• 'The officer smiled: “About time, Robbo.”'

In this, a police officer uses the shortening and hypocoristic use of suffixes in the nickname 'Robbo.' This is able to affectionately address Claude Robinson, at this time a former prisoner and an individual struggling through significant substance abuse issues. By being kind and supportive of him as he seeks help for these issues, the officer is able to encourage solidarity. He builds a sense of encouragement and unity with Robinson by clearly indicating that he is supporting Robinson through his life, especially through using this more friendly nickname, thereby encouraging solidarity between the officer and Robinson.

• '“Here, we will hold you accountable,” says Robinson. “We take our obligations to the court and to the community really seriously. But we’re not going to cease working with you.”'

The use of collective pronoun 'we,' and possessive determiner 'our,' by Robinson both work to encourage solidarity. These place Robinson within the group, depicting that the team at Rainbow Lodge are one unit with aligning goals and desires for the community, and for what their support program aims to achieve. Through the use of these, it creates an inclusive statement across the entire group. This establishment of a clear shared purpose of working with the community of individuals leaving prison, supporting them through a number of services, and providing them with a residence, encourages solidarity among the workers at Rainbow Lodge.

This is a multimodal text, with discussion on Alexandra and her TikTok videos, along with the said TikToks embedded into the article. It focuses on Australian slang, and the responses to Alexandra’s videos. Brianne Tolj wrote this article in May of 2024 featuring one of Alexandra’s videos made in May of 2024, quotes from other of her videos, and commenters from a variety of her videos. These videos are targeted largely towards tourists, with many Australians engaging with the content additionally, and the article is likely targeted to Australians but individuals internationally may also view it. This article respectfully addresses Alexandra, among other expats, with a friendly and objective tenor, largely due to the wide social distance between Tolj and the TikTok creators and commenters.

Significant usage of Australian colloquialisms are featured in this article. This includes colloquialisms such as the interjection ‘G’day,’ verb ‘pissed,’ and noun ‘drongo.’ These language features are quoted by Tolj from Alexandra’s TikToks. Additionally, Australian commenters further use features of Standard Australian English such as the adjective/noun ‘Aussie,’ along with hypocoristic use of suffixes in ‘Shazza.’

These highlight the emphasis on informality within Australian society, and a love for colloquialisms from Australians as a key, unique aspect of Australian culture. The colloquialisms quoted by Tolj display the love by Australians, and non-Australians, for the language usage that makes Australian English distinct and unique. For Australians, this uniqueness in language ensures that Australian society is kept separate from the UK or American societies by creating this national identity among all individuals in the country. This familiar use of colloquial language by Australians supports the respectful nature of Australians to everybody. This same representation of identity is seen by the commenters' use of Australian English.

These language features are likely used by the individual writers, in the case of the commenters, and speaker, Alexandra, as a way of promoting in-group membership among Australians by utilising the common language choices. Further, Alexandra - considering her audience consisted of a considerable amount of non-Australians - the use of colloquialisms which were quoted throughout Tolj’s article were being explained, suggesting that a potential purpose of hers would be clarifying, and additionally building rapport with Australians and non-Australians alike by creating engaging content. Tolj’s role was to write this article explaining Alexandra’s influence on TikTok, and other expats, by quoting the colloquial language and explanations from Alexandra’s videos, along with the responses. In turn, Tolj was giving a clear breakdown of these videos, and her potential purpose could be to establish expertise on this relevant topic in a fun, objective manner.

This is a spoken text from TikTok, posted in May of 2024. This video is made within Australia and features an unidentified man as the only speaker. The audience largely consists of Australians, but non-Australians were likely to see and appreciate the content. The social distance between the speaker and the audience is wide, where the speaker does not know who is in the audience. Due to the humorous nature of the video along with the wide social distance, the tenor is amusing and well mannered. 

In this video, the man is displaying the typical features of the way Australians speak, including Australian English being non-rhotic, and often seen assimilation and vowel reduction. In the TikTok, he is displaying the typical, more American pronunciation of phrases or words, then the Australian equivalent. The verb phrase ‘I want to’ undergoes a process of assimilation and vowel reduction to become ‘I wanna’ in the Australian accent. Additionally, the non-rhoticity of spoken Australian English is displayed; the noun/verb ‘order,’ is said to be pronounced as ‘ordah’ (as transcribed on the whiteboard). 

These language features display the typical elements of spoken Australian English, presenting it in a humorous manner. By doing this, the business is able to build rapport with the Australian audience and show to non-Australians a funny depiction of the country and its people. For Australians, this fairly accurate representation of the Australian accent and common features of how Australians speak, is entertaining, but also displays a fair portrayal of a vital aspect of Australian culture and identity. The unique Australian accent is special to many people in the country, and allows them to be part of a speech community of fellow individuals who share characteristics. This, in turn, may appeal to the value of egalitarianism as all Australians are equal in how they speak, and are ordinary within the country.

