On The Differences Between Spoken and Written Language

Drawing on research studies in (socio)linguistics, discourse analysis, and literacy, this paper provides a synthesis of findings about lexical and syntactico-semantic differences between spokken and written language, focusing on empirical research on the English language since the 1920s. The major theoretical and methodological aproaches used in comparative studies of spoken and written language are outlined and their advantages and shortcomings are critically examined. The question of how speech and writing relate to prototypical forms of language and meaning is reexamined in the light of the findings. To avoid basing generalizations about differences between speech and writing uniquely on English, suggestions for future comparative research are offered and discussed.

[1]  M W HOROWITZ,et al.  Structural Advantage of the Mechanism of Spoken Expression as a Factor in Differences in Spoken and Written Expression , 1964, Perceptual and motor skills.

[2]  C. C. Fries.  The structure of English;: An introduction to the construction of English sentences , 2005 .

[3]  D. Olson.  On the Language and Authority of Textbooks , 1980 .

[4]  M. Poole.  Social Class Differences in Language Predictability: Written , 1973 .

[5]  Sarah Michaels,et al.  “Sharing time”: Children's narrative styles and differential access to literacy , 1981, Language in Society.

[6]  P. Greenfield,et al.  Oral or Written Language: the Consequences for Cognitive Development in Africa, the United States and England , 1972, Language and speech.

[7]  F. Niyi Akinnaso,et al.  The Literate Writes and the Nonliterate Chants: Written Language and Ritual Communication in Sociolinguistic Perspective , 1982 .

[8]  D. Olson.  From Utterance to Text: The Bias of Language in Speech and Writing , 1977 .

[9]  Basil Bernstein,et al.  ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE AND LEARNING IN THE GENESIS OF THE SOCIAL PROCESS , 1960 .

[10]  J. Devito.  Psychogrammatical factors in oral and written discourse by skilled communicators , 1966 .

[11]  Wilson L. Taylor,et al.  “Cloze Procedure”: A New Tool for Measuring Readability , 1953 .

[12]  G.H.J. Drieman.  Differences between written and spoken language: An exploratory study , 1962 .

[13]  H. D. Simons.  Black Dialect, Reading Interference and Classroom Interaction. , 1976 .

[14]  Ernest Horn,et al.  A basic writing vocabulary : 10000 words most commonly used in writing , 2022 .

[15]  Mina P. Shaughnessy,et al.  Errors and Expectations: A Guide for the Teacher of Basic Writing , 1979 .

[16]  Gisela Redeker,et al.  On differences between spoken and written language , 1984 .

[17]  Speaking and writing—A study of differences , 1922 .

[18]  R. O'donnell,et al.  A Transformational Analysis of Oral and Written Grammatical Structures in the Language of Children in Grades Three, Five, and Seven , 1967 .

[19]  J A DeVito,et al.  Levels of abstraction in spoken and written language. , 1967, The Journal of communication.

[20]  Jane Blankenship,et al.  A linguistic analysis of oral and written style , 1962 .

[21]  Mary Bachmann-Mann.  The quantitative differentiation of samples of written language , 1944 .

[22]  Gladys L. Borchers.  An approach to the problem of oral style , 1936 .

[23]  James W. Gibson,et al.  A quantitative examination of differences and similarities in written and spoken messages , 1966 .

[24]  De Vito,et al.  A Quantitative Analysis of Comprehension Factors in Samples of Oral and Written Technical Discourse of Skilled Communicators , 1964 .

[25]  P. Hawkins.  Social Class, the Nominal Group and Reference , 1969, Language and speech.

[26]  Walter J. Ong.  Literacy and Orality in Our Times. , 1980 .

[27]  H. Goodglass,et al.  Mechanisms underlying writing and speech in aphasia , 1981, Brain and Language.

[28]  Linguistic Structures in Students' Oral and Written Discourse. , 1969 .

[29]  J. Goody,et al.  The Consequences of Literacy , 1963, Comparative Studies in Society and History.

