Referring to texts L and M in detail, and to relevant ideas from language study, analyse the way language has changed over time.
Both texts L and M are a type of advertisement, written with the purpose to inform the reader of the product that they are selling (text L is referring to video game Mass Effect 3, and text M about a Brickplayer Kit) as well as to persuade the them to buy it. It is quite clear that both texts are possibly targeted at boys more than girls, however text M is focused on the parents of young boys and L instead on young adults and late teens (who we can tell are over 18 by the graphological age rating logo).
Immediately, we can see that technology has been a huge influence over time. Whilst text M was written in 1955, technology wasn't hugely accessible or as advanced, so we can imagine that the advert was presented in the form of a poster or in a magazine/newspaper. However, technology over time has become the quickest and easiest way to reach people and this is evident as text L has been emailed to its reader despite it sharing the exact same informative and persuasive purpose of text M.
The impact of technology has also affected the lexical choice in text L in comparison to text M. Readers are told to "write" for a leaflet if they wish to know more about the product, whereas in text L the audience can simply "download" what they wish. The change of the verb shows how technology has made everything much more accessible to the audience immediately. As well as this, we can see how lexis has developed over time as the verb to "download" is a relatively new compound and concept, which certainly wasn't around in the time of text L and has been coined with the advance of technology.
Both texts have influential power that is evident in the features used throughout. However it could be argued that text L has a very obvious power balance as it provides the reader with a lot of control over what they read. The text's use of hyperlinks that allow the reader to decide and set their own preferences to what they read or download from the text, for example "select your platform" and "see all that Mass Effect has to offer", allows them to receive the perfect amount of information they would like from the text. This way of laying out the text means everything in the article becomes very clear and quickly accessible.
On the other hand, text M has a much bulkier layout, where its information is blocked together in much bigger paragraphs. Although, the text does use asyndetic listing or descriptive nouns such as "mortar, roofing, plastic windows" that lack noun phrases (disregarding "plastic windows" which is the only noun phrase in the list) as well as syndetic listing "and doors, plans and instruction booklet". The lists make the information quick to obtain in the paragraph.
Text M has quite a formal mode, made evident through lexis like "dismantled, permanent and miniature". The adjective "miniature" in modern day language has become quite archaic, being substituted often with "mini". Aitchson would argue this could have been done to ease articulation. Formal lexis like exampled above could have been used to suit the text's audience (parents rather than the young boys that the product is actually for). Despite its formality enforced through lexis, the graphology of text M gives the impression of a more informal and friendly approach. It uses a hand-written type font for its title, which is very focused around the subject of realism - hence the word "real" being underlined for emphasis. The font may have been used to give the impression that the text is quite personal.
Text L also has quite an informal and friendly approach, but this is made obvious in different strategies to text M. The text uses synthetic personalisation such as "you" and "our" as well as the rhetorical question "think you're ready for the flight?" which really engages the reader and allows them to feel like they are being spoken to individually.
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