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RevisionRevision / N11UK · A-Levels
English Language
A-Level English Language is the systematic linguistic study of how English works and how meaning is made, set against the Department for Education GCE AS and A level subject content and delivered here through the dominant AQA 7702 specification. It is not literary criticism but descriptive linguistics: students learn to analyse spoken, written and multimodal texts using an integrated toolkit of language levels or frameworks - phonetics, phonology and prosodics; graphology and orthography; lexis and semantics; grammar (morphology and syntax); pragmatics; and discourse - and to move rigorously from an identified feature to its effect and its meaning in context. Around this analytical core the course studies language in relation to mode, context, register and representation; language and power, gender, occupation, technology and identity; language diversity, varieties of world English and language change over time; and how children acquire spoken and written language. It closes with the non-exam Language in Action coursework - an independent language investigation and a piece of original writing with a reflective commentary. Throughout, the discipline is descriptivist rather than prescriptivist: it explains how language is actually used, and evaluates competing theories and studies against evidence, informed by named linguists.
0/60 Texts12 Chapters~242 min total
AQA 7702 methods of language analysisDfE GCE English Language subject contentAQA 7702/1 Section A textual variationsAQA 7702 language and identityAQA 7702/2 Section A language diversityAQA 7702/2 Section A varieties of English+12 moreFoundationStandardAdvanced
Table of contents · 12 ChaptersT·12
- The language levels as an integrated toolkitText L·01 · Recommended start5 min
- Phonology, prosodics and graphologyText L·024 min
- Lexis, semantics and morphologyText L·034 min
- Grammar and syntax: building and reading a treeText L·044 min
- Pragmatics: meaning in contextText L·054 min
- Discourse and integrating the levelsText L·064 min
- A short history of EnglishText L·274 min
- Lexical change: how the word-stock growsText L·284 min
- Semantic change: how meanings shiftText L·294 min
- Standardisation, grammar and orthographyText L·304 min
- Theories and processes of changeText L·314 min
- Attitudes: prescriptivism versus descriptivismText L·325 min
- Phonological development: from crying to speechText L·414 min
- Lexical and semantic developmentText L·424 min
- Grammatical development and virtuous errorsText L·434 min
- Functions and pragmatics of early languageText L·444 min
- Theories of language acquisitionText L·455 min
- Reading and writing developmentText L·464 min
- Methods of language analysis
- Textual variations and representations
- Language and identity
- Language diversity
- Varieties of English
- