1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

This pack is to be used in...

1. Introduction to ENGA1 Revision Guide
2. ENGA1 Answering the Mode Question
3. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012
4. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA1 Mode Analysis Assessment Reminders
6. ENGA1 Answering the CLA Question
7. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012
8. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012 Exemplar Response

This pack is to be used in conjunction with the ENGA1 paper set in June 2012, currently available on e-aqa under ‘secure key materials’. It will support exam preparation and practice in a structured and scaffolded way.

Although...

What follows is a small set of samples, exemplars and resources that is intended to suggest ways of providing meaningful feedback advice to students in a time and effort efficient way – as well as helping students to make good use of it.

It’s all too easy to assume that the only way we can help students with coursework drafts, or with mock exams, is to correct everything we can get away with (and in some cases, more than that) and therefore to show them the ‘right’ way. At the same time, we know really that getting the students to work on...

1. ‘Burt’s Chips’ Textual Analysis PowerPoint

• Burts Crisps.pptx

2. Notes to Accompany ‘Burt’s Chips’ PowerPoint

The PowerPoint and ideas contained in these notes have been used successfully to introduce students to the linguistic methods or “frameworks” needed as a part of the AQA English Language course; however, the ideas contained here and in the PowerPoint are easily adaptable and entirely applicable to other A Level language courses as well as the combined English Language and Literature courses.

Slide 1 and General Notes

The...

Overview

• Accent & Dialect starters for A Level English Language lessons
• Key Sociolinguistic Studies into Variation
• Key Linguistic Concepts

Starters for A Level English Language: Accent and Dialect

A simple UK Geography test can be a fun starter for a lesson featuring particular UK varieties. It’s worth laminating a half class set of A3 outlines of the British Isles for this. Students work in pairs and either are given place names on cards to place appropriately (possibly with Blu-tak as well, so work can be held up to show the class) or a...

Gender, Media Representation and Power

This fairly old ‘riddle’ is a brilliant starter for the topic of gender, especially if students are not aware that the lesson will be focused on gender, so that they are not thinking along those lines already.  It’s my favourite way to start a unit of work on gender!

Some students will probably know the answer.  I find they can be fairly easily encouraged to keep it to themselves so as not to spoil the fun.  It works best projected on the board, with students writing down their answers secretly onto mini...

Spoken Language

Note that some of the starters listed in the ‘Language and Power’ guide focus on spoken language, particularly referencing status differences and politeness.

It can be interesting to ask students to draft a set of rules for conversations before studying speech in any depth. These can easily be drawn up in pairs and then tested against recorded conversations or transcripts. In some ways, it’s good for students to see that they can use their existing, ‘commonsense’ knowledge of language and yet, at the same time, it...

How do we address people? is a useful starter at an early stage in considering power and spoken language. Students can be asked to think of as many different terms of address as possible in a minute, or can be encouraged to think of different contexts and relationships and the relevant terms of address for these, perhaps with a three or five minute time limit.

Who has the power? can be a very effective starter to encourage students to use their intuition to determine who is more powerful from their speech. This can be good for encouraging...

Some activities focused on specific frameworks, perhaps especially phonology and grammar, would also be appropriate starters for Child Language lessons, and in the ‘general starters’ section, some of the word game starters could be used to revise or refresh key terms for the topic.

Broad discussion questions can make great starters: simply display one on the board, or hand out a few on cards and let them think and explore. Possibilities for CLA lessons include:

• What do you need to learn in order to use language?
• Some say that language is...

What’s this? is a great starter in the early stages of studying new words.  Simply collect five very recent new words that are currently not widely used.  (Internet articles on new words are a great source of these words that are not yet in everyday usage). These can be displayed on a slide for students to note down (in a fixed time) what they think they mean.  This can easily be extended into the next phase of the lesson by selecting words all formed by a single process, e.g. all blends, to enable you to shift into teaching that process.

...

Many of these suggestions can work as interesting ways to introduce a concept, with the actual name or ‘label’ of the idea brought in afterwards as a follow-up; or they can be effective starters to recap and consolidate terms learnt in a previous session.

All-purpose terminology revision starter: students have a fixed amount of time, e.g. one minute, to note down as many terms as they can recall within a particular linguistic ‘framework’ category. A level of challenge can be added by having students mark their own or each others’...

This collection of suggestions includes ice-breaker or ‘getting to know you’ ideas which are especially suitable for a new class and some broadly ‘English’ lesson starters suitable for either English Language or Literature (or the combined English Language and Literature A Level) lessons, and some specific topic-related ideas. The focus here is on suitable starters for A Level classes, as starters for lower levels and younger ages are more readily available.

