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Abstract：
Many people know written language and spoken language are different， but most of them do not know where they are different and how strongly they are different. Besides， in traditional English teaching class， people pay more attention to the written language. But with the rapid development of globalization， spoken English becomes more and more important. Thus， how to teach becomes a problem. Differences between written and spoken language are explained here and the roles that the teacher should play in the spoken English class are listed.
Keywords： written language； spoken language； differences； teachers’ roles
1. Introduction
Language was produced by ancient human who used it for adapting to the urgent need of communication in group works and it began with voice. Therefore， from the origin of language， spoken language was produced earlier than written language. No matter spoken language or written language， they are all used to communicate. For native speakers， spoken language is mastered much better than written language because they speak with others every day but they do not or seldom write every day. However， for the second language learners， especially the learners who live in his own country， written language will be thought much easier than spoken language. Because they may be usually asked to do some original language reading and writing， but generally speaking， it is very difficult to find an environment with the language they learn for this kind of people. Therefore， how to teach spoken language is a problem for teachers.
2. Differences Between Written and Spoken Language
Although both written language and spoken language are just two shapes of one language， there are lots of differences in all kinds of aspects between them. Just as a linguist Evans said in The Use of English “I would only say the written and spoken English are in the modern periods， so far apart that they almost constitute two different languages” （cf， Che）.
2.1 Differences in Grammar
Spoken language includes daily chat， formal talking， report， speech， debate， storytelling and so on. It has a large scale from formal speaking to informal. So its form is not as strict as written language. Daily chat is a prototype of spoken language because we talk with others more often under the informal situation. When people talk they would be speaking while thinking and they even can change words and sentences， correct mistakes and add content while they are speaking. Moreover， they also can interrupt others， chip in， and pause if they like； and even can make a slip of the tongue and make a corrected sentence. Expressions that are anti-grammar fuzzy words also can be used in spoken language. All in all， spoken language is optional unconstrained and changeful. Written language is a language much more formal than spoken language. It emphasizes preciseness， solemnity and completion. Interruption， hesitation or anything that is lack of standardization are not allowed. If the writer is interrupted or hesitated， it will not be expressed in the writing. However， such phenomenon or grammar mistakes are commonly seen in the oral language. Furthermore， all kinds of phrases of adverbial modifiers， such as prepositional phrase， participial phrase and the nominative absolute are usually used in writing language. People also like to use passive voice and impersonal form to write rather than to use active voice or personal form to speak.
2.2 Differences in Words
Spoken language is more optional and lack of boundedness， so it is more colorful. Like fashionable word， two part allegorical saying， colloquialism， slang and phrasal verbs are usually used. These words make the conversation more interesting， vivid and easier to understand. The prompt feature of spoken language also makes language more changeful and abundant.
Written language is not as free as spoken language. Commonly， when people write， they have much more time to think how to express and brew which word to use or what sentence to make. In order to make the article more formal， elegant and solemn， people like to use “big word” while they are writing. Li（2008） and Che（2008）list some words that are different in spoken and written language to express the same meaning：
Spoken Written
put up with tolerate
give in surrender
piling up accumulate
come in enter
blow up explode
think consider
seen witnessed
From the examples， we can easily experience that the written form is more appropriate and decent.
2.3 Differences in Structure
Generally， people would like to make the sentence as simple as possible to let others understand easily. That is to say， most of the sentences in spoken language are simple sentences， and because of the situation， speakers usually make the sentences incompact or use colloquial words such as “well”， “wow” and “hmm” to connect the sentences. Besides， because of the hesitation and interruption in a conversation， and in order to make the dialogue coherent， people would use some remedy words such as “you know”， “let me see”， “wait a moment”， “I think” and so on. In spoken language， people may repeat a sentence without any implication， just to make the listener clear or make sure there is no mistake in the sentence， but this situation is not allowed in the written language. There must be some potential meaning when the writer writes a sentence twice at the same time. Written language demands good logic， excellent words， perfect coherence and rich content. Parallel sentences， subordinate clauses and synonym and antonym are often used in a written work. When people write， they always do the writing by following some rules. Generally， people like to make a topic sentence first， and the next is the body and then write the conclusion part. Complex sentence pattern and precise structure always make written language rigorous and solemn.
