ENGB1 Social Contexts: Language and Power
From birth, aspects of power infiltrate our daily lives to such a degree that, for much of the time, we are likely to fail to recognise either its presence or at least how pervasive it can be. Influence of various kinds forms a kind of ‘backcloth’ to daily life such that we can easily see it, if at all, as ‘obvious’, ‘common sense’, ‘natural’ or ‘for the best’. Paradoxically, we hold dear to the belief that we are ‘free’ individuals with levels of ‘freedom’ that we see as our birthright and as a sacrosanct part of our progressive and advanced democracy.
This part of the first AQA unit (ENGB1), ought, therefore, to be relatively easy for students to get to grips with as it’s something they’re so used to in their daily lives; and in part this is true, not least because all students will have studied rhetoric for their GCSE coursework and exams. But the transparent nature of much influence and power means that few students will be aware of just how much power is being exercised in society, how it is being exercised and how language plays such a pivotal role in its processes.
This means that there are aspects of this unit that will be easy for students to get to grips with; and there will be some aspects that will be new and challenging. The latter often brings...
