A Level English Language for AQA Sample by CUPUKschools

Blended digital and print resources specifically created for the new AQA A/AS Level English Language specification, available from early 2015. Main intro back cover copy text here Rumquo esequos doloreictus et mo volores am, conse la suntum et voloribus. Brighter thinking for the new curriculum: voloreriate prae es vendipitiaauthor diatia • Cerrore Written by anpaexperienced team of teachers, partners necusam ditia aut perrovitam aut eum et im ius and advisers. dolut exceris et pro maximintum num quatur aut landese quatem.content Sedit et am, eum quiassusand ius motivate learners. • et Rich digital to engage con none eris ne nobis expliquis dolori ne cus,

• Differentiated resources to support all abilities.

• Progression and development at the heart of all our resources.

Brighter Thinking

ENGLISH LANGUAGE A/AS Level for AQA Sample

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Written from draft specification

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You can access the Student Book sample chapters featured here online. To view a sample demonstration of the Elevate-enhanced Edition, contact your local sales consultant.

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Foreword From September 2015, there will be some major operational changes to post‑16 qualifications. AS and A Levels will be decoupled, and a full A Level will be assessed over a two-year linear course. The content of specifications will reflect more current thinking in higher education, providing a supportive yet challenging platform for Key Stage 4 to 5 transitions, enabling students to move beyond their studies either to undergraduate courses, employment or alternative training. Within this context, Cambridge University Press is developing brand-new resources to support teachers and their students at every stage of the AS and A Level journey. From planning programmes of study and schemes of work, to delivering exciting lessons and assessing and supporting students’ progress to encourage criticality, wider reading and independence of thought. The A/AS Level Student Books from Cambridge University Press are designed to support students, providing differentiation through scaffolding for those who need more support, and real degrees of challenge for the more able. Each book is designed around an innovative three-part structure. • A ‘Beginning’ section that sets out the basic parameters for the subject, eases the transition from GCSE, and provides a substantial reference point for students as they work through the course. • A ‘Developing’ section that offers the most up-to-date content around key topic areas, activities that support analytical and writing skills and references to research and further reading where necessary. • An ‘Enriching’ section that provides learning beyond the specification, including extensive wider reading lists, up-to-date and relevant research from higher education and professional practice, independent research projects and specially commissioned written pieces and video interviews with leading academics, writers, actors and poets. All of the resources from Cambridge University Press have been written by established and trusted names in English education, drawn from secondary, further and higher sectors. They have many years of experience in teaching, writing, researching and assessment, and are committed to providing the best possible resources for teachers and their students to use. Marcello Giovanelli, Series Editor

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Authors Series Editor and Author: Marcello Giovanelli Marcello is a Lecturer in English in Education at the University of Nottingham. He previously worked in secondary schools as a Head of English, an Assistant Headteacher, a Deputy Headteacher, and a Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics in higher education (at the University of Nottingham, and Middlesex University). He is a consultant teacher for NATE and sits on their post-16/higher education committee. Marcello is the co-author of two A Level English Language textbooks, and has written a number of articles for professional journals as well as having significant research publications in stylistics and applied linguistics.

Gary Ives Gary is a Vice Principal at a secondary school in Yorkshire, where his responsibilities include overseeing learning and teaching across the school. As well as teaching A Level English Language, he is a Specialist Leader of Education writing and delivering professional development courses, and offering support to schools. He is also an accredited facilitator for the National College for their middle and senior leader professional development courses.

John Keen John is currently Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Manchester and Subject Leader for the Secondary PGCE English course. He is also Project Director for the Process Writing Project for schools and colleges. He has taught English in schools and colleges in the Northeast, London and the Northwest. He has written several books and articles on language study in education and on the teaching of writing.

Raj Rana Raj is an experienced teacher of English Language. She has written support and training materials and presented to a range of student and teacher audiences, as well as supporting schools and colleges new to A Level teaching. She has lectured for commercial companies at Sheffield Hallam University on aspects of A Level language teaching.

Rachel Rudman Rachel taught English in a number of secondary schools in North and West Yorkshire before moving into higher education in 2013. Whilst teaching in school she held a number of responsibilities, including Leader of Key Stage Five English and Head of Department. She now works as a PGCE course tutor for English at Leeds Trinity University which involves close work with trainee teachers and local schools. For fourteen years, Rachel has also examined and delivered training to centres, new teachers and examiners in achieving success at A Level.

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Our offering for AQA Cambridge University Press is delighted to have entered an approval process with AQA to publish resources for their new 2015 A Level English Language specification. We are driven by a simple goal: to create resources that teachers and students need to ignite a curiosity and love for learning. As England enters a new educational chapter, we are publishing a comprehensive suite of blended print and digital English resources specifically written for the new AQA English specifications, available from early 2015. Written by an experienced author team of teachers, partners and advisers, our A/AS Level English Language resources will help bridge the gap from GCSE to A Level and prepare students for possible study beyond A Level. Supporting students at every stage of the new linear course, our differentiated resources are suitable for all abilities. Their unique threepart structure provides essential knowledge and allows students to develop their skills through a deeper study of key topics, whilst encouraging independent learning. With rich digital content to engage and motivate learners, our simple and affordable resources build on subject knowledge and understanding, and prepare students for achievement in the new A Level specification. Student Book A print Student Book bundled with our Elevateenhanced Edition, this skills based student resource covers the full two-year course embedding AS Level.

