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6.3 Elements of Language Use

Four Elements of Language Use

We offer four critical elements of language use. These include using concrete versus abstract language, constructive or positive versus negative language, active versus passive voice, and ways to reduce language bias (Figure 6.1). We discuss each element in detail, next.

 

A diagram showing the four elements of language use.
Figure 6.1 Four Elements of Language Use

This section is adapted from “Effective Language Use” in Communications for Professionals by Susan Oaks, licensed under CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International, except where otherwise noted.

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Communicating Strategically in the Workplace: A Resource for Engineering and Science Majors Copyright © 2025 by Karishma Chatterjee, Damla Ricks, and Diane Waryas-Hughey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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