Hello, this is Satu again. In this video, I'm going to talk about editing and proofreading your text for register and tone. Register means the level of language use, formal or informal for example. Choosing the right register means choosing the right words and phrases, the right grammar, the right way of spelling and the right punctuation for the writing situation you're in. You don't write an e-mail to your friend in the same way you write an e-mail to your professor, and e-mailing is very different from how your write a job application or an academic essay. It's very similar to how you change the way you speak when you talk to your grandmother as opposed to when you talk to your friends. There are things you just wouldn't say and words you wouldn't use in front of your grandmother. And if you use the grandmother talk in front of your friends, they'll probably think you're mad. Another good analogy is how we dress. I'm dressed for my part as a course instructor. But if I were to stand here in pajamas, you'd have a hard time taking anything that I say very seriously. Tone means your attitude to the topic or the audience that's noticeable in the text. If you're passionate about your topic, then your tone of writing may be subjective and you may sound excited. And if you're not very knowledgeable about your topic, then the tone of writing maybe hesitant and the target audience may find it hard to be persuaded by what you say. When you edit and proofread your essay for register and tone, you need to consider your text in relation to a few basic questions. Firstly, why are you writing this text, what is your purpose? Secondly, who are you writing the text to? Who is your target reader? And finally, what kind of text are you writing? What is the genre? The answers to these questions help you pick the right register and tone for the writing situation that you're in, so you'll be able to identify and correct all words, phrases, grammar choices, spelling, and so on that are not part of that particular writing situation and try to fix them. So, what kind of writing situation are you in when you write an academic essay? Well, you should always aim at formal register, and a tone of writing that's clear, confident and carries an undertone of respect. You want your target reader to get the feeling that you know your topic well, and that you can argue for your own particular point of view on the basis of facts without any attempt to ridicule or look down on those who may not agree with you. The tone of writing should also be objective, which means that you should avoid using biased language and generalizations. And you shouldn't bring in your own personal preconceptions or opinions about the topic. Whilst I was talking, you may have wondered what types of concrete things you should watch out for when you edit and proofread your essay for register and tone. Unfortunately, there's no simple formula that you can follow in the same way as you probably wouldn't be able to list all the things that you wouldn't say in front of your grandmother and then just follow that list. In many cases, you just know what is all right and what is not. The things that I'll talk about in the rest of this video can hopefully serve as a kind of checklist that you can follow when you edit and proofread your essay and try to improve its quality. The first thing you need to watch out for is the use of non-standard words and expressions. This means using spoken language forms like granny instead of grandmother and SatNav instead of satellite navigator. This also means avoiding all dialectal or sociolectal forms, which means words and expressions that are only used in some parts of the country or by some specific social group. You obviously can't use any slang or swear words in your essay, as these are not part of formal academic register. Although most of what I've just said may seem pretty obvious to you, it is a widely known fact that many non-native speakers and writers have problems identifying what register set and words and expressions belong to. Because they are non-native speakers and writers, they can't rely on their intuitions, in the same way as most native speakers can. If you are at all hesitant whether something is formal enough to be used in an academic essay, you'll need to consult a good dictionary, as dictionaries often have comments about register too. So let's move on. In addition to non-standard words and expressions, you also need to watch out for non-standard grammar. Some grammatical constructions are typical of informal spoken language. While others are typical of some particular dialect or sociolect, that is some particular geographical region or social group. The sentence, "the king got real mad", sounds very different from the sentence, "the king became very angry". So which of these sentences is more suitable in an academic essay? Well it's the second one. The first sentence contains the verb "get", which tends to very informal and the use of an adjective form "real" instead of an adverb "really", or better yet "very". Finally, "mad" tends to be more spoken language-like than the word "angry". Other grammar questions that you may need to watch out for include the use of auxiliary verbs, agreement between the subject and the verb, and the correct tense and aspect for verbs. In other words, you shouldn't use forms such as "I goes" or "she go" and you should know when you should use the present tense and the past tense and when it's necessary to use the -ing form of the verb. These are all topics that any good grammar book can help you with, so it's a good idea to have one available when you edit and proofread your text, so you can quickly look up any suspicious cases. This leads us on neatly to the avoidance of non-standard spellings, in other words, spellings that are not found in a dictionary but are still commonly used in, for example, Internet language. Think of, for example, personal blogs and text messaging. You should also watch out for any examples of non-standard punctuation and especially the use of exclamation marks. In fact, the exclamation mark is among the least useful marks of punctuation in academic writing, and you should never use more than one at any given time. Non-standard abbreviations and acronyms such as "Satnav", "Mod con", "ASAP", "LOL" and so on, also don't belong to formal academic register. Basically, all the gimmicks that work well in, for example, personal blogs and text messaging aren't acceptable in an academic essay. The same goes for all smileys and other emoticons. None of these belong to formal academic style. One tricky issue is the use of contracted forms such as "isn't" and "can't" instead of "is not" and "cannot". In many cases, the use of contracted forms is regulated by the essay guidelines or style sheet that you have received from your teacher. Some teachers allow them, others don't. If the essay guidelines or style sheet have nothing on this, then the safest bet is to use the full form, that is to write "is not" and "cannot". And if you use the contracted forms, then you of course need to make sure that you use them correctly and don't write "your" when you should be writing "you're". After a good round of editing, your essay text should be consistent all the way through in terms of register and tone so that there are no bits and pieces that somehow stand out or feel like they're in the wrong document. It's like in a job interview. You may have all the right qualifications, but if you show up for the interview wearing pajamas or you call the interviewer "dude" or use swear words to emphasize your points, you give the wrong impression and you may not be hired. [MUSIC]