Studying English Language at A Level could be the stepping stone to a huge choice of career paths: journalism, publishing, teacher/lecturer, editor, librarian, researcher, writer, copywriter, advertising, speech therapist, linguist, lawyer, TV researcher or an etymologist to name but a few!
In the first year of the A Level course you will be building on your knowledge of English Language from GCSE. You will consider how celebrities and sports people are represented through their choice of language via a range of types of media. You will develop your language analysis skills and be expected to describe language in a very precise and accurate way. The types of texts you will be analysing include spoken and written texts. For example, you may have to analyse an extract from an online forum and a transcript of a conversation. You will become familiar with comparing meaning and representations within texts, looking for similarities and differences between data. This area of study aims to allow you to explore language and representation. Through exploration of English in its wider social, geographical and temporal contexts you will identify variations within the language. This part of the subject also requires you to study social attitudes to, and debates about, language diversity and change. You will be required to identify and describe features of language in the texts using accurate technical terminology.
Language variation will also be explored, as you will study the effects of gender, ethnicity, occupation, technology and power upon the English language. You will be introduced to a range of relevant theorists and research from sociolinguistics. You will survey variation in language, gathering your own data and evaluate your findings. The first year of the course is varied and engaging. In the final half term, you will have the opportunity to complete your own piece of original writing and begin to investigate language as you start your NEA projects.
You will continue to practise the skills of language analysis, also become a more confident writer. You will have the opportunity to write your own articles about topics linked to language diversity and change. You may take on the persona of a grammar pedant or someone concerned about the increase of non-standard forms. You will be expected to write an article in exam conditions, creating a lively tone of voice, discussing language issues for a non-specialist reader.
Additionally, you will investigate how children learn to speak, read and write. You will explore what current linguists have discovered about children’s abilities to learn language and how attitudes towards this ability have changed over time. You will examine the stages of and theories of children’s language development.
You will also explore how English is diversifying after investigating how English is used around the world. You will be able to consider attitudes towards the way English is changing globally. You will develop your own attitudes and opinions to enable you to develop arguments and discussions on this topic for the article you will write in the final part of the exam.
You will undertake your own investigations into an aspect of English which really interests you. It could be exploring how politicians speak and how this has changed over time. Or, you could explore how the use of emojis is affected by the age of the user. Alternatively, you may wish to examine recent additions to the dictionary and explore if these are in fact new words after all. This is an opportunity for you to investigate a topic which you are passionate about. Overall, the second year builds on the knowledge gained at the start of year 12 but allows you to explore more deeply into wider issues surrounding English usage.
Paper 1: Language, the individual and society - written exam, 40% of A Level
Section A – Textual variations and representations. Section B – Children’s language development.
Paper 2: Language diversity and change - written exam, 40% of A Level
Section A – Diversity and change. Section B – Language discourses - two texts about a topic linked to the study of diversity and change.
Non-Exam Assessment: an investigation into language and Language in Action - original writing combined to be 20% of A Level.
601/4640/0
Miss L Couch
AQA
Students are expected to have 5 Grade 5 GCSEs including:
Grade 5 English Language
Grade 5 English Literature
Studying English Language at A Level could be the stepping stone to a huge choice of career paths: journalism, publishing, teacher/lecturer, editor, librarian, researcher, writer, copywriter, advertising, speech therapist, linguist, lawyer, TV researcher or an etymologist to name but a few!
You can continue to study English Language at University level on courses such as English Language, Teaching English as an International Language, Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Screen Writing or Media Studies.