Elevate-enhanced Edition An enhanced digital learning resource for students and teachers with customisable content, including engaging videos and opportunities to track and report on students’ progression. Teacher’s Resource Everything necessary for teachers to plan and deliver the specification.

Our inclusive print Student Book and Elevate-enhanced Edition bundle offers a sophisticated and cost‑effective solution, including everything necessary for the effective teaching and learning of the new A Level specification in one package.

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Our AQA resources Student Book

Elevate-enhanced Edition

Bundled with our Elevate-enhanced Edition, this Student Book has been created specifically for the AQA AS/A Level English Language specification. Our Student Book is suitable for all abilities, providing stretch opportunities for the more able and additional support for those who need it.

Created specifically for the new AQA A/AS Level English Language specification, and available as a standalone product or as part of our print Student Book and digital bundle, our Elevate‑enhanced Edition provides you with a flexible solution to deliver the new 2015 qualifications. This enhanced digital resource provides students with a range of tools, allowing them to take ownership of their learning.

The easy-to-navigate book clearly explains the differences between AS and A Level content and encourages deeper learning through a balance of teaching content and activities. Our A/AS Level English Language Student Book includes: • a unique three-part structure: a ‘Beginning’ section helps bridge the gap between GCSE and A Level, providing a firm foundation of knowledge a ‘Developing’ section engages students, develops knowledge and understanding of the core specification content, and is packed with activities an ‘Enriching’ section develops knowledge and interests further, and includes interviews with leading experts and professionals in the field

Our Elevate-enhanced Editions: • include rich digital content including topic summary videos providing engaging bite-sized refreshers and overviews • allow students and teachers to annotate text, add audio notes and hyperlinks • enable teachers to create specific student groups to share notes and resources with – ideal for differentiation • allow for tracking and reporting and include a My Work folder that can be used to submit work to teachers • are available online through browsers, or offline through iOS or Android apps, so students can access the book content anytime, anywhere.

• additional support for the linguistic content of the specification, ideal for non-specialist teachers • a range of activities to engage the learner • concise definitions of key terms with contextualised examples.

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Teacher’s Resource Specifically developed for the AQA AS/A Level English Language specification, our FREE Teacher’s Resource will help with the planning and delivery of the course. Packed with practical guidance and support, our Teacher’s Resource includes: • a full Scheme of Work, mapping the Student Book content to the qualifications and highlighting opportunities to co-teach • links to additional online resources supplementing the content of the Student Book and providing teachers with a rich bank of content • clear and practical support for using activities from the Student Book and Elevate-enhanced Edition in the classroom, including differentiation opportunities • support for embedding and using Assessment for Learning within your teaching, written by Sue Brindley, a leading practitioner from the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education • includes practical delivery advice to help prepare for the new specification requirements.

You can access the Student Book sample chapters featured here online, and to view a sample demonstration of the Elevate-enhanced Edition, contact your local sales consultant through

www.cambridge.org/ukschools

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Using the Student Book Ideas on… Feedback on specific activities, providing students with support to reﬂect on their responses.

A/AS Level English Language

Activities Activities engage learners to develop understanding and provide opportunities for students to test their skills.

Cross reference Connection points as defined in the specification; to link concepts, skills and texts, and used to develop the recursive approach of the book. These provide links between content being studied, overviews of skills and approaches covered in Section 1, and related links between content in other units.

Text 3D, which is taken from a message board ACTIVITY 3 discussion of the In the Night Garden live show. It clearly has a elements of both speech and writing and Evaluating style model couldText be placed at inside the centre the continuum Read 17C, the of a of leaflet entitled (see Figure 3E)totolose show that it Try is ato blended-mode text. ‘Wanting weight’. answer the following questions: Fig 3E is the purpose of the text and how can you a What tell? Speech Writing b Who do you think the audience of this leaflet is and why? 3B 3D Text 3C cTextWhat graphological Text features can you identify and how might these influence the reader? d What purpose do facts and figures serve in this leaflet? e How might you argue model that a relationship is created 3.1.3 The prototype with the reader? A final way of thinking about mode and distinguishing between types and degrees of speech and writing borrows Text 17Cideas from psychology, and in particular the idea that humans generally categorise and classify based on a prototype model. This suggests that for any given category (e.g. the mode of speech) we can identify examples that are prototypes (typical or ‘good’ members) and examples that are ‘less good’ or ‘typical’ members. A conventional way of showing this distinction is by placing the prototype at the centre of a radial structure with other examples moving outwards from it; the greater the distance from the centre, the less the text fits the prototype. So, looking at Texts 3B, 3C and 3D again, we could say that 3B is a strong example of speech (a prototype), whilst 3D has conventional elements of speech and could be placed on an outer ring; however Text 3C has very little if anything that we would associate with speech and therefore sits on the very outer ring (see Fig 3F).

