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English
Quarter 2, Wk.3 - Module 1
Give the Appropriate Communicative Styles
for Various Situations

Department of Education ● Republic of the Philippines

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What I Know

Activity 1: Hi There!

Communicative styles differ from a specific group of people and the type of situation.
Study each expression or greeting below to gauge the level of formality of the language used.
Then, write them under the correct heading. Use your notebook.

May the grace of God be with Hello, Mr Reyes. How are you
you! today?

Good morning. May I speak to How's my little charm? Do you

the audience, please? miss mommy?

Hey, buddy, what's up?

Level of Formality Expression/Greeting

Intimate

Casual

Consultative

Formal

Frozen/Static

Activity 2: Familiar?

Using the K-W-L chart below, recall and write the information you remember in class
about the topic.

Topic: Communicative Styles

What I Know What I Want to Know What I Learned about

about the Topic about the Topic the Topic

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 Language Registers
Lesson

1
What I Need to Know

After studying this module, learners are expected to familiarize types of language
registers, differentiate between formal and informal conversation, and provide the appropriate
communicative styles in different situations through script writing.

What’s New

Activity 1: Connecting Lives

Consider this situation: During the National Schools Press Conference

(NSPC), a student journalist of your school won the gold medal in feature
writing category. How do you think a parent, who has been supportive,
would speak to the child? Would the teacher and coach or close friend talk
the same way the parent does? Think about what each of them would say
to the student. Using the table below, write a potential conversation
between the following: parent-student, teacher/coach-student, and friend-
student.

Activity 2: Answer Me

1. Based on the possible conversation in activity 1, what do you think is the

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 level of formality of the language used in each situation? Fill in the table below
by writing a check mark on the column that corresponds to your answer.

Level of Formality Formal Informal

Parent-Child
Teacher/Coach-Student
Friend-Student

2. Why does our relationship with others affect the way we talk to them?

3. What is the importance of knowing the level of formality in a language?

What Is It

Language register is the degree of formality in a language. It differs with whom you are
talking to and the situation you are in. Martin Joos (1967), an American linguist and a German
professor, identified five speech styles. These are intimate, casual, consultative, formal, and
frozen.

1. Intimate ‒ This communication style is used mostly by close

family members or individuals, such as husband and wife,
parent and child, lovers, and siblings. So, it is private in nature
with the high occurrence of non-verbal communication. The
language used in this style is not appropriate in public and
professional gathering.

As portrayed by the picture, the couple does not need a lot of

words to express their intention for one another. Their
conversation usually involves the use of intimate words or
vocabularies. Honey, sweetie, darling, sweetheart, and babe
are most commonly used. Same words can also be used to
address a special person. For example, a child wakes up
early in the morning and is greeted by his mother. The
greeting would most likely be good morning my dear, sweetie
or darling.

2. Casual ‒ This is the register that is commonly used

by friends, peers, close acquaintances, co-workers or
colleagues. It is very informal that vocabularies used in
conversation must not be adapted in formal situations.
Colloquial terms, contractions, slang, jargon, and even
vernacular language are mostly observed. To name a
few, words like bestie, bff, chill, cheesy, cool, and
acronyms like FYI (For Your Information), LOL (Laugh
Out Loud), OMG (Oh My God), and expressions such as:
Are you kidding me? What’s up? I’m kinda… See ya! are
normally used.

3. Consultative ‒ The language used in this style is

standard. It means that words and expressions are
mutually acceptable by persons involved. This is
also the speech style one uses when consulting an
expert. So, basically, it is a two-way
communication. Examples of this situation are the
conversation between doctor and patient, lawyer

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 and client, manager and subordinate, coach and
player, and teacher and student, and so forth.

If you were the patient in this picture, how would you speak with your doctor? Would you
say this, “I need you to check on my chest; I can hardly breathe.” Doesn’t it sound demanding,
uncourteous or impolite? You must always remember that the tone of such conversation is
respectful. Thus, you must not forget to use courtesy titles like “doctor or Dr. Marquez”, “ Mr, or
Mr. Tan” or “Mrs. or Mrs. Reyes”. Madam, ma’am and sir may be used to address when
speaking to strangers.

4. Formal ‒ If the consultative register is a two-

way communication, this style is one-way in
nature. The speaker must not be interrupted. It
also follows a commonly accepted format where
complete sentences are required, and the use of
slang and contraction are prohibited. This style is
used in school, workplace, court hearing, and
business setting. Examples of this include
speeches, homilies, announcements, business
presentations, legal pronouncements, teacher’s
discussion on a certain topic, and the like.

For instance, in a business meeting as shown by the picture above, the female presenter
speaks uninterruptedly while her colleagues listen attentively and wait for her speech to end
before asking questions. That is how formal the situation is, and that is why everyone involved in
gathering must act professionally.

5. Frozen ‒ This is the most formal style of

communication. It is also known as static because
the language used is intended to be frozen or
unchanged. This communicative style does not
require feedback from the audience. It is usually
observed in a very formal and respectful setting like
a couple’s exchange of vows in a wedding
ceremony or reciting a pledge to the Alma Mater
during graduation exercises. Other examples are
constitution, laws, prayers, anthems, biblical
verses, and so forth.
As shown in the picture above, a woman performs the pledge of allegiance to the
Philippine flag. This further shows that the language is often learned by repetition.

What’s More

Activity 1: Talk to Me

A. Study carefully the dialogues below. Then, tell whether

they are formal or informal. If it is formal, then write F in the
box corresponding each number and INF if informal.

