Frameworks/Language levels


Lexis - Word choice. Meaning at word and phrase level.

Grammar - How the language is built i.e the structure and rules which underpin how we form sentences.

Phonology - How we organise the sounds of our language to produce certain effects including rhythm, rhyme, intonation, stress, pauses, etc.

Pragmatics - How we know what language means when it is used in a specific context, sometimes described as 'reading between the lines.'
Example -
Speaker: 'What time do you call this?'

Listener interprets it as 'Why are you so late?' and knows it is not appropriate to reply with the literal time.

Discourse -1. How longer stretches of text are organised(Cohesion - how it holds together)
2. The way the texts create identities for particular individuals, groups or institutions,

Graphology - How the design of a text can contribute to meaning including use of fonts, graphics, colours, etc.

Register - How language varies in relation to audience, purpose and context e.g. a formal letter uses a different register to one written to a friend.

Mode - How language may vary according to the channel of communication(speech, writing and mixed modes) e.g. how you should write something down as a message would be different from how you would pass it on orally.

Idiolect - The unique way one person expresses themselves due to their personality, belief systems, social experience, etc.

Sociolect - The way of expressing themselves that a social group have in common e.g. we could generalise the way teenagers speak, aristocrats speak, students speak, etc.

Dialect - The variation in word choice and grammatical structure due to where someone lives e.g. "cheers drive" is a Bristolian saying, as is the grammatical structure "where she to?"