By studying English Language A Level, you can discover how language actually works and how people throughout the ages have manipulated and mastered it. You will have the opportunity to study a wide range of texts and learn how to analyse and create text of your own.

As Claire mentioned in the welcome video, she would like you to create a spider diagram that explores the way you speak. You should be in the centre of this diagram. Try to think about what influences the way you talk, such as your background, where you grew up, and where your family and friends are from.

At our 2019 A Level Results Day, we caught up with Emily Herbert, (A* A A). She said: “I’ve thought about being an English teacher since I was six and feel like A-levels have fully prepared me for the rest of my career both academically and in teaching me how to manage myself. To future students I would say ‘If you truly love and are good at what you do, people will seek you out’.”

This A-level supports all other A-levels, giving a strong sense of how to construct and manipulate language for any given purpose - a very beneficial attribute to any student.

As Claire mentions on the video, she would like you to listen to the video (found below) and decide which accent you like most and which one you like least and to also decide why that is. There is also an article to read and a website to explore too all about accents and dialects - so enjoy!

The UK has some of the highest levels of accent diversity in the English-speaking world.

Follow the link to read more about accents in Britain: https://accentbiasbritain.org/accents-in-britain/

Follow the link to read an article about how we might change our accents depending on different situations: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/22/accents-altered-speak

This month, Claire wants you to:

1. Research both Jean Berko and Paul Grice.

2. Listen to conversations closely for implicatures and non-standard sounds.