VCE English Language key terms

The variety of language a speaker selects to suit a particular situation, audience and purpose, shaped by formality, social distance and the relationship between participants.

The degree of impersonality, precision and adherence to standard conventions in a text, ranging from casual colloquial speech to highly ritualised written discourse such as legal documents.

The dimension of register concerned with the relationship between participants, including their relative power, social distance and degree of emotional involvement in the exchange.

The dimension of register concerned with the subject matter or topic of a text and the specialised activity it accompanies, such as a medical consultation or a football commentary.

The dimension of register concerned with the channel of communication, whether spoken, written or signed, and how that channel affects planning, permanence and interactivity.

The way speakers shape their language to accommodate a particular addressee or overhearer, adjusting vocabulary, tone and level of explanation accordingly.

An informal word or expression characteristic of everyday conversation rather than formal writing, such as 'mate', 'heaps' or 'gonna' in Australian English.

Vocabulary used by a particular social group, often short-lived and deliberately informal or secretive, marking in-group identity and excluding outsiders.

Specialised vocabulary used within a profession or interest group that allows precise, efficient communication among insiders but can exclude or confuse outsiders.

The codified variety of English used in formal writing, education and public institutions, defined by grammar and spelling conventions rather than by accent.

A variety of English that differs systematically from Standard English in grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation, often carrying social stigma despite being rule-governed.

The everyday, unmonitored language of a speech community, used in casual interaction and often the most authentic marker of local identity.

The process by which speakers converge towards or diverge from the speech of their interlocutor to signal solidarity, approval or social distance.

Alternating between two or more languages or language varieties within a single conversation, often reflecting changes in topic, audience or social identity.

The sense of self a person derives from membership of social groups, which language signals through accent, vocabulary choices, slang and style shifting.

The high social value attached to a standard or socially admired variety, which speakers may adopt to appear educated, professional or socially mobile.

The hidden social value attached to a non-standard variety within a local community, conferring solidarity, toughness or authenticity rather than public approval.

The national variety of English spoken in Australia, distinguished by its vowel system, vocabulary such as 'arvo' and 'fair dinkum', and distinctive idioms.

Three social varieties of Australian English identified by Mitchell and Delbridge, distinguished mainly by accent features and associated with differing social class and education.

A variety of a language associated with a particular ethnic group, often showing substrate influence in pronunciation, grammar or vocabulary.

A variety of language associated with a particular social group, such as a class, age cohort or occupation, rather than with a region.

The unique, individual pattern of language use belonging to one person, including personal vocabulary, pronunciation habits and favoured syntactic structures.

Rapidly changing informal vocabulary used by adolescents, functioning as a marker of generational identity and often drawn from music, gaming and social media.

A newly coined word or expression, or an existing word given a new sense, often arising from technology, popular culture or social change.

The adoption of a word or structure from another language into English, such as 'sushi' from Japanese or 'algorithm' from Arabic via Latin.

Change in the meaning of a word over time, including broadening, narrowing, amelioration and pejoration of its sense.

A mild or indirect expression substituted for one considered harsh or taboo, such as 'passed away' for 'died' or 'let go' for 'dismissed'.

A deliberately harsh or offensive expression used in place of a neutral one, often to insult, shock or express solidarity within a group.

Words and expressions avoided in polite discourse because they refer to subjects such as sex, death, excretion or bodily functions, or because they are considered offensive.

Linguistic strategies used to protect the hearer's face, including indirect requests, hedging and mitigation, following Brown and Levinson's model of face-threatening acts.

A person's public self-image that conversational partners work to maintain; positive face concerns the desire to be liked, negative face the desire to be unimpeded.

Language that softens a claim or reduces commitment, using words such as 'perhaps', 'sort of' or 'it seems', often to avoid imposing or sounding dogmatic.

The systematic organisation of who speaks when in conversation, involving transition-relevance places, overlap and repair to manage conversational floor.

A two-part conversational sequence in which the first utterance makes a particular second relevant, such as greeting-greeting, question-answer or invitation-acceptance.

A word or phrase such as 'well', 'you know' or 'however' that organises talk, signals shifts in topic or manages the relationship between speakers rather than adding propositional content.

The way surface elements of a text are linked through reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction and lexical ties so that it holds together as a unit.

The underlying logical and thematic connectedness of a text, which allows a reader or listener to make sense of it using background knowledge and inference.

An approach that lays down rules about 'correct' usage and judges variants as errors, often resisting change and privileging the standard variety.

An approach that observes and records how language is actually used without judging it, treating all varieties and changes as legitimate objects of study.

The ongoing alteration of a language's sounds, vocabulary, grammar and meanings over time, driven by contact, technology, social pressures and internal drift.

The process by which a language loses its last speakers, typically following generations of shift to a dominant language and reduced domains of use.

A situation in which a language is at risk of ceasing to be transmitted to children, measured by speaker numbers, intergenerational transmission and domain of use.

Efforts by a community or institutions to keep a language in active use across generations and domains, often through education, media and family transmission.

Deliberate efforts to restore a declining or dormant language to everyday use, through teaching, documentation, immersion programs and community initiatives.

The increasing interconnection of economies and cultures worldwide, which spreads dominant languages such as English while pressuring smaller languages and local varieties.

A language used for communication between speakers who do not share a first language, often a widely learned international language such as English.