Module : Intercultural Communication Verbal Formal & Informal Communication

3.1.1 Intercultural Communication - Verbal: Formal & Informal Communication, Independent Level

Module 3: Intercultural Communication Verbal

3.1.1 Formal & Informal Communication

(Independent Level)

Explanation

Verbal communication is the act of using language to exchange information or to express ideas, thoughts or feelings to someone else.

In order to communicate successfully, different levels of formality are used to respond appropriately to different circumstances and different people.

In this module we are we are going to examine formal and informal language in the workplace.

Formal Language:

In a work environment formal communication is necessary when presenting work to colleagues, in a meeting, when speaking on the phone, in written and email communication. Formal communication is usually used when speaking to a superior/manager and shows a level of respect and politeness.

Formal communication channels:

• 
  Emails
  
• 
  Letters
  
• 
  In a formal setting - meetings, conferences, presentations, interviews.
  

Informal Language:

In a work environment informal communication is used when speaking to co-workers that you have a relaxed relationship with in the office and is used with all of your co-workers outside of the office.

Sometimes you may speak formally to someone in a meeting in front of other colleagues/ clients and then change to informal conversation afterwards.

Informal Communication Channels:

• 
  Email
  
• 
  One-to-one conversation
  
• 
  Interoffice phone-calls
  

In most work environments a mixture of both formal and informal language is used throughout the day, depending on the position of the person you are communicating with and your relationship to this person, it becomes a matter of personal judgement to decide which type of communication to use and when.

For example, you may have a relaxed, friendly relationship with your manager who you normally use informal language with but if you are in a meeting with this person you would usually change to formal language out of respect for the formal situation.

In the UK, in many businesses, hierarchy is still considered to be important and informal ways of communicating with those in higher positions is not generally encouraged. You must become familiar with your workplace and your colleagues before knowing when it is appropriate to use informal language.
Activity 1

• 
  Hand out the worksheet for Activity 1 and ask the students to work in small groups of 2/3. They must read through the phrases in the table, deciding whether each phrase is formal or informal in conversation with a co-worker/manager.
  
• 
  When they have finished, review the exercise as a class (answers provided below)
  

Answers:

	Phrases:	Formal	Informal
1	Of course, I will attend to that at once.	X
2	How’s it all going over there today?		X
3	Good afternoon Sir.	X
4	Just wait a minute, okay?		X
5	When the opportunity arises, we will make arrangements.	X
6	Thank you all for your attention, it is much appreciated.	X
7	I don’t get it, will you explain it again?		X
8	Sure, will do.		X
9	Can you give me a minute please?		X
10	This is a real win-win result for us all team.		X
11	Going forward, we will increase our workload on this project.	X
12	Can you give me the lowdown on the last meeting?		X
13	Staff must re-focus their priorities.	X
14	Thanks a million!		X
15	Can you give me a hand with this?		X
16	Please do not hesitate to contact me immediately.	X
17	Whenever you get the chance, send me a soft copy of the document will you?		X
18	I sincerely apologise for the delay.	X
19	Attached is the requisite document.	X
20	Sorry, no can do.		X
21	Hi there all.		X
22	This requires immediate attention!	X
23	Please replicate the examples provided in the document.	X
24	No problem, anytime!		X
25	Ì am pleased to inform you of our upcoming event.	X
26	There is no mention of a proposed delay in her recent email communication.	X
27	Have you seen their recent stuff? We really have to step-up our game in this department.		X
28	I need to jog my memory. I can’t remember any of those statistics for the meeting.		X

• 
  Ask the students to create formal and informal equivalents for each of the phrases listed in the box above in pairs or groups of three and discuss as a class once they have finished.
  

Activity 2

• 
  Explain to the students that when someone uses the wrong type of language in workplace communication it can cause problems and offence. It is important to recognise when to use formal language and when to use informal language.
  

• 
  Hand out the worksheet for Activity 2 and break the students into small groups.
  