2.4 Differences in Image
Most images of spoken language are realized by its voice. Commonly， we experience one’s voice from his tone， stress， pause， manner of speaking， prolonged sound and short sound. Furthermore， just like an idiom in China “察言观色”， which means to carefully watch what somebody is doing and saying， speakers’ expressions and behaviors are also very important in a conversation. The behavior usually refers to the body language. All kinds of things above can be seen as the images of spoken language， different voice， expressions or behaviors will represent different emotion and therefore， it will lead different result.
Compared with spoken language， written language’s images are more visual. They are can be seen from the punctuations of the article. Comma and period are used to express short and long pause. Question mark is used to propose questions and exclamation mark indicates the feeling of amazed， surprised or excited. Besides， there are other punctuations which may not be used as usually as comma or period but also contain some other meanings， such as lineation， quotation marks， italic， abbreviation， parenthesis， label and so on. All kinds of these punctuations contain their own special function and can be used in different situation.
2.5 Differences in Function
Spoken language is to communicate. In daily life， people have to speak to maintain normal life， so the function of spoken language is to let others understand us from our utterance. That is to say， the only thing we should pay attention to when we communicate with others is to ensure what we say can be easily understood. In normal communication， we usually like to use expressions and body language to express emotion and affection.
Unlike spoken language， written language contains many other functions， such as record， emotion expression， declaration， contract and so on. Because words are written on the paper， so the written language possesses the properties of legality and permanency. 3. Teacher’s Role in Spoken English Class
For most Chinese students who learn English as the foreign language， “dumb English” is a general phenomenon. Students have less chance to speak or do not dare to speak. There are many reasons that cause this problem， but two of them are the most important， and these two reasons are closely related to teachers. One is that English teaching pays less attention to the oral communicating competence， ignores spoken language teaching and is not fully aware of the differences between language operation and language use， which leads students overlook the social meaning of language. Another is less cognition of distinction between spoken and written language. Many teachers simply think the word is written down is written language and is spoken out is spoken language and then naturally teach students to use the sentences in the book as the language used in daily communication. Here are some suggestions to the teachers.
3.1 A Creator of Language Environment
The most important problem to learn English in China is that students are lack of an environment to speak or use English. In China， seldom places are chosen by English speakers to live， most of students learn English under the situation without any English native speakers. But environment is very crucial for students’ spoken language learning， just like Larsen--Freeman & Long （1991，117） said： “The linguistic environment might prove to be an important part of second language acquisition.” Based on this circumstance， teachers should create more chances for students to use English. In the class， teacher can encourage students “speak as much English as possible instead of the native language” （Chen， 2013）. For example， teacher can ask question in English and demand students to use English to answer， or teacher gives some topics and demand them to discuss or present it with English. The thing that teacher should pay attention to is teacher should tell students some culture about English-speaking countries including custom， history， and daily English expression， which will avoid written language becoming colloquialism.
3.2 An Organizer of Classroom Activities
No matter in normal class or spoken English class， teachers should be the controller of the class. Especially， because of the features of spoken English class， teachers should pay more attention to this point. Spoken English class can be seen as the students-centre and task-based class. Teachers will manage plenty of activities to let every student to take part in so that everyone has the chance to practice spoken language. Based on this situation， the classroom will be in a mess without teacher’s control. So teacher should organize the time and the content in classroom activities. In addition， teachers should manage some activities that are close to daily life so that students’ spoken English learning will not be irrelevant with the realistic society. In spoken language class， teachers can make good use of familiar material around them and found a familiar environment to make students feel they want to speak out and have things to say so that their desire is stimulated and then the communicating purpose is reached. 3.3 A Corrector of Language Mistakes
Face to the language mistakes made by students， how to correct them and when to correct are really two important problems for teachers. If teachers do not point students’ mistakes out or do not help them correct， they will make the same mistakes again and again. But if teachers interfere too much， students’ confidence will be hurt. In author’s opinion， teachers can point out the mistakes advisably and correct them indirectly. For example， if teacher finds a student making a mistake like “I go to the park yesterday” in a dialogue， teacher can play a role to make a new dialogue with the student after the student finishing the first dialogue and say a correct sentence “I went to the park yesterday” and then guide the student to make a new and correct sentence. This way does not interrupt students’ dialogue and it also will not hurt their confidence.
