An interesting topic occurred to me today as I was on my daily 7-mile run. (Yes, that was totally a gratuitous 'look what I can do' reference.) It occurred to me to consider how I use registers of language differently than other law students. I then developed a hypothesis about why.
You see, I have a tendency to be overly formal in most situations, particularly concerning authority figures. As an example, one of my professors was on the board of directors of the non-profit for which I worked prior to law school. I called her by her first name. Once law school started and she taught a couple of my classes, I found myself incapable of calling her anything but Professor B___. It's rather odd when you think about it. She's not the only one, either. I have some good relationships with professors, and it is difficult for me to be particularly informal.
Why? I think it has to do with my history and background. My family, at least initially, has never been terribly prosperous in the traditional sort of way. My grandfather never graduated high school, although he was a small business owner (he owned an auto body shop--a fact I've always been rather proud of). My mother didn't have a college degree. I think she tried to teach me the classic values that can bring success. For example, respect your superiors, do what you need to for you job to excel, work hard, that sort of thing.
While I saw her put some of these values into action (such as hard work), she didn't have jobs that really put her into the professional world to the extent that I find myself today. Thus, I find that I must navigate having been taught these ideas in the abstract, but without much personal exposure. To some degree, I must learn the details on my own. A perfect example is the question of when you may be familiar with a superior, and in what contexts.
To the language professional, these changes in formality are called registers. A lot of discussion centers around what to do when a person grew up not knowing how to apply the formal registers of language. That is something I understand. My problem is that I'm not experienced enough in the fine tuning: when may you move from a strictly formal register into something less so? My mother taught me respect and formality extremely well.
To be sure, I'd rather err on the side of too much formality. I'll pick up the rest as I go, but I think the ways we are taught to use language are fascinating, and the cultural aspects doubly so.
