Explore the similarities and differences in the ways that Text A and Text B use language. [25 marks]

 Both Texts A and B share fundamental similarities with both the forum and the article in the fact they’re both about driving with Text A being a group of young people on an informal chat room aimed at students, and Text B formally addressing a speeding incident which is likely to be targeted at readers of the newspaper it is printed in. However, both texts have different purposes with Text B being to inform the audience and to tell them about the speeding incident with formality and Text A being a relaxed chat room for students to share anecdotes with one another. 

An immediate difference between the two extracts is the representation of the technology used for both the content of the texts, cars, but also the form that the text is in, forum and newspaper article/court case. The language that is used in Text A use a plethora of concrete nouns for the car “handbrake”, “footbrake”, “stalled” and this creates the idea that modern cars are more complicated and difficult to manoeuvre. User Kurol uses this to create humour by listing the steps you must do whilst drive in a long list. However, in comparison to the historical text, Text B uses language such as “furiously driving” and “increased his speed to 15 miles an hour”. When considering the context of the time, cars were a relatively new invention so the adverb furiously creates a sense of the reaction to the speed the man was going – despite it only being 15 miles an hour – and suggests fear for the machine. As well as this, the form the texts are in also reflects the difference in technology with Text A being in a forum chat aimed at an audience of younger students, and Text B being in a newspaper, most likely aimed at an older audience. Text A is an online text and is reflected with usernames which allow users to have a shield of anonymity, which likely lets them feel free to share their opinion. However, on Text B, the man who committed the speeding crime’s name and address was published, suggesting the article is in a local paper and further creates the language used against him “furiously”, “defendant” suggests that it may be personal for some residents as they know the defendant. 

Another difference in the text is, as previously mentioned, the format they’re in with one being a forum chat site and the other being a historical article for a court case. Text A, being the modern text, is online and, being a forum, allows students to log in and answer for themselves, and has many features such as hyperlinks and drop-down bars which are all relevant to the audience of students with articles, study packs and more online for the audience to use such as “GCSE”, “Applying to Uni”. This in comparison to the article in The Western Times newspaper, dated to 1902, is futuristic as Text B isn’t as interactive; the audience is considered passive and simply takes in the information given to them unlike in Text A where it is the audience's job to take initiative. The article is given the title of “Motor Car Prosecution at Exeter” which reflects the context of the time as they are simply called ‘cars’ now. As well as this, a prosecution is not usually presented in a newspaper for a wide audience to see and this noun with the semantics of legality suggests the formality of the extract and that it’s for an older audience in a different time. 

As well as this, although both texts are about driving, they both approach the idea in different manners with Text A being casual and informal as it is young people talking to each other causally in a modern-day setting whereas Text B is a formal news article report of a speeding crime and is, therefore, more serious. In Text A, language like “you guys” is used when addressing other people and this plural noun is extremely casual, especially considering it is an anonymous site, but it creates a sense of friendliness and familiarity. As well as this, repeated use of exclamations is used, suggestive of casual conversation that is used during spoken conversation. As well as this, the noun “mishap” is used to describe the car incidents a user has and is a shortened version of ‘mishappenings which further suggests the casual way the users converse that they feel they can use abbreviations and more relaxed language. In comparison, Text B uses more formal language as the context that it is in which is of a local newspaper reporting a crime. Language such as “driving at a moderate speed” in which the adjective “moderate” is vague and indistinctive. A modern report would simply state the speed rather than use adjectives to describe the speed. It creates an idea that the article uses this language to engage its audience more and to keep them interested.

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