3.4 An Appreciator of Students’ Performance
As a learner of second language or foreign language， it is easy to be lack of confidence in language learning， especially in spoken language learning since Chinese personality of bashfulness. Teachers’ praise and appreciation will grow students’ confidence and reduce their anxiety. Le （2011，104） points out “self-confidence people have the advantage of not fearing rejection and are therefore more likely to put themselves in learning situations and do so repeatedly.” “Lower anxiety levels are related to successful L2 acquisition…the less anxious and more relaxed the learner is， the better language acquisition proceeds.” There is no doubt that if one person has confidence in something and feels relaxed about it， he will perform better. Therefore， appropriate encourage and praise will inspire students and it will contribute to their learning of second or foreign language， especially the spoken language.
4. Conclusion
Written language and spoken language are strongly different in all kinds of aspects. As many scholars thought， they just like two different languages. Since there are so many differences between them， teachers should do the teaching based on their features. For spoken language， Chen （2013） says： “A successful oral English class needs careful consideration when a teacher makes his teaching plan， designs the activities and selects the materials.” Teachers should not only prepare well before class， but also should be a good creator， an all-round organizer， a wise corrector and a real appreciator in the class. Teachers should carefully watch what students need and teach them based on their own individualized quality.
Bibliography
1. 车少飞. 英语口语和书面语语体特征比较[J]. 赤峰学院学报， 2008， （29）.
2. 陈红平， 李慧敏. 英语口语与书面语的差异及对口语教学的启示[J]. 基础英语教育， 2007， （7）.
3. 乐眉云. Applied Linguistics [M]. 南京大学出版社， 2011：104.
4. 李博. 英语口语和书面语的比较[J]. 华章， 2008， （10）.
5. Chen Jin. Teacher’s Role in the Oral English Class [J]. Overseas English， 2013， （3）.
6. Larsen-Freeman D. Long M H. An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research [M]. London & New York： Long-man， 1991：117.
作者简介：杜丽诗（1990.2——），女，24岁，瑶族，籍贯桂林恭城，广西大学外国语学院13级外国语言学及应用语言学研究生，研究方向为外语教学。广西大学外国语学院，530004
作者简介：李雅雄（1989.5——），女，25岁，汉族，籍贯湖南邵阳，广西大学外国语学院12级外国语言学及应用语言学硕士研究生，研究方向为应用语言学。
Many people know written language and spoken language are different， but most of them do not know where they are different and how strongly they are different. Besides， in traditional English teaching class， people pay more attention to the written language. But with the rapid development of globalization， spoken English becomes more and more important. Thus， how to teach becomes a problem. Differences between written and spoken language are explained here and the roles that the teacher should play in the spoken English class are listed.
Keywords： written language； spoken language； differences； teachers’ roles
1. Introduction
Language was produced by ancient human who used it for adapting to the urgent need of communication in group works and it began with voice. Therefore， from the origin of language， spoken language was produced earlier than written language. No matter spoken language or written language， they are all used to communicate. For native speakers， spoken language is mastered much better than written language because they speak with others every day but they do not or seldom write every day. However， for the second language learners， especially the learners who live in his own country， written language will be thought much easier than spoken language. Because they may be usually asked to do some original language reading and writing， but generally speaking， it is very difficult to find an environment with the language they learn for this kind of people. Therefore， how to teach spoken language is a problem for teachers.
2. Differences Between Written and Spoken Language
Although both written language and spoken language are just two shapes of one language， there are lots of differences in all kinds of aspects between them. Just as a linguist Evans said in The Use of English “I would only say the written and spoken English are in the modern periods， so far apart that they almost constitute two different languages” （cf， Che）.
2.1 Differences in Grammar
Spoken language includes daily chat， formal talking， report， speech， debate， storytelling and so on. It has a large scale from formal speaking to informal. So its form is not as strict as written language. Daily chat is a prototype of spoken language because we talk with others more often under the informal situation. When people talk they would be speaking while thinking and they even can change words and sentences， correct mistakes and add content while they are speaking. Moreover， they also can interrupt others， chip in， and pause if they like； and even can make a slip of the tongue and make a corrected sentence. Expressions that are anti-grammar fuzzy words also can be used in spoken language. All in all， spoken language is optional unconstrained and changeful. Written language is a language much more formal than spoken language. It emphasizes preciseness， solemnity and completion. Interruption， hesitation or anything that is lack of standardization are not allowed. If the writer is interrupted or hesitated， it will not be expressed in the writing. However， such phenomenon or grammar mistakes are commonly seen in the oral language. Furthermore， all kinds of phrases of adverbial modifiers， such as prepositional phrase， participial phrase and the nominative absolute are usually used in writing language. People also like to use passive voice and impersonal form to write rather than to use active voice or personal form to speak.