fFigCan 3F you identify any imperatives within the text? Why have they been used? Text g How has alliteration been used to create a 3D memorable slogan? a less typical 3B have adjectives been used throughout example h Text How this a typical text? What is the purpose of these? Speech example i What comment might you make about sentence structure? Can you find any examples of the passive voice and what effect might this have on the reader? Text 3C j How successful do you feel this text not is inanfulfilling example at allone? the purpose you identified in question

Key terms Check your answers in the Ideas section for this unit. Prototype model: a model of looking at differences within a category or mode by thinking about typical and less typical examples. ACTIVITY 2 Exploring mode Explore the ideas that have been discussed about mode in this unit by collecting some texts of your own and exploring their features. You could look at obvious examples of blended-mode texts such as Facebook posts, tweets and text messages, and think about why the text producers have decided to use the features that they have. Think about:

how spoken mode features in writing help to convey meaning • how the language choices text producers make depend on the conventions of the medium they are writing in • how the language choices text producers make depend on their own purposes for communicating. •

Text 3D

36 26

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L st te te o p to b a th d th b

A te in th a ‘b re th p w o p k

In F in W w a

Key Terms Concise definitions of key terms and, where possible, accompanied with contextualised examples.

3 Developing: Beginning: Mode andwriting genre 17 Original

3.2 Genre Like mode, genre is an important concept in the study of language since it enables us to group texts based on shared characteristics and expected textual conventions. For example, within the genre of advertising, we would expect to find details of a product that a company or individual would like us to buy, persuasive language used to tempt us into buying into the lifestyle associated with the product and see the benefits of making a purchase, and in the case of written advertisements, the use of images designed to make us think in a positive manner about the product on offer, and encourage us to want to buy it.

Key terms

Check your learning

Genre: a way of grouping texts based on expected shared conventions

Regular self-assessment opportunities throughout and at the end of each unit. • Self-assessment will support Assessment for Learning principles, helping students understand their areas of strength and areas for improvement. • Answers or short summaries of things to consider provided for each question.

Intertextuality: a process by which texts borrow from or refer to conventions of other texts for a specific purpose and effect.

Text 3G

See 2.2 Audience for more information Advertising offers a good way of exploring how text producers can exploit generic conventions in innovative ways to make their texts and the products that they are advertising memorable. Text 3G, an advertisement for a Virgin Media cable TV package, ‘borrows’ conventions from another type of text (a receipt) to emphasis the exceptional value offered by the company: the text looks like a receipt in itemising purchase units and their costs, and even contains the words ‘Please keep receipt for your records’. This kind of intertextuality is an example of the way that text producers can use what readers know about different kinds of genres in creative and novel ways.

Enriching Short ‘for interest’ features to give a new dimension to the content i.e. application to the workplace, bringing the subject to life and providing a link to the Enriching section at the end of the book. Summary

Critical thinking

•

Questions related to research points/ study areas to provoke thinking.

ACTIVITY 3 Intertextuality Find other examples of texts that have very obvious intertextual links within the genre of advertising. Which aspects of other genres do they ‘borrow’ and why? How do they exploit what readers will know and understand?

See further examples of intertextuality in advertising on Elevate

Summary • •

Debate

•

A focus on an issue for controversy/ debate/discursive essay writing (with reference to critical sources provided) to encourage deeper learning.

We can make a basic distinction between the modes of speech and writing, but there are many examples of blended-mode texts that use elements of both speech and writing to create meaning. • It is useful to think of degrees of difference between and within modes rather than holding a strictly oppositional view. • A genre is a way of categorising texts based on expected shared conventions.

Research 27

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Additional features not included in sample

Research point that has been carried out in the area of study.

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Using the Elevate-enhanced Edition Students can personalise their resources through text or audio annotations, adding links to useful resources, inserting bookmarks and highlighting key passages.

The userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s data synchronises when online, so their annotations and results are available on any device they use to access the Elevateenhanced Edition.

Additional functionality includes image galleries, zoomable images, animations, videos and interactive questions.

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Features available online only Supports deep links, so teachers can link from the Elevate-enhanced Edition to their VLE, and vice versa, helping integrate this ďŹ&#x201A;exible resource into your teaching with minimal disruption.

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Teachers can send their annotations to students, directing them to further sources of information, adding activities or additional content.

Media galleries and fully searchable content help users find the information they need.

22/08/2014 14:19

BEGINNING

3 Mode and genre

In this unit, you will: • learn about how we can distinguish between the modes of speech and writing • explore how we classify text types using the notion of genre.

3.1 Mode We can make very obvious distinctions between texts based on whether they were originally examples of speech or writing. In doing so, we are drawing attention to different channels or modes of communication.

3.1.1 The oppositional view There are several ways of thinking about the differences between speech and writing. The most straightforward way is to consider them in opposition, by defining them broadly as having completely different characteristics, as seen in Table 3A. This is known as the oppositional view. This view is attractive in some ways because it offers a neat way of categorising language and in many cases texts will fit the characteristics of each mode in a relatively straightforward way.

