Home
Audience - Purpose and Register
Writing

Writing: Audience, Purpose and Register (Formality) (B2) - Lesson 1: Analyzing Audience and Purpose for Stylistic Choices

Sopheak Pich

B2 Lesson 1: Analyzing Audience and Purpose for Stylistic Choices

Welcome to a new B2 series on effective writing. At this level, it's not enough to be grammatically correct; you must also be situationally appropriate. The best writers make conscious, strategic choices about their language based on two key factors: their audience1 and their purpose2.

Today, we will learn how to analyze any writing task to choose the perfect style, or register3.

The Pre-Writing Analysis Framework

Before you write a single word, you should always stop and ask yourself these questions. The answers will guide all of your stylistic choices.

  1. Who is my audience? (A specific person? A group? Their title? My relationship to them?)
  2. What is my primary purpose? (To inform, persuade, request, complain, apologize?)
  3. What do I want the audience to think, feel, or do after reading? (Approve my request? Forgive me? Understand a problem?)
  4. Therefore, what is the best register? (Formal, neutral, or informal?)

Case Study: Two Emails, One Goal

Imagine this scenario: Your company is hosting a charity run to raise money for a local school in Siem Reap. Your goal is to get people to participate. Look at how you would write to two different audiences.

Analysis: The purpose is similar (get people to join), but the audience is completely different. The first email is informal to a friend—it uses contractions, casual language, and is very direct. The second is formal and polite—it explains the purpose, highlights the benefits for the recipient's company ("team-building"), and uses professional language.

✍️ B2 Pre-Writing Analysis Checklist

  • ✔️ I have clearly identified my audience and my relationship to them.
  • ✔️ I have a single, clear purpose for my writing.
  • ✔️ I have considered the desired action or feeling I want from my reader.
  • ✔️ I have made a conscious choice to use a formal, neutral, or informal register.
🧠 Practice Quiz: Analyze the Scenario

Read the scenario below. What is the most appropriate audience, purpose, and register?

Scenario: The air conditioner in your apartment is broken. It is very hot. You need to write to your landlord, Mr. Lim, to get it fixed.


  1. Audience: A friend. Purpose: To chat. Register: Informal.
  2. Audience: Mr. Lim (Landlord). Purpose: To request a repair. Register: Formal/Neutral.
  3. Audience: The government. Purpose: To complain. Register: Very Formal.

Answer: B. The audience is your landlord (a business relationship), the purpose is a request for action, and the register should be polite and respectful but direct (Formal or Neutral).

📝 Homework: Analyze and Plan

Your homework is to practice analyzing a writing task before you write.

Scenario: You bought a new phone online, but the company sent you the wrong color. You need to write an email to the company's customer service department.

Your Task: In your notebook, answer the four questions from the "Pre-Writing Analysis Framework" for this scenario.

  1. Who is my audience?
  2. What is my primary purpose?
  3. What action do I want from them?
  4. What is the best register to use?

Vocabulary Glossary

  1. Audience: (Noun) - អ្នកអាន/អ្នកស្តាប់ - The person or group of people you are writing for. ↩
  2. Purpose: (Noun) - គោលបំណង - Your reason for writing; what you want to achieve. ↩
  3. Register: (Noun) - កម្រិតភាសា - The level of formality in your language (e.g., formal, informal). ↩
  4. Stylistic Choice: (Noun Phrase) - ការជ្រើសរើសស្ទីល - A conscious decision a writer makes about the words and structures they use to create a certain effect. ↩
  5. To analyze: (Verb) - វិភាគ - To examine something in detail to understand it better. ↩

Post a Comment

Hi, please Do not Spam in Comment