2.2 Differences in Words
Spoken language is more optional and lack of boundedness， so it is more colorful. Like fashionable word， two part allegorical saying， colloquialism， slang and phrasal verbs are usually used. These words make the conversation more interesting， vivid and easier to understand. The prompt feature of spoken language also makes language more changeful and abundant.
Written language is not as free as spoken language. Commonly， when people write， they have much more time to think how to express and brew which word to use or what sentence to make. In order to make the article more formal， elegant and solemn， people like to use “big word” while they are writing. Li（2008） and Che（2008）list some words that are different in spoken and written language to express the same meaning：
Spoken Written
put up with tolerate
give in surrender
piling up accumulate
come in enter
blow up explode
think consider
seen witnessed
From the examples， we can easily experience that the written form is more appropriate and decent.
2.3 Differences in Structure
Generally， people would like to make the sentence as simple as possible to let others understand easily. That is to say， most of the sentences in spoken language are simple sentences， and because of the situation， speakers usually make the sentences incompact or use colloquial words such as “well”， “wow” and “hmm” to connect the sentences. Besides， because of the hesitation and interruption in a conversation， and in order to make the dialogue coherent， people would use some remedy words such as “you know”， “let me see”， “wait a moment”， “I think” and so on. In spoken language， people may repeat a sentence without any implication， just to make the listener clear or make sure there is no mistake in the sentence， but this situation is not allowed in the written language. There must be some potential meaning when the writer writes a sentence twice at the same time. Written language demands good logic， excellent words， perfect coherence and rich content. Parallel sentences， subordinate clauses and synonym and antonym are often used in a written work. When people write， they always do the writing by following some rules. Generally， people like to make a topic sentence first， and the next is the body and then write the conclusion part. Complex sentence pattern and precise structure always make written language rigorous and solemn.
2.4 Differences in Image
Most images of spoken language are realized by its voice. Commonly， we experience one’s voice from his tone， stress， pause， manner of speaking， prolonged sound and short sound. Furthermore， just like an idiom in China “察言观色”， which means to carefully watch what somebody is doing and saying， speakers’ expressions and behaviors are also very important in a conversation. The behavior usually refers to the body language. All kinds of things above can be seen as the images of spoken language， different voice， expressions or behaviors will represent different emotion and therefore， it will lead different result.
Compared with spoken language， written language’s images are more visual. They are can be seen from the punctuations of the article. Comma and period are used to express short and long pause. Question mark is used to propose questions and exclamation mark indicates the feeling of amazed， surprised or excited. Besides， there are other punctuations which may not be used as usually as comma or period but also contain some other meanings， such as lineation， quotation marks， italic， abbreviation， parenthesis， label and so on. All kinds of these punctuations contain their own special function and can be used in different situation.
2.5 Differences in Function
Spoken language is to communicate. In daily life， people have to speak to maintain normal life， so the function of spoken language is to let others understand us from our utterance. That is to say， the only thing we should pay attention to when we communicate with others is to ensure what we say can be easily understood. In normal communication， we usually like to use expressions and body language to express emotion and affection.
Unlike spoken language， written language contains many other functions， such as record， emotion expression， declaration， contract and so on. Because words are written on the paper， so the written language possesses the properties of legality and permanency. 3. Teacher’s Role in Spoken English Class
For most Chinese students who learn English as the foreign language， “dumb English” is a general phenomenon. Students have less chance to speak or do not dare to speak. There are many reasons that cause this problem， but two of them are the most important， and these two reasons are closely related to teachers. One is that English teaching pays less attention to the oral communicating competence， ignores spoken language teaching and is not fully aware of the differences between language operation and language use， which leads students overlook the social meaning of language. Another is less cognition of distinction between spoken and written language. Many teachers simply think the word is written down is written language and is spoken out is spoken language and then naturally teach students to use the sentences in the book as the language used in daily communication. Here are some suggestions to the teachers.
