Speaking vs Writing

7/28/2019 Speaking vs Writing

1/3


www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/sp_vs_writ_dif.shtml 1/3

Home Literacy Skills Speaking vs Writing

-Speaking vs writing

-Strategies for academic

success

-Academic skills

-Language skills

SPEAKING VERSUS WRITING

SPEECH WRITING

The worst part about it was I had a friend Sitting

up here and shes saying ha ha And I was

saying Go get the police go Get someoneI

later learned that there are Some people who do

that in the face of disasterI mean they just start

cracking up as opposed to crying.

My helpful friend, perhaps not realizing that I was

serious, began laughing. Sue roared all the

harder as my s ituation became more difficult.

She claimed I looked funny, c linging there

screaming. I realized that she was laughing

Because she was incapable of acting: the

situation must have been greatly disturbing to

her, and so she treated it as if it were anothersituation.

DIFFERENCES

There are many differences between the processes of speaking and writing. Writing is not simply

speech written down on paper. Learning to write is not a natural extension of learning to speak. Unlike

speech, writing requires systematic instruct ion and practice. Here are some of the differences between

speaking and writing that may clarify things for you and help you in your efforts as a writer and

speaker.

SPEECH WRITING

Universal, everybody acquires it Not everyone learns to read and write

Spoken language has dialect variations that

represent a region

Written language is more restricted and generally

follows a standardised form of grammar,

structure, organization, and vocabulary
http://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/computer/computing_skills.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/sp_vs_writ_dif.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/index.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/sp_vs_writ_dif.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/index.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/language_parts.htmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/academ_note.htmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/strat_gen.htmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/sp_vs_writ_dif.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/sp_vs_writ_dif.shtml#http://library.wmin.ac.uk/http://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/course_specific.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/employability/home.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/cognition/learning_styles/intro_styles.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/pearsonp/numeweb.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/cognition/techniques.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/computer/computing_skills.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/sp_vs_writ_dif.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/sp_vs_writ_dif.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/literacy/sp_vs_writ_dif.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/index.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/index.shtmlhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/main/SEARCH.SHTML


2/3



Speakers use their voices (pitch, rhythm, stress)

and their bodies to communicate their message

Writers rely on the words on the page to express

meaning and their ideas

Speakers use pauses and intonation Writers use punctuation

Speakers pronounce Writers spell

Speaking is often spontaneous and unplanned. Most writing is planned and can be changed

through editing and revision before an audience

reads it

Speakers have immediate audiences who nod,

interrupt, question and comment

Writers have a delayed response from audiences

or none at all and have only one opportunity to

convey their message, be interesting, informative,

accurate and hold their readers attention

Speech is usually informal and repetitive Writing on the other hand is more formal and

compact. It progresses more logically With fewer

explanations and digressions.

Speakers use simpler sentences connected by

lots of ands and buts.

Writers use more complex sentences With

connecting words like however, Who, although,

and in addition.

Speakers draw on their listeners reactions to

know how or whether to continue

Writers are often solitary in their process

Speakers can gauge the attitudes, beliefs, and

feelings of their audience by their verbal and non-

verbal reactions

Writers must consider what and how much their

audience needs to know about a given topic

Consider the fact that................

Virtually nobody speaks Standard Written English. This is the dialect of English that is appropriate for

professional, business, and academic writing. For example, no one always speaks in complete sentences or

pronounces the final letter of every word. However, many people learn to translate their spoken dialect into

Standard Written English when they write.


3/3



Both spoken and written dialects are linked to the social background, age, race, and gender of the writer,

speaker and audience. Depending upon whom we are addressing, and what we are discussing, we can switch

between formal and informal ways of communicating.

University of Westminster

Feedback About
http://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/main/about.htmhttp://www2.wmin.ac.uk/eic/learning-skills/feedback.html

Documents

Speaking vs Writing