[30]  W. Chafe.  The Pear Stories: Cognitive, Cultural and Linguistic Aspects of Narrative Production , 1980 .

[31]  Frank Smith,et al.  Understanding Reading: A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and Learning to Read, Sixth Edition , 1973 .

[32]  G. Wells.  Some Antecedents of Early Educational Attainment , 1981 .

[33]  K. Forster,et al.  Lexical Access and Naming Time. , 1973 .

[34]  Paul Kay,et al.  Language Evolution and Speech Style , 1977 .

[35]  Sarah Michaels,et al.  The Importance of Conversational Discourse Strategies in the Acquisition of Literacy , 1980 .

[36]  F. Smith,et al.  Making Sense of Reading--And of Reading Instruction. , 1977 .

[37]  Basil Bernstein,et al.  Elaborated and Restricted Codes: Their Social Origins and Some Consequences , 1964 .

[38]  C. H. Voelker.  The one‐thousand most frequent spoken‐words , 1942 .

[39]  H. Levin,et al.  The Formality of the Latinate Lexicon in English , 1981 .

[40]  H. Rubenstein,et al.  Evidence for phonemic recoding in visual word recognition , 1971 .

[41]  Selected Writings in English and General Linguistics , 1976 .

[42]  Deborah Tannen.  Spoken/Written Language and the Oral/Literate Continuum , 1980 .

[43]  Mina Shaughnessy Scholar.  Errors and expectations : a guide for the teacher of basic writing , 1977 .

[44]  K. W. Hunt.  Grammatical structures written at three grade levels , 1965 .

[45]  Elinor Ochs,et al.  Planned and unplanned discourse , 1979 .

[46]  Helen R. Fairbanks,et al.  II. The quantitative differentiation of samples of spoken language. , 1944 .

[47]  An analysis of the dynamic vocabulary of junior college students , 1944 .

[48]  V. L. Hanson,et al.  Processing of written and spoken words: Evidence for common coding , 1981, Memory & cognition.

[49]  J. Gumperz.  Discourse strategies: Subject index , 1982 .

[50]  S. Jay Samuels,et al.  Understanding reading: A psycholinguistic analysis of reading and learning to read . Third edition. Frank Smith. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1982. Pp. xii + 263. , 1983, Applied Psycholinguistics.

[51]  J. Gumperz.  Language, Communication, and Public Negotiation , 1976 .

[52]  J. B. Newman,et al.  SPOKEN AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS. , 1964, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[53]  D. Olson.  Oral and Written Language and the Cognitive Processes of Children. , 1977 .

[54]  Joseph A. DeVito,et al.  Comprehension factors in oral and written discourse of skilled communicators , 1965 .

[55]  Michael Halliday,et al.  Explorations in the functions of language , 1973 .

[56]  D. Lawton.  Social Class Differences in Language Development: A Study of Some Samples of Written Work , 1963 .

[57]  Roy C. O'Donnell,et al.  Syntactic Differences Between Speech and Writing , 1974 .

[58]  J. Devito.  The encoding of speech and writing , 1966 .

[59]  F. Niyi Akinnaso,et al.  The Consequences of Literacy in Pragmatic and Theoretical Perspectives , 1981 .

[60]  Roger S. Brown,et al.  Three Processes in the Child's Acquisition of Syntax , 1964 .

[61]  Ann D. Rubin.  A Theoretical Taxonomy of the Differences between Oral and Written Language. Technical Report No. 35. , 2017 .

[62]  Marcia Farr Whiteman,et al.  Writing: The Nature, Development, and Teaching of Written Communication. Volume 1, Variation in Writing: Functional and Linguistic-Cultural Differences. , 2013 .

[63]  M. Poole,et al.  Social Class and Code Elaboration in Written Communication , 1972, Language and speech.

[64]  M. Poole,et al.  A Comparison of Oral and Written Code Elaboration , 1976, Language and speech.