3.1 A Creator of Language Environment
The most important problem to learn English in China is that students are lack of an environment to speak or use English. In China， seldom places are chosen by English speakers to live， most of students learn English under the situation without any English native speakers. But environment is very crucial for students’ spoken language learning， just like Larsen--Freeman & Long （1991，117） said： “The linguistic environment might prove to be an important part of second language acquisition.” Based on this circumstance， teachers should create more chances for students to use English. In the class， teacher can encourage students “speak as much English as possible instead of the native language” （Chen， 2013）. For example， teacher can ask question in English and demand students to use English to answer， or teacher gives some topics and demand them to discuss or present it with English. The thing that teacher should pay attention to is teacher should tell students some culture about English-speaking countries including custom， history， and daily English expression， which will avoid written language becoming colloquialism.
3.2 An Organizer of Classroom Activities
No matter in normal class or spoken English class， teachers should be the controller of the class. Especially， because of the features of spoken English class， teachers should pay more attention to this point. Spoken English class can be seen as the students-centre and task-based class. Teachers will manage plenty of activities to let every student to take part in so that everyone has the chance to practice spoken language. Based on this situation， the classroom will be in a mess without teacher’s control. So teacher should organize the time and the content in classroom activities. In addition， teachers should manage some activities that are close to daily life so that students’ spoken English learning will not be irrelevant with the realistic society. In spoken language class， teachers can make good use of familiar material around them and found a familiar environment to make students feel they want to speak out and have things to say so that their desire is stimulated and then the communicating purpose is reached. 3.3 A Corrector of Language Mistakes
Face to the language mistakes made by students， how to correct them and when to correct are really two important problems for teachers. If teachers do not point students’ mistakes out or do not help them correct， they will make the same mistakes again and again. But if teachers interfere too much， students’ confidence will be hurt. In author’s opinion， teachers can point out the mistakes advisably and correct them indirectly. For example， if teacher finds a student making a mistake like “I go to the park yesterday” in a dialogue， teacher can play a role to make a new dialogue with the student after the student finishing the first dialogue and say a correct sentence “I went to the park yesterday” and then guide the student to make a new and correct sentence. This way does not interrupt students’ dialogue and it also will not hurt their confidence.
3.4 An Appreciator of Students’ Performance
As a learner of second language or foreign language， it is easy to be lack of confidence in language learning， especially in spoken language learning since Chinese personality of bashfulness. Teachers’ praise and appreciation will grow students’ confidence and reduce their anxiety. Le （2011，104） points out “self-confidence people have the advantage of not fearing rejection and are therefore more likely to put themselves in learning situations and do so repeatedly.” “Lower anxiety levels are related to successful L2 acquisition…the less anxious and more relaxed the learner is， the better language acquisition proceeds.” There is no doubt that if one person has confidence in something and feels relaxed about it， he will perform better. Therefore， appropriate encourage and praise will inspire students and it will contribute to their learning of second or foreign language， especially the spoken language.
4. Conclusion
Written language and spoken language are strongly different in all kinds of aspects. As many scholars thought， they just like two different languages. Since there are so many differences between them， teachers should do the teaching based on their features. For spoken language， Chen （2013） says： “A successful oral English class needs careful consideration when a teacher makes his teaching plan， designs the activities and selects the materials.” Teachers should not only prepare well before class， but also should be a good creator， an all-round organizer， a wise corrector and a real appreciator in the class. Teachers should carefully watch what students need and teach them based on their own individualized quality.
Bibliography
1. 车少飞. 英语口语和书面语语体特征比较[J]. 赤峰学院学报， 2008， （29）.
2. 陈红平， 李慧敏. 英语口语与书面语的差异及对口语教学的启示[J]. 基础英语教育， 2007， （7）.
3. 乐眉云. Applied Linguistics [M]. 南京大学出版社， 2011：104.
4. 李博. 英语口语和书面语的比较[J]. 华章， 2008， （10）.
5. Chen Jin. Teacher’s Role in the Oral English Class [J]. Overseas English， 2013， （3）.
6. Larsen-Freeman D. Long M H. An Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Research [M]. London & New York： Long-man， 1991：117.
作者简介：杜丽诗（1990.2——），女，24岁，瑶族，籍贯桂林恭城，广西大学外国语学院13级外国语言学及应用语言学研究生，研究方向为外语教学。广西大学外国语学院，530004
作者简介：李雅雄（1989.5——），女，25岁，汉族，籍贯湖南邵阳，广西大学外国语学院12级外国语言学及应用语言学硕士研究生，研究方向为应用语言学。