Table 3A Writing is:

Speech is:

objective

interpersonal

a monologue

a dialogue

durable

ephemeral

planned

spontaneous

highly structured

loosely structured

grammatically complex

grammatically simple

concerned with the past and future

concerned with the present

formal

informal

decontextualised

contextualised

Adapted from Naomi Baron (2001) Alphabet to Email: How Written English Evolved and Where It’s Heading, Routledge.

Key terms Mode: the physical channel of communication: either speech or writing Oppositional view: a way of defining the difference between modes by arguing that they have completely different features.

3 Beginning: Mode and genre Text 3B

ACTIVITY 1

Transcription key (.) micro pause (1) longer pause of one second Underlined words indicate an emphasis Contextual information is in squared brackets alice: hello didn’t see you in there uh (.) you OK gill: that was so great (.) you had such a good time didn’t you Michael (1) did you like that Luke [Luke nods] alice: which one did you go to gill: the ninky nonk (.) you alice: yeah (.) too (.) it’s so good here (.) the way they’ve done the tent and all (.) really good gill: really impressive alice: and you know the price is good for us all gill: mmm (.) definitely (.) amazing (.) Text 3C

Exploring the oppositional view Look at Text 3B, where two speakers Alice and Gill are discussing taking their children to a live performance of the children’s TV show In the Night Garden, and Text 3C, which is a written review of the same show. How easily does each of these texts fit into an oppositional view of speech and writing?

However, many texts do not fit into the neat distinction proposed by this oppositional view. For example, a birthday card sent by one friend to another is clearly interpersonal, a political speech by the prime minister is not a dialogue, graffiti found on a school corridor is clearly not durable since it is likely to be washed off, and a telephone conversation between two friends about a holiday is more than likely to be just as concerned with the past (talking about the holiday) as the present.

In the Night Garden Live It is sometimes helpful to call on a toddler for reviewing advice, especially when faced with the task of identifying the likes of Igglepiggle, Pinky Ponk, Makka Pakka and the rest, from In the Night Garden Live. Taking place in a purpose-built dome, the show is an enchanting experience for preschoolers, in which the characters of the CBeebies programme are given the live theatre treatment. The arrival of the stars of the show is greeted with recognition and delight – kids are enthralled at seeing their favourites in front of them, and the mood, costumes and sounds replicated from the television show seem to be authentic enough as to convince them the characters are real.

Key terms Blended-mode: a text which contains conventional elements of both speech and writing.

An alternative way that avoids some of the problems inherent in the oppositional model is to consider speech and writing as ends of a continuum. This is a more attractive way of thinking about how many texts contain elements that might be traditionally associated with both speech and writing; what we can term blended-mode texts. As an example, look at

The Stage, 2 August 2010

kids are enthralled at seeing their favourites in front of them. The Stage

A/AS Level English Language Text 3D, which is taken from a message board discussion of the In the Night Garden live show. It clearly has elements of both speech and writing and could be placed at the centre of the continuum (see Figure 3E) to show that it is a blended-mode text.

Fig 3F Text 3D a less typical example

Text 3B a typical example

Fig 3E Speech

Speech

Writing Text 3C

Text 3B

Text 3D

not an example at all

Text 3C

Key terms

3.1.3 The prototype model A final way of thinking about mode and distinguishing between types and degrees of speech and writing borrows ideas from psychology, and in particular the idea that humans generally categorise and classify based on a prototype model. This suggests that for any given category (e.g. the mode of speech) we can identify examples that are prototypes (typical or ‘good’ members) and examples that are ‘less good’ or ‘typical’ members. A conventional way of showing this distinction is by placing the prototype at the centre of a radial structure with other examples moving outwards from it; the greater the distance from the centre, the less the text fits the prototype. So, looking at Texts 3B, 3C and 3D again, we could say that 3B is a strong example of speech (a prototype), whilst 3D has conventional elements of speech and could be placed on an outer ring; however Text 3C has very little if anything that we would associate with speech and therefore sits on the very outer ring (see Fig 3F).

Prototype model: a model of looking at differences within a category or mode by thinking about typical and less typical examples. ACTIVITY 2 Exploring mode Explore the ideas that have been discussed about mode in this unit by collecting some texts of your own and exploring their features. You could look at obvious examples of blended-mode texts such as Facebook posts, tweets and text messages, and think about why the text producers have decided to use the features that they have. Think about:

Text 3D

3 Beginning: Mode and genre

Key terms Genre: a way of grouping texts based on expected shared conventions Intertextuality: a process by which texts borrow from or refer to conventions of other texts for a specific purpose and effect.

Text 3G

See further examples of intertextuality in advertising on Elevate

Summary We can make a basic distinction between the modes of speech and writing, but there are many examples of blended-mode texts that use elements of both speech and writing to create meaning. • It is useful to think of degrees of difference between and within modes rather than holding a strictly oppositional view. • A genre is a way of categorising texts based on expected shared conventions. •

BEGINNING

14 Language diversity

In this unit, you will: • begin to explore how language influences the way we speak • begin to explore how language can contribute to our identity.

