Didactics of Translation: Text in Context

Register variation

Baker’s idea of language appropriateness to a particular situation has served as a prelude for the introduction of another key notion in the analysis of text in context, namely register variation. According to Baker (1992: 15), register variation is the outcome of variations in the field, tenor and mode of discourse. Concerning field of discourse, “different linguistic choices are made by different speakers depending on what kind of action they see themselves as participating in” (Ibid: 16). As for tenor of discourse, “the language people use varies depending on such inter- personal relationships, as mother and child, doctor and patient, superior and inferior in status” (Ibid: 16). Finally, with respect to mode of discourse, linguistic choices are dictated by factors such as “the role that the language is playing (speech, essay, lecture…) and its medium of transmission (spoken, written)” (Ibid: 16).
More broadly speaking, following Halliday (1989: 39), register variation can be looked at as a continuum; at one end of the scale one finds the most closed registers and at the other end one finds the most open- ended kinds of register and in between there are more or less open registers.
As an example of the first category, Halliday cites the International Language of the Air which is marked by a fixed language and a limited number of messages. In fact, there are only a few examples which fall within this category. Concerning the second category, i.e. the most open- ended registers, Halliday cites the examples of informal narratives and spontaneous conversation. As for the third category, the more or less open

registers, Halliday mentions recipes, technical instructions, legal documents and transactional registers such as buying and selling.

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