1. “I am wondering if I may use your bike.”

2. “Hey buddy, want a ride?
3. “Give me your wallet, will you?
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 4. “May I speak with the principal, please?
5. “I’m kinda bored and sleepy right now dud.”
6. “Goodbye everyone and have a good day!”
7. “Cool, see ya later!
8. “Excuse me, could you tell me where the
guidance office is?”
9. “Nope, that isn’t the right way!”
10. “I appreciate your help. Thank you very much!”

B. Determine the appropriate communicative style of each dialogue below.

Write Frozen, Formal, Consultative, Casual or Intimate in the each box.
1. “Good morning Sir Cabural, how are you doing today?”

2. “Lord, I thank you for this wonderful day You have given us.”

3. “That was great honey! I’m so proud of you!”

4. “Have you seen my wallet, buddy? I dunno!”

5. “Thank you so much for coming. Your presence is highly appreciated!”

Activity 2: Hidden Treasure

After learning the five styles of language registers, it is important to get

familiar with the terminologies used in the discussion so that they will leave
an imprint in your mind and enrich your vocabularies as well.

Your task is to find nine hidden words in a group of jumbled letters in the box
below. Your
E G K R U T V N C T Z X Y clue is going
F S I Q C A S U A L T O V horizontal or
U E N F O R M A L H G C S vertical. Write
T U T P N M B T C D S K N them in the
E T I O S J B N K S X V R space provided.
C O M M U N I C A T I V E Number 1 is
C H A F L Y N N G Y P K G done for you.
R Q T U T O F N G L T E I
Q O E U A N O T Y E W P S Hidden Words
E T Y Q T B R N W Y Q Z T
1. REGISTER_______
Z X C B I W M Y J H B C E
T H B O V R A O B R Q vi Z R 2. ________________
F R O Z E N L S E Q B T K
Activity 3: Individual Differences
Looking back to our discussion about language registers, identify the
differences among the speech styles using the graphic organizer below.

Communicative
Style Description Examples

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 What I Have Learned

In order to deepen your understanding of the subject matter, you need to

undertake the following activities.

Activity 1: Q and A
Answer the following questions:

1. What is a language register?

2. What are the five communicative styles according to Martin Joos?

3. How are they different from each other?

4. What style would you use when talking with friends? Why?

5. Why is it important to get familiar with each speech style? Explain.

Activity 2: Journal Entry

Complete the paragraph below.

I learn that __________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
_________________________________________________________________________

I realize that_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

If given a chance, I will_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

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Activity 3: Connecting Ideas

Study the semantic web below and fill in the boxes with appropriate words
and descriptions. The small rectangular boxes are for Communicative Styles
and big rectangular boxes are for Phrasal Description of each communicative
style. You may refer your answers from pages 2 and 3.

Language Register

Communicative
Styles

What I Can Do

A. Write a short conversation depicting different language registers in various

situations. Follow the guide in each number. Write it in the box.

1. Intimate ‒ can be a dialogue between a mother and a youngest child,

or between girlfriend and boyfriend.

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 2. Casual ‒ a conversation between close friends.

3. Consultative – can be a conversation between a guidance counselor

and a student.

4. Formal – think of an emcee introducing the valedictorian for his

graduation speech. Keep the speech short and simple.

B. Script Writing
Think of your best friend and the funniest experience you both shared.
Create a script of that story. Remember to be casual.

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 WRITING RUBRIC

Criteria 1 2 3 4
There are more
The final draft has There are three There are no
than five
more than ten to five grammar, grammar,
grammar,
grammar, capitalization, capitalization,
capitalization,
Conventions capitalization,
spelling, or
spelling, or spelling, or
spelling, and punctuation punctuation
punctuation
punctuation errors in the final errors in the final
errors in the final
errors. kl1draft. draft.
draft.
The story is very
The plot is pretty
well organized.
The plot is a little well organized.
Ideas and scenes One idea or
hard to follow. One idea or
seem to be scene follows
Clarity randomly
The transitions are scene may seem
another in a
sometimes not out of place.
arranged. logical sequence
clear. Clear transitions
with clear
are used.
transitions.
One or two lines
No line is evident Some lines are The lines are
are evident of
of the evident of the evident of the
the
Dialogue characteristics of
characteristics of
characteristics of characteristics of
the language the language the language
the language
register assigned. register assigned. register assigned.
register assigned.

Summary
Every day in our lives we meet different people and situations. These people
describe us in the way we act and communicate to them. So it is an edge having a deeper
knowledge about how we should properly behave ourselves in front of others. It is also
expected of us being called as educated persons in our society. It just doesn’t come handy
though. It requires hard work.
So having learned from this module is already a reward. The language registers or
different communicative styles (frozen, formal, consultative, casual, and intimate) which we
had discussed will help us build sound relationship with others. In the end, what is important
is to be able to promote camaraderie instead of animosity.

Assessment: (Post-Test)

Determine which communicative style is appropriate in each situation below. Write

your answer before each number.

___________ 1. informing the students about the suspension of classes

___________ 2. talking to your class adviser
___________ 3. delivering a campaign speech during an SSG election
___________ 4. Reciting the pledge of allegiance to the Philippine flag
___________ 5. Praying the Lord’s Prayer
___________ 6. talking to someone special
___________ 7. Communicating with your coach while playing
___________ 8. sharing memorable experiences with a friend
___________ 9. Greeting your loved ones with fond words
___________ 10. chatting with colleagues

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