Tapescript: The differences between speaking and writing

Well, hello. Today, I want to discuss with you some of the differences between spoken and written communication. Some of the differences are quite clear, but others are less so - and the fact is we do need to be aware of the differences so that we don't write as we speak, and we don't speak as we write. You can imagine how ridiculous this would be - most everyday speaking is informal, while most writing demands a more formal style. Many languages are in fact two languages, spoken and written. They share the same code but exhibit some very different characteristics. It's these contrasting characteristics I want to talk to you about today.

I think we'd all agree that speaking is common to all normal individuals and societies. Speaking is a frequently used and extremely important medium of communication and, despite its subtlety and complexity, is usually not taught formally - by that I mean that our native language is ‘caught' rather than taught. This is in great contrast to writing, which is acquired - often slowly and painfully - through formal instruction. Indeed, a writing system is one of the marks of a developed society, and there are still many societies which have no system of writing.

Unlike speaking, then, writing may not be natural to humans, but it is vitally important. It's probably true to say that a society cannot evolve very far without creating a writing system. This is because writing allows us to create a permanent record of important things such as contracts, agreements, intellectual knowledge, and practical information – and let's not forget either that writing permits the development of respected literary and sacred works as well as more popular literature.

Speaking is a real time phenomenon – it is short-lived and often ambiguous – but writing transcends time and - because it is permanent - can be checked to make sure that the right things are being expressed. For example, oral agreements are dangerous because they may be misunderstood by one of the parties making them or may be misinterpreted by future generations. Also, people die and get ill, so speaking is an unreliable and inadequate medium for transmitting and storing important information.

Writing is a very complex system in the sense that it is dense - the vocabulary range is wide and a considerable variety of grammatical structures is accommodated. Writing is also uninterrupted; unlike speaking, with its ‘ums' and ‘ahs', there is no repetition of words in writing. Writing also needs to be coherent and accurate. Unlike many speaking scenarios (in which the speaker and listener are physically present and facing each other), the writer and reader are separated in time and space and so cannot interact to check mutual understanding of the intended meanings in a piece of writing. Accuracy - in terms of correct grammar and appropriate choice of vocabulary - is perhaps more important in writing than in speaking. Indeed, much everyday spoken language is rather loose and even ungrammatical - and I'm talking here about native speakers – but the use of correct forms is an integral part of good writing.

Most speaking situations are interactive situations in which listeners can check their understanding and receive immediate feedback from the speaker. Body language is also used to communicate meaning in speaking situations. Also, the interactive nature of speaking means that the pronoun ‘you' is used frequently. In writing, particularly objective, academic writing, ‘you' should not be used to address the readership. Instead, a more impersonal phrasing is usually employed. For example, phrases beginning ‘there is' or ‘it is' are commonly found in writing.

Another way in which speaking is different from writing is that speaking is produced in chunks and not in complete sentences, and often these chunks are not grammatically perfect - speakers always focus on getting the message across rather than grammatical accuracy. In writing, however, accurate grammar and appropriate word choice, as I've pointed out already, are very important. Writing makes use of different sentence types and punctuation to organise and communicate its messages, while speaking makes use of phenomena such as stress, rhythm, and intonation to communication information.

In this short talk, I've taken a brief look at some of the major differences between spoken and written communication. I'm sure that you can think of other differences – some are obvious; for example, speaking requires no implements or material but writing does. Another point is that speaking speeds everyday communication but has a limited range - we can't shout loud enough to communicate orally with our friends 10 kilometres way! I'll leave you to think about and discuss further differences.