Grouping Texts - Formal Register/Language Similarities

 Grouping Texts - Formal Register/Language Similarities

Out of the six texts, I have chosen Text A and Text D as they are both written in a formal register to achieve the purpose that they are written for. Although the purpose of the two texts are slightly different, they both hold a purpose to inform to some extent, however the language that is used shows similarities in terms of form. The target audience for both texts have a very direct audience as they have appeared in a certain place that they know the reader will be interested in the texts. Text A is an advertisement that appeared in a theatre programme for performance at Shakespeare's Globe, and the text is trying to advertise a financial service company. The text has been purposely placed in the theatre programme to attract the specific target audience for the promotion of the company. Text D is an extract from the Higher Education Bill. The register that is held throughout both of the texts is formal, as the choice of words are selected carefully to suit what the message is trying to get across, as well as suiting the target audience's expectations.

Looking at the differences between the two texts, Text D seems to include a constant range of low frequent words, 'institutions providing higher education', indicating that this text is setting a formal approach due to the demands that the bill is asking of the reader. The expectations that need to be followed are carried through this formal language, showing power and authorisation between the text and the reader. Due to Text D's subject being about higher education, there is a frequent lexical field of education connotations and word associations, which could also be seen as jargon, 'students', 'education', 'arts and humanities', signalling the subject that the text is covering and the audience are aware of the language and the topics that are being discussed.

Text A's language is also set out as a formal register, however there is a lack of low frequent words, but high frequent words are used alternatively for a different effect. Using high frequent words means that the audience who are reading the advertisement to understand the language and what is being said in the advertisement. Allowing the audience to have an understanding of the product will persuade them further to discover more about the company as the clear instructions and facts gives the audience the power rather than the text the power. Even though the language is simplified as much as possible to let the readers get the most out of the advertisement as they can, specific jargon is also used throughout the advertisement to make the language formal and professional, 'financial', 'investors', 'policyholders', 'institutions', this signals that even though there is use of jargon, the reader can still understand what the advertisement is about and the jargon is not absolutely needed to know what it fully means due to the clarity of the context.