Ice Breakers

Human Bingo is an old favourite which can be quite easily given...

Teacher’s Note

Even a poor essay is the result of a substantial amount of time and effort; and the chances are that the student knew all along that their writing was ‘going wrong’ – but press on they must, on to what must at times seem like the bitter end. How frustrating and even belittling this process must be and how much it must reduce the student’s chances of enjoying this wonderful subject.

This guide results from many years of teaching essays in a way that seems to make writing them far more enjoyable and productive. The...

1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

Associated Resources

• ENGA3 Exam...

1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

Both of these texts are produced...

1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

Each of the following paragraphs...

1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

This is the compulsory question...

1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

In this extract, the writer uses...

1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

The following points need more...

1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

‘Language Variation’ questions...

1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

In both of these texts, the term...

1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

The following points need work to...

1. Introduction to ENGA3 Revision Guide
2. ENGA3 Answering the Language Change Question
3. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012
4. ENGA3 Language Change Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA3 Answering the Language Variation Question
6. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012
7. ENGA3 Language Variation Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
8. ENGA3 Answering the Discourses Question
9. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012
10. ENGA3 Discourses Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
11. ENGA3 Exam Practice Feedback

Language Change questions follow...

1. Introduction to ENGA1 Revision Guide
2. ENGA1 Answering the Mode Question
3. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012
4. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA1 Mode Analysis Assessment Reminders
6. ENGA1 Answering the CLA Question
7. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012
8. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012 Exemplar Response

Question 2 (The Data Question)

Rachel applies the superlative ending -est to good, in an overgeneralised way.

Her father corrects her by simply modelling the correct form of ‘best’, while her mother explicitly corrects her,...

1. Introduction to ENGA1 Revision Guide
2. ENGA1 Answering the Mode Question
3. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012
4. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA1 Mode Analysis Assessment Reminders
6. ENGA1 Answering the CLA Question
7. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012
8. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012 Exemplar Response

Data Analysis

Each of these points is worth no marks or one mark. Which is which? Choose five to transform into correct, two-mark answers?

1. Rachel is in the one-word stage because she says “not”.
2. Rachel says “goodest” instead of...

1. Introduction to ENGA1 Revision Guide
2. ENGA1 Answering the Mode Question
3. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012
4. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA1 Mode Analysis Assessment Reminders
6. ENGA1 Answering the CLA Question
7. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012
8. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012 Exemplar Response

Child Language questions follow a fixed format. You will need to:

• provide five sentences which identify features of language acquisition in a small data set
• produce an essay discussing a specific aspect of language acquisition

1. Introduction to ENGA1 Revision Guide
2. ENGA1 Answering the Mode Question
3. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012
4. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA1 Mode Analysis Assessment Reminders
6. ENGA1 Answering the CLA Question
7. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012
8. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012 Exemplar Response

Associated Resources

• ENGA1 Mode Analysis Assessment Reminders.doc

1. Introduction to ENGA1 Revision Guide
2. ENGA1 Answering the Mode Question
3. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012
4. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA1 Mode Analysis Assessment Reminders
6. ENGA1 Answering the CLA Question
7. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012
8. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012 Exemplar Response

These texts are both technically electronic or blended mode texts, as both were originally situated online. Text A is effectively an electronic form of a written text, as can be seen from its use of hyperlinks, but has little else...

1. Introduction to ENGA1 Revision Guide
2. ENGA1 Answering the Mode Question
3. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012
4. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA1 Mode Analysis Assessment Reminders
6. ENGA1 Answering the CLA Question
7. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012
8. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012 Exemplar Response

The following points need work to make them full and accurate analytical points in response to the Mode question on the two texts about gap years.

What is worth keeping in each of these points? Does anything need to be removed or...

1. Introduction to ENGA1 Revision Guide
2. ENGA1 Answering the Mode Question
3. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012
4. ENGA1 Mode Question June 2012 Exemplar Response
5. ENGA1 Mode Analysis Assessment Reminders
6. ENGA1 Answering the CLA Question
7. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012
8. ENGA1 CLA Question June 2012 Exemplar Response

Mode questions usually follow a format where you are asked to ‘identify and describe the main mode characteristics of the texts’ and also asked something which is more specifically about the particular texts set. For example, that...

Click on the link below to download Alan Thomas’s AQA A ENGA3 / ENGA4 Language Change within Language Explorations Guide.

Language Change within Language Explorations Guide.docx

This 110-page editable guide, written by a very experienced A Level English Language teacher, should prove helpful. It’s in Word (.docx) format, if you can only open Word (.doc) format files use the link below to convert it.