• 
  Ask the students to complete part 1 of the activity which involves reading through two emails requiring the use of formal language and highlighting where informal language has instead been used.
  

• 
  Once the students have had time to complete the exercise, discuss which phrases and words they chose as informal language which should not be used in this context. Discuss as a class using the answers provided below.
  

Answers:___Formal_Email_–_Employee_Requesting_Sick_Leave_from_HR_Manager:___Hi_there'>Answers:

Formal Email – Employee Requesting Sick Leave from HR Manager:

Hi there Dermot,

This is about my sick leave entitlement for my job at Union Bank. I want 4 days of sick leave for some minor surgery I plan to have in April. Tell me of any files I need to arrange for this and the deadline?

Here’s a document with my job info for you.

I’ll be back with some dates for that sick leave.

Thanks,

Sarah
Formal Email - From Office Manager to all Staff:

Hey everybody,

This is about your timesheets. I don’t have all of them up-to-date. Can you hurry up and send them for June, July and August?

I’m going to email again to tell you to do this if you don’t send them to me soon.

Cheers,

Office Manager

• 
  Ask the students to complete parts 2 and 3 of the activity. The students must once again identify any formal/informal language mistakes in the emails and, in addition, rewrite the phrases/words using the appropriate level of formality.
  

• 
  Discuss which phrases and words the students identified as being too formal/informal for the context and how they chose to re-write them.
  

Answers:

Informal Email –Company Employee Replying to a Customer Order:

Hi Customer,

Thanks for the order you sent us and for sending the money through PayPal. We will process this and you’ll probably receive the delivery next Wednesday - Thursday sometime.

You will get a reference number in the next hour. Use this to follow the order for dispatch and delivery.

Email if you have questions.

Thanks,

Conor King

Globaltime Sales Team

• 
  Students are asked to identify the formal language mistakes in this informal email and rewrite the email in an informal language style:
  

Informal Email – Manager Inviting Employee to Informal Work Drinks:

Dearest Sam,

This is to inform you that there will be casual drinks after work has finished in the Highland Pub, on Thursday at 7pm. This pub is located approximately 3 minutes from the office.

It would be extremely pleasant if you could attend.

All of the information you will need for the location of the pub where we will all gather is attached above. Please confirm to me if you will be in attendance, by 3pm tomorrow afternoon.

Kindest regards,

Jason Dolan

Accounts Manager

Activity 3

• 
  Hand out the worksheet for Activity 3.
  

• 
  Ask the students to work in pairs to create dialogues for the different conversation topics listed.
  

• 
  Explain to the students that they are to try and include some of the phrases provided (in the boxes at the bottom of the sheet) where appropriate.
  

• 
  Ask each of the pairs to read out one of their dialogues and ask for the other students to provide feedback.
  

Supplementary Activity

Students are asked to role-play a telephone conversation using the appropriate formal language; the rest of the students must highlight mistakes made.

Activity 1

Read through the exercise below placing a tick in the correct box to decide which phrase is formal or informal in conversation with a co-worker/manager?

	Phrases:	Formal	Informal
1	Of course, I will attend to that at once.
2	How’s it all going over there today?
3	Good afternoon Sir.
4	Just wait a minute, okay?
5	When the opportunity arises, we will make arrangements.
6	Thank you all for your attention, it is much appreciated.
7	I don’t get it, will you explain it again?
8	Sure, will do.
9	Can you give me a minute please?
10	This is a win-win result for the whole team.
11	Going forward, we will increase our workload on this project.
12	Can you give me the lowdown on the last meeting?
13	Staff must re-focus their priorities.
14	Thanks a million!
15	Can you give me a hand with this?
16	Please do not hesitate to contact me immediately.
17	Whenever you get the chance, send me a soft copy of the document.
18	I sincerely apologise for the delay.
19	Attached is the requisite document.
20	Sorry, no can do.
21	Hi there all.
22	This requires immediate attention!
23	Please replicate the examples provided in the document.
24	No problem, anytime!
25	Ì am pleased to inform you of our upcoming event.
26	There is no mention of a proposed delay in her recent email communication.
27	Have you seen their recent work? We really have to step-up our game in this department.
28	I need to jog my memory? I can’t remember those statistics for the meeting.

