Language Basics for Writing Style (Module 2: TECM 5190)
Channel: Kim Sydow Campbell, Ph.D.
Date: 2021-05-21

Dr. Kim helps technical writing students distinguish between prescriptive and descriptive approaches to style, explains how linguists describe variations in language, and explores the consequences of linguistic variation for readers, writers, and the organizations writers represent. This video was created for graduate students in TECM 5190 at the Department of Technical Communication at the University of North Texas.
Chapters
00:00 Distinguishes prescriptive from descriptive style
04:19 Introduces linguistic variation (sources & levels)
08:24 Morphological variation: Word formation (pronouns, past tense/participles)
10:21 Phonological variation: Sounds patterns (rhyme, alliteration)
11:40 Orthographic variation: Writing patterns (spelling, punctuation)
13:10 Syntactic variation: Word combinations (active vs. passive voice, cohesion)
16:49 Semantic variation: Word & sentence meaning (synonyms, homonyms)
20:13 Lexical variation: Morphological or semantic
21:24 Explores consequences of linguistic variation