Speaking and Writing (eMiLy / Ong / Muhammade jyx)

Speaking and writing are similar skills in the sense that both require the production of language. Yet most people say that even in their native languages, it is harder to write than to speak.

Spoken and written languages are obviously different. One of the obvious differences is written and spoken languages have different purposes. Written language is permanent: the reader can go back over it again and again, means review back if the meaning is not immediately clear. This is not possible with speech, which is fleeting and ephemeral, allowing us to communicate more effectively. Writing does not usually involve direct interaction, except for personal letters and perhaps some computer based communication such as e-mail and instant messaging. Second, the other greatest differences between speaking and writing are those between formal written texts and very informal conversation. Because it is permanent, writing provides opportunities for more careful organisation and more complex structures. Whereas, speaking uses simple sentences which do not need time to plan.

Other areas of difference between speaking and writing involve the level of standardization, pronunciation, and types of response. For example, spoken language has dialect variations that represent a region, but written language is more restricted and generally follows a standardized form of grammar, structure, organization, and vocabulary. Besides, speakers use their voices (pitch, rhythm, stress) and their bodies to communicate their message, but writers spell and rely on the words on pages to express meaning and their ideas. Furthermore, speakers have immediate audiences who nod, interrupt, question and comment, but writers have a delayed response from audiences or none at all and have only one opportunity to convey their messages, be interesting, informative, and accurate to hold their readers’ attention.

In my opinion, speaking is easier than writing. There are too many factors to support my opinion, but the followings are the most crucial points. Speaking requires less standardization, but writing requires standard and correct grammar, structure, organization, vocabulary and so on. Speakers use simpler sentences connected by lots of ands and buts, but writers use more complex sentences with connecting words like however, furthermore, although, and in addition. Speakers draw on their listeners’ reactions to know how or whether to continue, and can gauge the attitudes, beliefs, and feelings of their audience by their verbal and non-verbal language. On the other hand, writers are often solitary in processing of their books and must consider what and how much their audience needs to know about a given topic.

In short, there are a numbers of differences between speaking and writing although the two are similar skills. It is also obvious that writing is more difficult in comparison to speaking from the analysis above.