14.1 Varieties and diversity – an overview In Unit 4 (‘Language: use and users’), you were introduced to some aspects of language diversity as variety between language users was discussed. This chapter will develop those initial points and address the key question: what influences the way we speak? The chapter will consider varieties of language and focus on: • regional dialects • national varieties • personal and social varieties. We will develop the final point, personal and social varieties, by considering how the following different social groups are an influential factor: • • • • • • •

age class gender occupation sexuality ethnicity disability.

14.1.1 Creating an identity When considering the question of what influences the way we speak, a key word will permeate throughout this chapter: ‘identity’. So what do we mean by ‘identity’? Identity can be a combination of individual characteristics, which create a personal identity. It can also be linked to a particular social group where members of the group share common characteristics. There is a range of factors which help create identity and the consensus is that we begin to think about identity in our teenage years. ACTIVITY 1 Creating identities Looking at the images in Gallery 14A, discuss and make notes on how you feel each individual or group may try to create a particular identity.

It is likely that in your discussion, you may have focused on appearance. According to Les Parrott, Ph.D., a professor of psychology, wearing the right clothes does help form teen identities by ‘expressing affiliation with specific groups’. In an article on the Psych Central website, Amy Bellows summarises Parrott’s views on how teenagers search for identity. In addition to appearance, Parrott argues that the following are contributory factors: •

forbidden behaviours such as smoking and drinking

14 Beginning: Language diversity rebellion which separates them from adults but gains acceptance of their peers • idols: celebrities may become role models for teenagers • cliquish exclusion: teens exclude those who, they believe, have unacceptable or unattractive characteristics. •

Read Amy Bellows’s Psych Central article on Elevate.

Teenage or youth identity is certainly nothing new. If you research the phrase ‘Mods and Rockers’ on any internet search engine, you will find a plethora of images and articles on these two youth subcultures that clashed in 1964. A fairly simplistic (and perhaps not entirely accurate) notion is that youths at the time belonged to either one of these groups. The two groups wore different clothes, listened to different music and were even associated with different modes of transport (scooters for the Mods and motorbikes for the Rockers). The importance of their identity led to violent clashes on the South Coast, demonstrating how significant identity can be. There was a clear

sense of belonging and affiliation no matter what the possible consequences could be.

14.1.2 Creating an identity through language However, in terms of our focus, a further characteristic beyond those considered so far which can also contribute to identity is language choice. Joanna Thornborrow, in the book Language, Society and Power (2004), begins her discussion on identity by stating ‘One of the most fundamental ways we have of establishing our identity, and of shaping other people’s views of who we are, is through our use of language’. This ‘use’ may include: specific lexical choices to help form this identity, grammatical constructions in speech and variations in phonology (or a combination of all three). Using language to create an identity (whether this is done consciously or subconsciously) is certainly not a new area of sociolinguistics. Despite being carried out in 1961, Labov’s study in Martha’s Vineyard remains an influential piece of research. As part of his MA, Labov focused on dialectology in

Gallery 14A

A/AS Level English Language Martha’s Vineyard, an island which (although part of the state of Massachusetts) is fairly isolated and can only be accessed via boat or by air. It is recognised as a popular tourist destination, with the summer population five times that of the winter. Labov was interested specifically in the pronunciation of the diphthongs /au/ and /ai/. Interviewing 69 people from different social groups across ages, occupations and ethnicities, Labov asked specific questions which would encourage the participants to respond using words which contained these vowels. Examples include:

When we speak of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, what does right mean? … Is it in writing? and

If a man is successful at a job he doesn’t like, would you still say he was a successful man? Labov’s aim was for the participants to be as relaxed and natural as possible; importantly they weren’t aware of what he was looking for or researching.

ACTIVITY 2 Self-study Thinking about what has been presented so far in this chapter, consider your own social group and whether you feel you (or others) use language to create an identity. In particular think about your lexical choices and your accent. Discuss, make notes and share your views with others. Is there a consensus amongst your social group?

Use Table 14B to help you. ACTIVITY 3 Further study To further develop your understanding of language and identity, consider the same linguistic features in relation to other social groups. Create a table like Table 14C on whether you feel the different social groups may use these features.

Now discuss why you have made these decisions, thinking about identity. This could also lead to a discussion about stereotyping: have you made assumptions about certain social groups?

Labov’s main finding, linked to the idea of group identity, was that certain groups within his sample shared the tendency to pronounce the diphthongs more like /əu/ and /əi/. He found this in a small group of fishermen, people between the ages of 31–45 and Up-Islanders (original inhabitants in a less populated area and not as popular with tourists). Labov concluded that this was done, albeit subconsciously, in order to establish an identity of themselves as Vineyarders, distancing themselves from the tourists who were frequent visitors. There was, according to Labov, a need to retain a social identity and almost propagate a ‘them and us’ mentality. To do this and create their identity, they used language.

Access The Circular’s gamer language list on Elevate

Summary You will have contemplated your own identity and that of those around you. • You will have begun to think about how language can contribute to creating such identities. • This will now be explored in more detail considering geographical, social and personal factors. •

If you start thinking and discussing language and identity, it is very likely you will be able to recognise Labov’s findings in your own life or that of others you know.

14 Beginning: Language diversity Table 14B Standard English

Accepted as the correct form of lexis, is Standard English prevalent in the speech of your social group?

