Page 141 - SpringBoard_Writing_Workshop_Grade6_Flipbook

Lesson: Standard English: Formal and Informal Style and Tone (continued)
It is helpful to be able to use different kinds of English in different situations. Compare using different tone and style in language to tone and style in clothing. You wouldn’t wear a tuxedo or a ball gown to a softball game, and you wouldn’t wear sweatpants and flip-flops to visit the White House. Similarly, you probably wouldn’t use formal standard English on a basketball court or nonstandard English to give a speech at City Hall.
Two good ways to learn to tell the difference between standard and nonstandard English:
• Read often. Find things that you enjoy reading, such as magazines and books on subjects that interest you, and read them regularly.
• Watch and listen to programming on educational television shows and websites. The speakers and narrators typically use standard English.
As you read and listen to standard English, you unconsciously and consciously take in the conventions that writers and speakers follow. As you learn the conventions, you will become better at using a consistent style and tone in speech and writing in order to create the effect you want.
Check Your Understanding
Write two short, humorous dialogues between people who each use only one style and tone of speech—one that is different from the other speakers’. The dialogues might be funny because the characters don’t understand one another or because they are surprised at the others’ style and tone of speech.
1. Set the first dialogue in a very casual setting, such as a bus stop or football stadium. Have at least one character use only formal, standard English and at least one character use only nonstandard English.
2. Set the second dialogue in a very formal setting, such as a visit to a world leader (such as the U.S. president or a monarch in England) or a job interview. Have at least one character use only formal, standard English and at least one character use only nonstandard English.
4 SpringBoard® Writing Workshop with Grammar Activities Grade 6
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