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats

We’ve also included a PDF version to help with printing.

1. Introduction
2. AQA Specific Section: Assessment Objectives, etc.
3. A Critical Vocabulary
4. Tips for Improving Exam Grades
5. Guide to Narrative: Narrative Frameworks
6. Guide to Narrative: Narrative Concepts
7. Focalisation and Diegesis
8. Mimesis
9. Narrative Forms and Structures
10. AQA Specific Exam Tips
11. Help with Exam Revision
12. Analysis of Cousin Kate, poem by Christina Rossetti

AO1

Articulate creative, informed and relevant responses to literary texts, using appropriate terminology and concepts, and...

Click on the link below to download the resource.

Assessment of Presentations in Lang A2.doc

Associated Resources

• Language Interventions Student Guide Part 1 English Language AQA A ENGA4
• ENGA4 Language Intervention Guide Part 1.doc
• ENGA4 Language Intervention Guide Part 2.doc

Part Two

Developing Form and Style

Once you’ve settled on your argument and established what you’re going to say, you need to work out how you’re going to say it, where you’re going to say it and what order to put it all in. Most of these areas are interlinked, so the style you write in will have quite a lot to do with the form you are adopting.

• If...

Associated Resources

• Language Interventions Student Guide Part 2 English Language AQA A ENGA4
• ENGA4 Language Intervention Guide Part 1.doc
• ENGA4 Language Intervention Guide Part 2.doc

This is a student guide to the AQA A spec coursework element, the ‘Language Intervention’. This is one part of your A2 coursework and makes up half of the total marks for the ENGA4 unit (i.e. 20% of your total marks at A2 or 10% of you’re A level).

The AQA specification describes the unit as follows:

“The ‘Language Intervention’ coursework task is...

Associated Resources

A Guide to Teaching Othello

Click on the link below to download this resource.

Othello Guide Part 2 EnglishEdu.doc

Othello Guide Part 2 EnglishEdu.docx

Associated Resources

How to improve grades when writing for Othello

This EnglishEdu guide on Shakespeare’s popular A Level play, Othello, aims to supplement rather than replace other readily available Internet and printed material for the teaching of the play.

The guide explores the issues, themes and characters in the play that are particularly relevant to the current (2010) A Level Literature specifications. To add to the usefulness, and with an eye to the central AO requirement of close textual analysis of form, structure and...

Associated Resources

• Transcripts Pack
• Guide to Conversation Analysis.doc

This guide is intended to support teachers preparing students for tasks involving the analysis of transcribed conversation at AS and A2 level, although teachers of the new GCSE unit on Spoken Language may also find some helpful information here, especially in the “Key Issues” section.  Just don’t get carried away with the technical terms or theories at this level!

The advice and information given here is relevant to many specifications, both Language courses and...

Associated Resources

• A Guide to Conversational Analysis

Introduction

This collection of transcripts has been produced with A Level Language and combined Language and Literature teaching in mind, although some of the transcripts may also be suitable for use with the new Spoken Language GCSE unit.

• Never Mind The Buzzcocks.doc
• David Beckham and Jonathan Ross.doc
• Paxman and Cooper on Taxes.doc
• Husband and Wife - Nan and her Fruit Pies.doc
• Student and Teacher.doc
• Jeremy Kyle.doc
• Hugh F-W - Beer Batter.doc
• Loose Women.doc
• QI Daniel Radcliffe.doc...[ read full article ] »
  

Click on the link below to download Alan Thomas’s AQA A ENGA3 Language Change Guide.

ENGA3 Language Change.pdf

This 46-page guide, written by a very experienced A Level English Language teacher, should prove very helpful.

Click on the link below to download the resource.

Revision for ENGA1.doc

Click on the link below to download the resource.

Prompts for Child Language Data Analysis.doc

Click on the link below to download the resource.

Language A2 - Improving Your Investigation.doc

Click on the link below to download the resource.

ENGA1 Mode Task 2.doc

Click on the link below to download the resource.

ENGA1 Mode Task 1.doc

Click on the link below to download the resource.

ENGA1 Child Lang Essays - Last Min Revision.doc

Click on the link below to download the resource.

Eng Lang Variation Research Task.doc

Click on the link below to download the resource.

Eng Lang Simultaneous Speech Worksheet.doc

Click on the link below to download the resource.

Eng Lang Post-AS Discussion Qs.doc

Click on the link below to download the resource.

Eng Lang Investigation Planner and Agreement.doc