Slang

Referring to words and phrases which are considered informal, is there a tendency for your social group to use more slang than Standard English?

Dialect

Remember that dialect can be lexical features or variations in grammar. In the Yorkshire dialect, for example, lexical examples include snicket (an alleyway), spice (sweets), laiking/lecking out (playing outside) and beefing (crying). Grammatical variations in this dialect include ellipsis of the definite article (Let’s go to shops) and the use of ‘were’ in place of ‘was’ (I were late). To what extent does your social group use dialect as part of their everyday vernacular?

Taboo

Lexical choices which can be deemed to be offensive, taboo language includes swearing or using words which are considered inappropriate and unacceptable. Is taboo a usual feature of conversations in your social group?

Technologyinfluenced words and phrases

There is evidence that certain social groups use words and phrases in their speech which are normally associated with written technology forms such as tweets, texts and other forms of instant messages. A common example is ‘cba’. Can you identify with this? Do you feel it is part of the language used in your social group?

Neologisms

New words are constantly entering the English language. In 2013 and 2014, new additions to the Oxford English Dictionary included bestie, selfie, me time, twerking, unlike, emoji and geek chic. Do you feel the evolution of such words is influenced by use in your social group?

Jargon

Sometimes stemming from personal interests, jargon is largely based on shared understanding between certain groups or individuals. An example could be the jargon used by gamers. The website The Circular lists a large range of jargon and claims ‘game players have developed a unique language of their own’. Is this something you can identify with in your social group?

Received Pronunciation

Commonly known as RP, this accent is used in the teaching of English as a foreign language and is used in dictionaries which give pronunciations. This has led to it being viewed as the ‘correct’ and esteemed accent; it is often associated with prestige and formality. Do you think your social group generally use RP when pronouncing words?

Table 14C Doctors

Females aged 18–25

Elderly and retired

Rugby players

Teenage ‘chavs’

Standard English Slang Dialect Taboo Technology-influenced words and phrases Neologisms Jargon Received Pronunciation Regional Accent © Cambridge University Press 2014 Written from draft specification

DEVELOPING

17 Original writing

In this unit, you will: • learn how to become a more effective writer • consider writing to entertain, persuade and inform • understand the importance of a style model • develop skills needed to analyse the writing process and your own final piece of writing.

17.1 The writing process As we have considered previously, writing and the ability to write both develop from reading. It therefore follows that this link remains into adulthood or with developed writing. A successful or effective writer is an author who can: communicate efficiently and effectively write coherently for different audiences and purposes • communicate convincingly in a range of different genres and styles • understand the ways in which words can produce different effects. • •

Therefore one of the best ways of becoming a successful writer is to read a wide range of different text types. If you don’t read widely, you will have a relatively narrow experience of the written word. If you only ever read one magazine, it is likely that you would be limited to being able to imitate the style of that magazine. Exposure to a broader range of

writing will enable you to write in the style of other genres and for different audiences and purposes. It is also important that you challenge yourself to read texts that are perhaps less ‘easy’ or familiar. Examples of such texts might be broadsheet editorials, short stories, or transcriptions of persuasive political speeches. Over the course of your studies in English Language, you will focus a great deal on analysing the language of other people. Through understanding and using the different language levels, you will be able to understand the variant ways that words might be used for a range of different effects. Original writing coursework asks you to bring together all that you understand about the power of the written word and ways that language can be manipulated for different purposes in order to produce your own piece of writing. This text could have a primary purpose to persuade, inform or entertain. It is likely that there may also be a secondary purpose to your text. For example, a political speech may primarily be designed to persuade, but it could also use storytelling to entertain you and enable you to understand the points being made so that you will agree with the writer’s perspective on a particular issue. You have a choice of three different types of text for your coursework, with possible suggestions outlined for each purpose, as shown in Table 17A.

17 Developing: Original writing Table 17A Text purpose:

Possible texts:

The power of persuasion

A piece of investigative journalism A speech delivered on a controversial topic A letter to an MP

The power of storytelling

A short story An extract from a biography A dramatic monologue

The power of information

A piece of travel journalism A blog focusing on social issues A piece of local history

You will become increasingly skilled as a writer if you are able to draft and reflect on your own successes. If you can begin to deconstruct and analyse your own writing, thinking about the effect you were hoping to achieve and how this might have been done, this will enable you to become increasingly sophisticated as a writer. In completing this process, you will also need to produce a commentary to reflect on the success of the writing process. The original writing coursework should total 1500 words, which will include the writing and the commentary equally balanced with 750 words apiece.

17.1.1 The importance of audience Whenever you are analysing a text, a helpful starting point is to establish the audience for the piece. The same is true with your own writing: you need to have a specific audience in mind to help you achieve your purpose. This can influence your language choices immensely. ACTIVITY 1 Considering your audience To demonstrate how important it is to consider audience when producing a text, look at the following adjectives and try to decide whether they might be found in shower gel advertisements for males, females or children.

