • • Formal and informal registers
  • • Standard English and dialect
  • • Switching on purpose

This lesson at a glance

  • 26 minutes
  • 16 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

differencesspokenwrittenlanguageassociated

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 16 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 16

Watch first

Register: spoken and written English

An English teaching video on this topic from CENTURY Tech. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Know and understand the differences between spoken and written language, including differences associated with formal and informal registers, and between Standard English and other varieties of English

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 16

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · How speech really works

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 16

Learn

How speech really works

Spoken language uses fillers, repairs, contractions, tag questions and unfinished clauses because it is planned in real time and supported by tone, face and gesture. Writing has none of those supports, so it uses punctuation, subordination and precise vocabulary instead.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 16

Learn

Formal and informal registers

Register is how formal a piece is. ‘We reckon the plan won't work’ and ‘We consider the proposal unworkable’ carry the same meaning at different registers. Register is chosen for audience and purpose, not because one version is correct.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 16

Quick check

Which is a typical feature of spoken language?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 16

Quick check

‘We consider the proposal unworkable’ differs from ‘We reckon the plan won't work’ mainly in:

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 16

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 16

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Standard English and dialect

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 16

Learn

Standard English and dialect

Standard English is the variety used in formal writing, exams and public life. Regional dialects are rule-governed varieties with their own consistent grammar — different, not deficient. Being able to switch between them deliberately is a genuine advantage.

10

Explore the idea

Part 10 of 16

Learn

Switching on purpose

In an interview, a dialogue in a story and a message to a friend, the right choice differs. Judge the audience, the purpose and how permanent the words are, then pick the register on purpose rather than by habit.

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 16

Quick check

Which statement about regional dialects is accurate?

12

Quick check

Part 12 of 16

Quick check

When is informal register the right choice?

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 16

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

14

Challenge round

Part 14 of 16

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ language uses fillers, repairs, contractions, tag questions and unfinished clauses because it is planned in real time and supported by tone, face and gesture.

15

Mastery quiz

Part 15 of 16

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Register: spoken and written English

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Which is a typical feature of spoken language?

  2. 2. ‘We consider the proposal unworkable’ differs from ‘We reckon the plan won't work’ mainly in:

  3. 3. Which statement about regional dialects is accurate?

  4. 4. When is informal register the right choice?

16

Lesson round-up

Part 16 of 16

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Extract

The last bus

The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.

She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.

Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.

Original extract written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
  2. How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
  3. Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.

  • Reading response

    Reading

    Read the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.

    2 paragraphs (PEE)

  • Extended writing

    Writing

    Write your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.

    250–350 words

  • Reading log

    Reading

    Note the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.

    20 minutes' reading

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 16 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Consciously control levels of formality, including through the use of Standard English, and know when it is appropriate to use

  • Not looked at yet

    Know and understand the differences between spoken and written language, including differences associated with formal and informal registers, and between Standard English and other varieties of English

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