GRAMMAR IN WRITTEN AND SPOKEN ENGLISH: WHICH ONE IS BETTER?

The idea of the above topic comes after Ive read several articles from several authors. This article is just my personal comment and summary on my reading materials, not more than that. Before we go deep into the arguments of this topic, it is better to make clear about the differences between written and spoken English. Written English is normally more organized compared to the spoken one. It is because of the involvement of spelling, punctuation and certain organization of texts. If these aspects are not being watched carefully, the writing will not give any meaning to its reader. Besides, the coherence between sentences and paragraphs is also helps in conveying the meaning of written materials. It is different with the spoken English in which the language organization of spoken one is not well taken care as the meaning is conveyed through intonation and gestures. Since both types of this English language communication function as meaning conveyer, so, they will still need to deal with grammatical matter. Is there any difference on the use of grammar between these two types of communication medium? From the article or note entitled Literacy Practices in English written by Mike Baynham and Janet Maybin that was compiled in Using English book, this issue is briefly discussed on several aspects. The discussion is made by referring to an example of written English sentence and a spoken English sentence respectively. First difference is the use of vocabulary in written English is wider than in spoken English. We can see in writing, there are many bombastic words being used while there are many repetitions of words used in speaking. When we read thoroughly several articles or another type of written documents, we will realized that most authors use nouns in their writing instead of verbs and the sentences are always in passive form. This is really opposite to the sentences in speaking which are normally in active form that prefers the use of verbs. The replacement of verb into noun is called nominalisation and this is considered as the second difference. Suddenly, the third difference reminds me to my English grammar presentation on topic Clauses. This difference is totally vice versa to the previous two because here, the spoken English is much more complex than the written one since there are more complex grammatical relationships between clauses. That is why the examples that I have provided during the presentation have more complex clauses when they come to the speech. Besides, face-to-face interaction needs to address the listener and this involves the use of modality more than in distant communication (written form). That is the last aspect in the

discussion. So now, can you predict which one of the communication medium is better for English language in terms of grammar? From the four aspects stated previously, we can make up a conclusion that in term of grammar, the written English seemed to have better grammar than the spoken one. The main reason is plenty of time to organize ideas into texts is put in writing process rather than only little organization time is located for spoken English because it involves the spontaneously act between the speakers. Written documents are always being revised before published, so that all the errors including the grammatical one can be corrected, then producing the good one while in speaking, the grammar matter is not a big concern for us and seldomly the grammar errors being corrected during speaking. However, according to research done by Stefanie Pillai on Self-repairs in Malaysian English, it is found that in speaking, the experienced and mature Malaysian English speakers tend to do self-repairs on the mistakes in their words during speaking by doing repetition, deletion, substitution and insertion. That is why we can hear some types of hesitation in speaking such as a silent pause, a filled pause and a lexical editing term. But this only for the advanced speaker one, so still written is better compare to the spoken English. I want bring up one issue that is commonly happened around us everyday, which is technology issue specifically in communication part. In this era of technology, the communication way also upgraded from face-to-face, through telephone to online chatting. What about online chatting like Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Facebook chatting or entering chatroom? Is it written or spoken medium? Of course, it is written medium, but deliver message like the spoken one. From my observation, the use of language is very bad during chatting. There are many use of non-standard grammar (like hows you), non-standard pronunciation by typing non-standard spelling (like thanx u) and the used of emoticons (like :-) or :-() to give response non-verbally. So, in this case, the better condition of writing in chatroom has been demolished by the use of all this. To conclude, the better grammar is well practiced in written English from various resources except the one from the chatroom. Spoken English can also have better grammar use, but can only be found in formal talk, forum, debates and seminars by matured and experienced speaker, not in everyday talk by everybody in the street. However, the decision is on your hands respectively. You can make a conclusion that opposite to me, it depends on your readings. This article is only from my point of views.

REFERENCES Mike Baynham and Janet Maybin, Literacy practices in English,p.123-152 in Using English edited by Janet Maybin, Neil Mercer and Ann Hewings (2007). New York: Routledge (Taylor and Francis Group) Stefanie Pillai, Self-repairs in Malaysian English, p.301-324 in English in a Globalised Environment: Investigating an emerging variety of English edited by Zuraidah Mohd Don (2006). Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press.