After observing shifts in my own verbal discourse over the past few days I have come to the conclusion that my verbal level of discourse can be put on a scale from one to five. One stand at the most informal setting and five is the highest level of spoken formality. I find that at the most informal level is my discourse and speech that I share with my boyfriend. It is open to anything and a little silly at times, which is why I scored it as the most informal. I believe that the fact that we live together also creates this heightened level of informality. My mother on the other hand, whom I am very close to, but no longer live with, can be scaled at a two. It was difficult to determine the placement of my mother, because I feel that generally my mother and my boyfriend should be on the same level: somewhere in between 1 and 2. I have noticed though that my voice actually deepens from my oral discourse with my boyfriend to my mother, and even more so as formality increases in the scale. I think this is because my speech is becoming more direct and concrete, and my points are being made more clearly as the formality increases.
On level three I find my friends. These are my friends outside of college; the ones I have known for years or simply never discuss scholastics with. Even on this level though, I find a discourse difference between each friend, which may also comment of the education level of the individual I am speaking with. My closest and longest friend of 13 years, Vanessa, seems almost to be at a 3.3 level. While Vanessa and I are close we find little to talk about outside of daily life due to the fact that after High School I went straight to college, and she chose to work and eventually start her own family. Another friend of mine named Kyle seems to be at a 3.6 (I have only known him for roughly 5 years). He also has not attended college, but is an avid reader and is constantly interested in learning. Due to this I relate to him on a closer level intellectually than with Vanessa. My last close friend is Derek, whom I have only known for about 2 years. I would probably rate my discourse with him at a 3.9. His own discourse is what elevates my own, I believe. Derek is a very proficient speaker, and his speech is extremely honest and blunt. This is something that I consider a quality, for I am blunt myself. It is interesting to note that Derek has also attended some college in his life, which is more than either of my other close friends. Do I intend my oral discourse to be determined by a level of education? Of course not, for both my boyfriend and mother have higher levels of education than any of my friends. Apparently though, when it comes to my friends (who I do not live with), there is an obvious subconscious level of change where I determine my level of informality and formality based on education.
Level four I reserve for my fellow peers in school and if I was currently working, probably my co-workers. With these people I find myself needing to meet there level of discourse, and for that reason I level them fairly high for I feel I need to be more formal in order to do so. At the highest level of formality (5) in my oral discourse I categorize my speech with professors, bosses, and individuals at a school in which I am observing at. As I stated before my voice deepens and becomes clearer with the elevation of formality and at level five I am very clear and concise. I find it interesting to note that my discourse lies on the most basic level of hierarchy: family, friends, peers, and professionals; but that also (with the exception of family) I subconsciously classify my discourse based on the assumed level of education with the person I am speaking with.
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