Working in groups of 2/3 can you create a formal/informal equivalent of the above phrases?

Activity 2

1. 
   The following two emails should be written using formal language - Identify the informal language mistakes in both emails:
   

• 
  Formal Email – Employee Requesting Sick Leave from HR Manager:
  

Hi there Dermot,

This is about my sick leave entitlement for my job at Union Bank. I want 4 days of sick leave for some minor surgery I plan to have in April. Tell me of any files I need to arrange for this and the deadline?

Here’s a document with my job info for you.

I’ll be back with some dates for that sick leave.

Thanks,

Sarah

• 
  Formal Email - From Office Manager to all Staff:
  

Hey everybody,

This is about your timesheets. I don’t have all of them up-to-date. Can you hurry up and send them for June, July and August?

I’m going to email again if you don’t send them to me soon.

Cheers,

Office Manager
Activity 2 (continued)

2. 
   The following email should be written using formal language - Identify the informal language mistakes and rewrite them in a formal language style.
   

• 
  Informal Email –Company Employee Replying to a Customer Order:
  

Hi Customer,

Thanks for the order you sent us and for sending the money through PayPal. We will process this and you’ll probably receive the delivery next Wednesday - Thursday sometime.

You will get a reference number in the next hour. Use this to follow the order for dispatch and delivery.

Email if you have questions.

Thanks,

Conor King

___________________

Globaltime Sales Team

3. 
   The following email should be written using informal language - Identify the formal language mistakes and rewrite them in an informal language style.
   

• 
  Informal Email – Manager Inviting Employee to Informal Work Drinks:
  

Dearest Sam,

This is to inform you that there will be casual drinks after work has finished in the Highland Pub, on Thursday at 7pm. This pub is located approximately 3 minutes from the office.

It would be extremely pleasant if you could attend.

All of the information you will need for the location of the pub where we will all gather is attached above. Please confirm to me if you will be in attendance, by 3pm tomorrow afternoon.

Kindest regards,

Jason Dolan

Accounts Manager

Activity 3

Using appropriate phrases from the two box provided below, work in pairs to write dialogues for the following conversations:

• 
  Manager requests that the employee organise the next staff meeting
  

• 
  Manager tells the employee that he/she is not satisfied with his/her work and that he/she is being given a warning for being late 3 days in a row.
  

• 
  Employee must reply to a customer order by telephone.
  

• 
  Employee tells manager they he/she has failed to meet a deadline to finish an important project/task.
  

• 
  Employee invites the manager to a social event outside of the office.
  

• 
  Manager informs the employee that he/she will be offered a promotion.
  

Phrases

• 
  Keep me in the loop
  
• 
  Soft copy
  
• 
  As soon as possible (ASAP)
  
• 
  In regard to
  
• 
  When you have the chance
  
• 
  I want to formally request
  
• 
  No-show
  
• 
  Please do not hesitate to contact me
  
• 
  A bad example
  
• 
  Hard copy
  
• 
  Archived files
  
• 
  Please inform staff
  
• 
  Forward the email
  
• 
  A team/staff outing
  

• 
  Going forward
  
• 
  This is an issue that must be resolved
  
• 
  How are things?
  
• 
  This is not acceptable
  
• 
  We’ll all rendezvous at 8pm
  
• 
  You are being given a formal warning
  
• 
  The final outcome
  
• 
  I have forwarded the information in a zip-file
  
• 
  Working against time
  
• 
  Think outside the box
  
• 
  The invoice for the total amount
  
• 
  Attach documents
  
• 
  If you have the time