Elementary (Grade 1-2)Elementary (Grade 3-5)Middle (Grade 6-8)Junior High (Grade 9-10)Senior High (Grade 11-12)Spanish (All ages)ESL (All ages)Games Specialist (All ages)

Leading Streak Today

Your Streak Today

Leading Streak Today

Your Streak Today

Test your English skills in this quiz.

Language Variation

This English Language quiz is called 'Language Variation' and it has been written by teachers to help you if you are studying the subject at high school. Playing educational quizzes is a user-friendly way to learn if you are in the 9th or 10th grade - aged 14 to 16.

It costs only $12.50 per month to play this quiz and over 3,500 others that help you with your school work. You can subscribe on the page at Join Us

Language variation describes the many different ways we use the English language. Sometimes it seems as if we are chameleons, changing our tone, register, level of formality and choice of vocabulary according to the situation. Sometimes people even change their accent or dialect in order to avoid being judged negatively by others.

See how well you know the technical terms used to describe language variation by trying this challenging quiz.

1 .

Highly-informal language which can include elements of jargon, neologism and colloquialism.

Standard English

American English

Slang

Sociolect

2 .

Specialist language which is not usually understood by those who are not members of the group using it.

Jargon

Technicalities

Received pronunciation

Idiolect

'Jargon' can be used in a biased sense to imply that the members of a group use certain words in order to exclude those who are not members. 'Specialist vocabulary' is a more neutral term - all groups have a specialist vocabulary in order to discuss ideas and activities which are of importance to the group. Parents belonging to a toddler group have their own specialist vocabulary; human rights activists have a very different specialist vocabulary

3 .

The dialect of English which is agreed by the majority of native speakers as 'correct' is known as...

everyday English

official English

standard English

poetic English

4 .

Whether you are speaking or writing, this will determine the language variety which you employ.

Audience

Context

Subject

All of the above

5 .

A word which would only be used in an informal, familiar context is described as a...

metaphor

colloquialism

ellipsis

contraction

Colloquialisms can be used for effect when a speaker wishes to create a sense of informality or familiarity with an audience

6 .

The particular version of a language used by those who are members of a large group (i.e. inhabitants of the same geographical region or members of the same socio-economic class).

Idiolect

Dialect

Slang

Accent

Dialect includes accent along with variations in grammar and vocabulary

7 .

The particular way a language is pronounced by an individual or a group is known as...

idiom

dialect

slang

accent

8 .

A freshly-coined word or phrase is known as a...

cliché

imported word

neologism

received term

'Neo-' means 'new' and 'log-' means 'word'. New words continuously join the English language

9 .

What is the term used for an individual's unique pattern of speech?

Idiom

Jargon

Dialect

Idiolect

An idiolect is an individual's own manner of speaking, including vocabulary, accent and grammar. 'Idiolect' tends to be mentioned when an individual's speech shows striking differences compared to that of others (Ned Flanders, from The Simpsons, for example, has a noticeable idiolect)

10 .

A language variety chosen to suit the audience is known as...

accent

dialect

persuasion

Author: Sheri Smith