FORMAL VS. INFORMAL COMMUNICATION

PART 1 INTRODUCING YOURSELF

LEAD-IN:

Guy Giradeaux works in the export division of Le Saucier., a French company producing kitchen appliances and equipment. His work frequently takes him on business outside France. Listen to the following dialogues which take place while Guy is in one of his trips and answer the questions:

Has he met any of the people he is talking to before?

In which dialogue is Guy talking to

a.       a colleague in one of the subsidiaries

b.      a security guard

c.       a customer

Which of the three dialogues is:

a.       friendly and informal

b.      neutral/formal and polite

c.       impersonal and official

FOCUS ON LANGUAGE

Listen to each of the dialogues again and complete the missing parts of the extracts:

DIALOGUE 1: The style is neutral/ formal

Guard: .

Guy: Good morning.Guy Giradeaux. ..Mr. Binder at ten.

Guard: Mr. Binder. Sales Department?

Guy: Thats right.

Guard: . name?

Guy: Guy Giradeaux.

Guard: Okay, Ill

DIALOGUE 2: The style is neutral/formal

Margareta: ?..Margareta Sandstrom. .sales over here in the Stockholm area.

Guy: How do you do, Mrs. Sandstrom?..

Guy: Nice to meet you too

DIALOGUE 3: The style is informal.

David: Mr. Giradeaux?

Guy: Yes, thats right, Guy Giradeaux.

David: .., Guy, .David Fairlawn.Welcome to Daylight Electronics. .

Guy: , David. ..

David: Did you

( adapted from Socializing by Mark Ellis and Nina ODriscoll)

LANGUAGE SUMMARY

IDENTIFYING YOURSELF

When you identify yourself to someone else you often need to give not only your name, but also other relevant information about yourself or the situation.

Example:

Hello, Im. from

Hello, my name is.. I work for

Hello, let me introduce myself, Im in charge of..

Im. Im responsible for.

Hello, first name&surname Ive got an appointment with.

GREETINGS FOR FIRST MEETINGS

When you meet people for the first time on a personal or business basis it si usual to shake hands. This is when the greeting phrase How do you do? is appropriate, but it is only used on first meetings.

Example: First greeting

Neutral/formal: How do you do?

I am very pleased/delighted to meet you. It is very nice to meet you.

Informal: How do you do?

Hello. Hi.

Nice to meet you. Nice to have you with us. Pleased to meet you.

Reply to the greeting

Neutral/formal: How do you do?

Its very nice to meet you too. I am pleased to meet you too.

Informal: How do you do?

Hello. Hi.

Nice to meet you too. Pleased to meet you too.

PRACTICE

Pair-work speaking: what would you say to identify yourself in the following situations? Build short dialogues following the examples above and practise them in pairs.

a)      You have arrived at a hotel where you have a reservation for tonight and tomorrow night.

b)      You work for a company called Medstar, which produces medicine. You have just arrived at a company you are visiting and you have an appointment with Mr. Laurel, the Head of the R&D department at 11 a.m. The first person you meet is the security guard.

c)      The security guard has just directed you to Mr. Laurels office where you meet his secretary. You have to introduce yourself.

d)      You are meeting a Norwegian visitor, Mr. Kristiansen, at the airport. Identify yourself and your company and use adequate greetings.

Reorganize the numbered phrases below as dialogues .

a)      dialogue 1, speakers: Jane and Thomas

Pleased to meet you too.

You must be Jane Torville.

Hello, Im Thomas Svenson. Im pleased to meet you.

Yes, thats right.

b)      dialogue 2, speakers: Mr. Parks and Mr. Dean

Yes, thats me.

Are you Mr. Dean, by any chance?

Nice to meet you.

Im Head of Production here. Youre from Medstar, arent you?

Im George Parks.

Yes, thats right.

What type of register does each speaker use (formal/informal)?

PART 2 DAILY GREETINGS

LEAD-IN: David Hamilton works at the European HQ of an American multinational, ATI. The headquarters are in Brussels.

Listen to three short dialogues in which David Hamilton greets three people who work in the same department as he does. Answer the questions.

In which dialogue is he greeting

a.       a fellow manager

b.      his assistant

c.       his secretary

In which dialogue is he greeting someone he has not seen for some weeks?

Which of these descriptions best represents Davids relationship with the people he works with?

a.       relaxed and friendly

b.      formal

In which of the dialogues is David addressed by his title and surmane?

FOCUS ON LANGUAGE

Listen to the dialogues again and complete the missing parts of the extracts:

DIALOGUE 1 The style is informal

Tom: .., Mr. Hamilton.

David: .., Tom. ..?

Tom: .. By the way, Ive

DIALOGUE 2 The style is neutral/formal

David: Morning, Isabel.?

Isabel: Oh,., Mr. Hamilton. . Terrible morning, isnt it?

David: Yes,

DIALOGUE 3 The style is neutral/formal

David: Morning, Jane. Youre in early. ..the holiday?

Jane: Oh, hello, David. Holiday? Just look at all this, itll take days to work through. No really, David, Just what I needed.

David: Sounds great.

Jane: here?

David: .. By the way, theres a

(adapted from Socializing by Mark Ellis and Nina ODriscoll)

LANGUAGE SUMMARY

When meeting people, the greeting is often combined with some form of enquiry about the person or situation.

Example:

Hello. How are you? Very well, thanks.

Hi. How are you doing?

Good morning. How are things? Not too bad.

Good afternoon. Is everything okay? Fine, thank you.

In extract three David combines the greeting with a specific enquiry about the other speakers holiday. These more specific enquiries are appropriate if you know something specific about the person you are greeting. They often begin with the question word How, e.g. How was your holiday?

PRACTICE

Pair-work speaking: What would you say if you were greeting people in the following situations? Build short dialogues following the examples above and practise them in pairs:

a.       You are meeting a friend at the airport. Hes just come through the customs.

b.      A colleague of yours has just got back from an overseas business trip.

c.       You are greeting a friend who has just changed his job. You have not seen him since this happened.

d.      You are greeting your boss who has just completed a successful deal.

e.       You are greeting your assistant who has just come from a training course in Japan.