Once you have decided which adjectives are most likely to appeal to particular groups, you might then apply age ranges to the adjectives chosen. a b c d e f g h

heady citrus zesty fun sensual floral sexy breezy

i j k l m n o p

light fruity elegant glamorous spicy powerful playful soft

q r s t u v w x

gentle classic refreshing kind robust musky crazy rich

What you probably found was that there were some words which more obviously seemed to suit a particular audience, perhaps because they had connotations of particular ages or genders. This links into interesting studies surrounding gender stereotypes and socialisation. Looking at the words in the table, it would obviously be inappropriate to use words like ‘sensual’ or ‘sexy’ to advertise a child’s shower gel. By the same token, you might feel it would be more appropriate to use the words ‘floral’ or ‘elegant’ for an older female audience, since the connotations of these adjectives might be more appealing than ‘crazy’ or ‘zesty’. This exercise serves to demonstrate the power of lexical choices and the importance of always keeping audience in mind when making word choices. The same kind of consideration needs to also transfer to grammar, discourse, semantics and pragmatics, which we will explore in more detail later.

A/AS Level English Language

17.1.2 Other contextual considerations As well as considering audience and purpose, it is essential to consider the genre and platform of the text. For example, it will make a difference to your approach if the written text is actually intended to be read aloud as a speech. Similarly, a blog will have a clear sense of how and when a reader might access the text, as well as what it will look like on screen. It might be necessary to make your writing more concise or easy to read, in order to ensure that another competing web page does not seem more accessible. If you are writing about a particular social issue, it is important to have an understanding of the wider concerns surrounding the topic. For example, a text produced by a local authority to inform constituents of the opportunities for sports might be inspired by a national drive to reduce obesity or fuelled by the success of events like the 2012 London Olympic Games.

ACTIVITY 2 Understanding context For each of the original writing tasks in Table 17B, decide on two or three contextual factors that you would need to consider. List the ways in which your lexical, grammatical or graphological choices may be influenced by these factors. The first of these has been done for you.

17.1.3 Spoken texts The original writing you produce will be submitted in written form, but you will also need to appreciate how a speech or monologue will differ in terms of language choices. Within spoken texts, emphasis will be on pauses, prosodic features and paralinguistic features. They are unlikely to include some of the discourse features associated with turn-taking and cooperative conversations. A carefully-placed pause or a subtle change of emphasis can create more impact than an extra thirty words.

Table 17B Task

Contextual factors

Impact on writing

Dramatic monologue

Designed to entertain

More colloquial register to reflect spoken English.

Will be performed rather than read Adult audience? One ‘character’ alone on stage – no chance of interaction Travel writing blog produced on a gap year Short story aimed at teenagers to raise awareness about bullying A letter to an MP complaining about local housing developments A leaflet about a forthcoming local sports competition A piece of investigative journalism about ‘cowboy’ builders

More use of imagery and idiomatic language to add interest to monologue

17 Developing: Original writing Other features might be used to try to establish a relationship with, or influence, an audience such as direct address (use of the second pronoun ‘you’), rhetorical questions and the inclusive pronoun ‘we’. A monologue will develop character through focused use of language choices, so you may need to consider possible idiolect features. If it is a teenage character, for example, how will the text differ from an elderly character? It is likely that you will need to play around with formality, lexical choices, colloquial language and sentence construction in order to ensure your character sounds ‘authentic’.

17.1.4 Multimedia texts Internet texts have a very distinctive graphology and discourse structure with which you will need to familiarise yourself should you choose to create a text like a blog or an internet article. Graphology is key, as navigation around a webpage is critically important. The ability to quickly move to a different page can also be facilitated through hyperlinks. A blog (short for ‘weblog’) might be viewed as a written monologue. However, the capacity for comments to be made on the blog by its readers allows scope for interactivity. This might make the inclusion of controversial subject matter in the blog appealing, as it could stimulate online debate. Features such as these will need to be carefully considered when producing the text, as it is important that you make it as authentic as possible.

Careful production of an authentic-looking text is not enough, however, since the language needs to be compelling and convincing too. The purpose of a blog might be to present opinion, stimulate discussion, promote or even sell products. A blog writer also has the capacity to find out far more about the nature of their audience than a traditional writer, due to the interactive nature of the platform. This might further influence language choices.

17.2 The style model In order to write well in a given style, a helpful starting point is to find good examples in the same style of writing in order to look at how it might be done successfully. Before you begin to write for your coursework piece, you will need to examine many different texts, treating them as style models to expand your awareness of stylistic features across a range of areas. A style model is a text that enables you to consider what features contribute to any given genre. It is not sufficient to simply read a style model. The key objective is to consider and explore the process that the writer may have gone through to produce the final text. Once you have understood the approach and aims of the writer, you can analyse the various methods that have been used to fulfil the required purpose and evaluate the overall success of the text.

a blog will have a clear sense of how and when a reader might access the text

A/AS Level English Language

Evaluating a style model Read Text 17C, the inside of a leaflet entitled ‘Wanting to lose weight’. Try to answer the following questions: a What is the purpose of the text and how can you b c d e

Can you identify any imperatives within the text? Why have they been used? g How has alliteration been used to create a memorable slogan? h How have adjectives been used throughout this text? What is the purpose of these? i What comment might you make about sentence structure? Can you find any examples of the passive voice and what effect might this have on the reader? j How successful do you feel this text is in fulfilling the purpose you identified in question one? f

ACTIVITY 3

tell? Who do you think the audience of this leaflet is and why? What graphological features can you identify and how might these influence the reader? What purpose do facts and figures serve in this leaflet? How might you argue that a relationship is created with the reader?