This is a spoken text showing McGuire walking around in Australia in the morning. He is the primary speaker, however it does show several other unknown speakers talking with him, however they are unknown. This TikTok video was posted in July of 2024. The tenor between McGuire and the individuals he is interacting with on his walk is very friendly and respectful, but has a very wide social distance as he is unlikely to know these people on a personal level. The interactions between the individuals perform a phatic function.  

McGuire uses several typically Australian colloquialisms when greeting people, such as interjection ‘g’day,’ interrogative ‘how’s it going,’ and noun ‘mate.’ These are used in conjunction with more typically greetings from McGuire and the other people, such as interjection ‘hello.’

The colloquialisms used to greet the people McGuire passes depict the very friendly and welcoming nature of Australians, especially in more regional places. The emphasis on friendliness and kindness in Australia is reflected, and is a key part of Australian identity. This further depicts the laidback nature of Australians, and the value of egalitarianism as all individuals are treated equally, reflecting the Australian identity.

McGuire’s purpose is likely to maintain social harmony by using this friendly language to greet individuals passing by. The usage of these language features performs the phatic function by establishing social connection, but doesn’t necessarily build rapport as the social distance is not decreasing from the greetings McGuire or the others use. 

• Mode: written

• Text Type: a written newsletter on NAIDOC week in Target

• Setting: An article written prior to outline week on Target’s website, and likely part of a newsletter

• Field: NAIDOC week 

• Function: Referential function

• CC: importance for maintaining Aboriginal cultures within Australia.

• ‘NAIDOC’ an acronym referring to the National Aborigines and Islanders day Observance Committee

• ‘Samuawgadhalgal,’ ‘Cassowary Clan,’ and ‘Gubbi Gubbi’ proper nouns reflecting the identity of individuals from their tribes

• ‘Blak’ an adjective

• These features used display code switching, between standard Australian English and Aboriginal languages, such as that of the tribes compared to the rest of the text explaining Target’s initiative for NAIDOC week.

• These further display politeness by addressing individuals clearly by who their tribe is, which is integral to their identity as Indigenous individuals 

• They are likely used to address individuals politely, ensuring they feel respected and that their identity is being celebrated

• It places expectations upon everybody to understand the tribes, and acronyms that refer to Aboriginal cultures, therefore placing importance on diversity and multiculturalism within Australia.

• Mode: spoken

• Text Type: news segment from NITV

• Setting: Western Australia

• Field: Environment and sustainability, along with traditional Aboriginal practices. 

• Function: Referential

• Noun ‘Country,’ with no determiner before it to refer to it, shown in the sentence 

• ‘we do maintenance run’ which elides either a determiner, or plural ‘maintenance runs’

• ‘salties,’ referring to ‘salt water crocodile’

• Country: Refers to the land that is not owned or possessed by anyone particular. It is a shared place of Australia. 

• Salties: connection to the flora and fauna in Aboriginal culture

• These language choices are used to inform the audience on the jobs the female rangers are doing in Kununurra, and further expresses their cultural identity.

•  Attitudes towards language aren’t expressed, but rather the language used is indicative of the way Aboriginal people typically speak.

• Mode: written

• Text Type: A news article 

• Setting: ABC news website, June 2024, referring to Aunty Fay’s state funeral

• Function: referential

• Writer: writers from ABC News 

• Audience: ABC News readers

• CC: Respect for elders and traditional ceremonies

• ‘A Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung elder’ declarative sentence

• ‘smoking ceremony’ noun phrase

• ‘mob’ noun

• ‘who's your mother, who's your father’ interrogatives

• ‘Traditional Owners of the lands’ declarative

• Reflects the importance of traditions in Indigenous cultures, and celebrating the lives of people in Aboriginal communities.

• ‘Traditional Owners of the lands’ displays a use of Standard Australian English, which aims to portray significant respect for Aboriginal communities throughout the country. 

• Largely these are used to respect Aunty Fay, and the people surrounding her, particularly her friends and family, being polite

• Additionally, it will perform an informative function by teaching the audience on her funeral, and further on her culture. 

• It intends to celebrate the lives of Indigenous peoples, and use the correct language for the traditions of Aboriginal people in order to respect their culture. Therefore, there is importance on using the correct terminology to refer to the practices of Aboriginal people.

• Greek-Australian English 

• Use of discourse particles ‘eh,’ ‘ah’

• Removal of determiner ‘a’ (eg. [..] was old man)

• Elongation of vowels (eg. ‘a’ in Australia)

  
  

• These convey their history and personal culture, as demonstrated by significant influence from their first language. This includes their socioeconomic status, and family life.

• Additionally, they are able to convey a strong connection to family, as demonstrated by the conversations the characters were having, including using the noun ‘cot.’

• For speakers of this ethnolect, they are likely used due as English is not their first language, causing them to use language features that better suit their first language of Greek. In this case, it is used because that is what is easiest, and may fit them within the community of fellow speakers.

• In this video, it is comedically playing upon the stereotypes of Greek-Australians to build rapport among those who have families that speak this ethnolect.