Language in Use 25-26
This unit considers an aspect of language which is fundamental to writing it
must be directed towards a specific context if it is to convey the information
successfully. It explores the degree to which the writer's view of
his audience must strongly determine his way of writing. When the object is
to convey a body of information, this aspect of the writer's task is so important
that the success of his efforts depends to a lerge extent on his success in
judging the needs of the reader for whom he is writing.
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[1] In this session, the class works out. for each of three texts in
turn its intended audience. It is best (lone with the class working pairs or
small groups. When they have clone this, they should select a topic, well-known
to them, and each write three pieces, each one for different audiences. The
texts should be short, about 150 words in all, and the audiences well-differentiated.
The following suggestions may be useful:
(a) feature in a mass (daily) lead article in a New Society Sunday
Review
(b) Penguin Special school text-book academic article
(c) a review in mass daily -in serious weekly -in specialist journal
(d) record sleeve Melody Maker The Gramophone
[2] This session uses the texts written by the class. These should
be circulated and the class, working in pairs or in groups, should assess how
successfully they meet the need of the audiences for which they are intended.
Points to look for include:
(a) inappropriate use of technical language for the level of the audience chosen
(b) assumption of too much or too little background knowledge in the reader
(c) condescension towards a non-specialist reader
(d) choice of a style which is too formal or too relaxed for the audience concerned.
[3] Select a text intended for an educated adult reader, dealing with a topic in the area of a school subject like history or geography, and ask the class to re-write it for eleven-year-olds. Circulate the results and ask the class to discuss them in the ternis which were used for the texts in [2]. If it is possible to secure the comments of eleven-year-olds, they can be the basis for an additional session.
[4] The aim of this session is to apply the class's new understanding of audience to the needs of the public examiner as an audience. Place questions from different examination levels, internal and external, side by side, for discussion, so that the class can explore what is appropriate to the examiner as an audience.