1. ‘Formal language can promote social harmony but can also be the instrument of discrimination and discord and obfuscation.’
Discuss the roles of formal English in contemporary Australian society.
Formal language functions in a plethora of roles all of which inevitably challenge or maintain face. Yet the primary function of formal language is to promote or maintain social harmony through politeness strategies, but also to exclude or discriminate individuals from in group membership through specific lexical choices. In addition political language and bureaucratese can be used in order to establish a hierarchy, or to manipulate or confuse.
As social interaction is generally aimed at maintaining face, politeness strategies are useful due to their ability to promote social harmony. In regards to Public Transport Victoria’s Level Crossing Removal plan a euphemistic statement was released once it was determined that they were not going to be able to maintain the timeline that they had created. “The disruption has been extended”, the use of the agentless passive avoids any blame being placed on an individual or group, this alongside elevated lexemes which are synonymous words such as “extended” and “disruption” avoid the idea that they have not completed their work on time. Thus maintaining social harmony by using words with a less negative connotation as an attempt to avoid any possibly disgruntled customers. Daniel Andrews employed similar techniques during his apologetic speech to people convicted under un-just homosexuality laws. By using the politically correct initialism “LGBTI” to refer to people identified under that group their positive face is appealed to as they are referred to by a correct term of address. In doing this social harmony is promoted as it satisfies the group in question. Similarly euphemistic language such as “in turn they harmed themselves” was used to refer to the taboo topic of suicide, by avoiding lexemes with such a negative connotation social harmony is upheld.
In-groups can be identified through their lexical choices, however these choices may also exclude others from said in-group. Linguist Kate Burridge said that jargon had the following abilities “it (jargon) facilitates communication on one hand, but erects quite successful communication barriers on the other”, this quote is supported in the high profile lawsuit case involving Australia celebrity Rebel Wilson. This case was closely followed by the media as well as by general fans of the actress due to her large scale success and popularity. The judgement handed out by the judge featured an extensive amount of legal jargon that was intended to efficiently and effectively convey information, however due to the nature of jargon an in-group was also created. Jargon such as “aggravated damages” and “defamatory stings” can be understood by members of the audience with a knowledge of the law, yet those with little to no understanding are excluded from this in-group due to their lack of legal jargon. In turn this builds rapport between the members of the in-group but creates social distance to those outside of this group as it inherently discriminates against them. Similarly subject specific lexis such as Plaintiff are clear and understandable for individuals with legal knowledge yet can be hard to understand and confusing for those without this knowledge. As a result of these lexical choices a barrier was created between those with knowledge of legal jargon and other fans of Rebel Wilson, hence supporting Kate Burridge’s quote.
Through using doublespeak, hedging and bureaucratese politicians can manipulate and confuse audiences, as well as establish a hierarchy and power dynamics. George Orwell said that “Political Language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind”. The topic of asylum seekers and refugees is prominent in Australian society, in order to navigate this field politicians often use doublespeak to shroud what is actually occurring. Asylum seekers held on Manus Island are referred to by politicians as “detainees” and are held in a “processing centre” rather than a “detention centre”. Rather than use lexemes with a negative connotation such as that of “detention” words with a less negative connotation in order to uphold the opinion of the government in the eyes of Australian citizens. The noun “detainees” doesn’t draw as much attention to the criticism of Australia’s refugee policy as much as nouns such as “refugee” and “asylum seeker” do, by avoiding these lexemes social harmony is supported.
Formal language is a focal point of respectful and polite discourse, due to its ability to maintain and appeal to the face needs of others. Alternatively formal language is also an instrument that can be used to challenge the face needs of others or to obfuscate or manipulate audiences in order to establish a hierarchy.
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