Check your answers in the Ideas section for this unit.

Text 17C

17 Developing: Original writing This is a relatively straightforward text to analyse and hopefully these questions did not present too much of a challenge. The purpose of the questions was to identify some of the key stylistic features that contribute to the text as a whole. If you can do this with any text that you encounter, you will be able to work successfully with a similar genre in the future. When you are looking at a style model, it is important that instead of ‘feature spotting’ (for example, circling all the examples of modal verbs within the data), you also explore the effect of those features that you have found. When you are working with a text for the first time, you might underline or highlight features, for example the modal verbs in Text 17C like ‘Household chores can be included … ’ or ‘may help you control your weight’. More importantly, however, you need to consider why those words have been included and the effect that these might have on the intended audience. In this instance, the modal verbs are included to introduce a sense of possibility; opening up the opportunity of improving your quality of life by doing certain things. In terms of complexity, the text may not appear too challenging, but if you can start to identify more complex grammatical and lexical features (for example the use of the passive voice) and consider using them within your own writing and explaining them in your commentary, then you will be well on your way to using language in a more sophisticated way. When you are locating style models for your own use, you won’t necessarily have a list of specific questions like the ones in Activity 3 to help you focus your attention on particular areas of the text. The first thing to do is identify audience, purpose and other contextual factors. Regardless of the text, you might then move on to a more detailed examination and ask a number of fundamental questions: 1 What is the text about? You need to have an

understanding of the text as a whole.

2 Why has it been written? What do you understand

to be the primary – and perhaps secondary – purpose of the text? 3 When was it written? The context from which the text has arisen is worth consideration. There may be different factors at play now than there would have been had the text been written 100 years ago. Also, there might be current issues that have led to the piece being written. For example, the 2012 London Olympic Games led to lots of articles about tourism in England and the state of sport in the UK. 4 For whom was it written? Who is the audience for the piece? Remember that it is useful to be as specific as possible in this respect. 5 How was it written? What can you identify about the way in which language has been used in order to fulfil the requirements of the text? In order to fully answer these questions – particularly number 5 – logical annotation is really important. You might choose to colour code your annotations according to the language levels you are thinking about (for example, one colour for lexis, one for grammar, another for graphology). This will help you to identify those more relevant language levels and also help you to ensure that you consider each factor in sufficient detail and breadth.

Summary Expose yourself to as many different writing genres as possible to stretch your own writing capabilities. It might even be useful to build up a resource bank of writing for the three key purposes: persuasion, storytelling and information. • Remember the critical importance of audience to the success of the writing you produce. • Familiarise yourself with the specific features of texts written for different platforms. Multimedia texts will have some key characteristics, as will spoken texts. •

A/AS Level English Language g ‘Swop, stop or shrink’ is used as an example of

IDEAS ON ACTIVITIES Activity 3: Evaluating a style model a There are probably three purposes to the text – b

inform, persuade and instruct. The audience is likely to be adults who are overweight. You might argue that the image of younger males tries to appeal to younger adults, possibly males (which goes against the stereotype of females being more concerned about weight). There are lots of graphological devices. Instead of just identifying what these are, it is vital to think about the effect of these. The images, colour and diagrams are probably most noteworthy. Telling the reader that 1 in 5 adults is obese, as well as the proportion of males and females who are obese or overweight, will reassure anyone overweight that they are not abnormal whilst at the same time identifying the scale of the problem that needs to be addressed. You might argue that a relationship is created with the reader through use of the pronoun ‘you’ (‘enjoy what you eat!’). There is a rhetorical question addressed to the reader ‘Why lose weight?’ which anticipates the question that a reader might ask before going on to try to answer it. A colloquial register is established through clippings like ‘veg’. There are a number of imperatives used: ‘Supersize your fruit and veg’.

alliteration. The list of three (or ‘triadic structure’) is meant to be more memorable than, for example, 2, 4 or 5 items. Perhaps the phonologicallypleasing sibilance will enable someone reading this leaflet to recall the three strategies for losing weight easily without having to refer back to it. h Adjectives identified might include: ‘bad’, ‘active’, ‘regular’, ‘fitter’, ‘healthier’, ‘good’, ‘great’. The comparative adjectives identify the potential improvements to current fitness levels and there is a clear distinction drawn between before and after embarking on a healthier lifestyle. i Sentences tend to be simple declaratives or imperatives. If we take the example of the passive voice from the text, you may have spotted it in the sentence ‘It is recommended that you should undertake activity … ’ We are not told who is recommending that we undertake this activity, but the natural assumption is that the unstated passive agent is a health authority. This use of the passive voice works to imply that everyone will agree about the recommendation and that it is best practice, giving the text more authority. Overall evaluation of the success of the text should bear in mind all the lexical and grammatical features identified here.

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ENGLISH LANGUAGE A/AS Level for AQA Sample

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