This is a good question from Mesmark and an important area of language, get the wrong level of formality and it’s possible to cause great offence. And as Emile says this works both ways – too informal or too formal.
It is very much a question of the
‘appropriate’ use of language and the very reason why only focusing on the grammar of language is insufficient to equip your learners as effective English users.
I tell my students that the level of formality necessary in a given situation depends on a mix of two aspects – person and purpose. Basically, who are you talking to / what is your relationship and why are you talking to them.
It’s pretty common sense really –
- The closer the relationship the more informal the language can be, e.g. parents, siblings, friends, classmates.
- The more distant the relationship the more formal the language, e.g. boss, bank manager, customer.
- The ‘easier’ the reason for communicating, e.g. inform, invite, congratulate, the more informal the language.
- The more ‘difficult’ the reason, e.g. requests, complaints, debates, the more formal the language.
How these two aspects interact dictates formality of language, e.g. congratulating your boss on scoring as goal during a friendly football game – informal. Asking your father for some money – formal. Etc.
Often a student’s cultural background will allow the student to already know what kind of language is appropriate or not. In other cases it is this cultural difference that leads directly to the inappropriateness. It’s the teacher’s responsibility to know these cultural differences and raise awareness of them in the class.