Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience

Use formal and informal language appropriate to purpose and audience (a) Understand that formality of language is a continuum, from informal speech with friends and family, through to formal, official written language (b) Know how to judge the appropriate level of formality suitable for different types of writing tasks and contexts, e.g. a letter to a friend, a safety report for work

A set of two exercises (one vocabulary exercise, then a directed writing exercise) plus an extension (fun exercise where learners use the ‘wrong’ register to write a text) to learn about formal and informal language in English.

Editor’s note
No answers
Love the final exercise :) The examples (which involve David Beckham and a broken washing machine) are hilarious.

Level
Level 1
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
English
Functional English - writing
Wt/L2.6
Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience
Adult Lit Wt/L1.4 Use language suitable for purpose and audience
GCSE Writing AO5(a) Use tone, style and register for different forms, purposes & audiences
FE Writing composition

A revision activity for Level 1 Functional Skills English reading and writing.

Editor’s note
Reading questions cover all aspects of the FS criteria. The writing activity (formal letter) stresses the use of persuasive techniques and is ideal for both Level 1 and Level 2. It includes a useful writing checklist.

Level
Level 2
Level 1
English
Functional English - writing
Wt/L2.6
Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience
Adult Lit Wt/L1.4 Use language suitable for purpose and audience
Functional English reading
Context
Voluntary, Charity and Community
News, Politics & Government items

I’m using this activity to give learners a writing frame for a piece of creative writing. I want them to really think about purpose of text when they are creating it, so they have to pick the format, style and tone of their work and plan it out.

Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
English
Functional English - writing
Wt/L2.7
Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience
Wt/L2.1
Wt/L1.6
Adult Lit Wt/L1.4 Use language suitable for purpose and audience
Adult Lit Wt/L1.1 Plan and draft writing
Wt/E3.4
AL Wt/E3.1 Plan & draft writing
GCSE Writing AO5(a) Use tone, style and register for different forms, purposes & audiences

This is new from Sept 2015 for L2 reading.
It is a list of writing techniques – the name of the technique, a description and an example.

Editor’s note (updated 7/5/2017)
Also ideal for GCSE English revision.
Covers 14 techniques: similes, hyperbole, alliteration, rhetorical questions, superlatives, personification, analogy, colloquialisms, cliches, onomatopoeia, oxymorons, imperatives, metaphors and emotive language.

Level
Level 2
GCSE L1-5
English
GCSE English Reading AO2 Explain & analyse language & structure
GCSE Writing AO5(a) Use tone, style and register for different forms, purposes & audiences
FE L1.12 Recognise that language & other textual features can be varied to suit different audiences & purposes
FE L2.14 Understand how textual features/devices can shape meaning for different audiences/purposes
Wt/L2.6
Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience

A powerpoint to spark discussion and introduce the topic of formal and informal language and choosing which is appropriate for different social and work situations. Aimed at E3-L1 Functional English learners.

The PPT can be used with the word match up game, which gets learners thinking about the difference between formal and informal language. Laminate the page and cut up into individual word cards.

Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Functional English - writing
Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience
Adult Lit Wt/L1.4 Use language suitable for purpose and audience
Functional English - speaking, listening & communicating
GCSE English Spoken Language AO9 Use standard English
Context
Employment skills & Public services

Set of 12 sentences to complete. The 12 missing words are 6 pairs of synonyms such as sorry / apologise, need / require, etc. Makes a good starting point for further discussion and/or further speaking and written work.

Level
Entry Level 3
Level 1
Level 2
English
Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience
Adult Lit Wt/L1.4 Use language suitable for purpose and audience
SLc/L2.1
SLc/L1.2
SLc/E3.2
AL Rw/L2.3 Vocabulary (language features, synonyms, formality)
ESOL
ESOL Wt/L2.5a
ESOL Wt/L1.4a Choose language suitable for genre, purpose and audience
ESOL Sc/L2.1c Use formal language and register where appropriate
ESOL Sc/L1.2a Make requests
ESOL Sc/E3.2a Use formal language and register when appropriate
ESOL Rw/L2.3a Recognise & understand vocabulary associated with different text types

Two Tarsia puzzles based around formal and informal language. Guaranteed to prompt discussion as learners solve the puzzles. I suggest that the smaller one (16 piece triangle) is roughly at L1 and the larger on (24 piece hexagon) is at L2. I have duplicated some of my word choices from Imogen Stewart’s excellent ‘Little Britain’ (Language: formal, informal or slang?) resource which was also about formal and informal language (see link below). ‘Cheers’ has ‘regards’ as its synonym because of email sign offs – which I have found to be an interesting topic for discussion.

Level
Level 2
Level 1
English
Functional English - writing
Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience
Adult Lit Wt/L1.4 Use language suitable for purpose and audience
AL Rw/L2.3 Vocabulary (language features, synonyms, formality)
Rw/L2.2
Rw/L1.3

Wonderful high L1 – Level 2 resource which looks at the purposes and sources of a range of texts. Includes: useful handout with example of the four main types of text; discussion and examples of texts with more than one purpose; examples of badly written texts with mixed and confusing purposes; inferred and hidden meanings; writing practice (for four different purposes); re-ordering a long instructional text; and a set of final multiple choice questions to check skills.
Fully mapped to the Functional English criteria.

Level
Level 2
Level 1
English
Functional English - writing
Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience
Adult Lit Wt/L1.4 Use language suitable for purpose and audience
AL Rw/L2.3 Vocabulary (language features, synonyms, formality)
Rt/L2.2 Identify the purpose of a text and infer meaning which is not explicit
Rt/L1.2
Adult Lit Rs/L2.2 Use punctuation to help interpret the meaning and purpose of texts
Rs/L2.1 Use implicit and explicit grammatical knowledge
Functional English reading

Formal letters crossword includes words commonly used in formal and semi-formal letters.
The great thing about this activity is that it is created from a template (available in the Activity Toolkit, in the Smart Notebook Gallery) and can be quickly and easily edited to specific crosswords for your students.
See Dave’s other Notebook word games below.
Please note you must have the Smart notebook software installed on your computer in order to open, view and use this resource http://smarttech.com/

Level
Level 2
English
Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience
AL Ww/L2.1 Spell technical words

A fabulous way to teach the importance of style, suitable vocabulary and formal letter writing. Students must read, discuss and edit an over-the-top business letter.

Level
Level 2
English
AL Rw/L2.3 Vocabulary (language features, synonyms, formality)
Wt/L2.2
Wt/L2.7
Adult Lit Wt/L2.5 Use formal & informal language appropriate to purpose & audience
Wt/L2.6
Context
Construction Carpentry Plumbing