Mode Continuum

• Language is a continuum from most spoken-like to most written-like registers
• A conversation between two friends (spoken-like text): short sentences and vocabulary specific to the conversers
• A university essay (written-like text): complex sentence structures and more universal vocabulary
• Teachers enable students to progress from the most spoken-like language to reading and writing more formal texts
• EAL/D students become comfortable with most spoken-like texts after about a year, and often take 5-6 years to become comfortable with the more written-like registers.

http://www.petaa.edu.au/imis_prod/w/Teaching_Resources/PPs/PETAA_Paper_196___The_critical_conversation_.aspx

Reference:
Winch, Gordon, and Marcelle Holliday. 2010. "Oral Language." In Literacy, by Gordon Winch, Rosemary R Johnston, Paul March, Lesley Ljungdahl and Marcelle Holliday, 50-62. Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press.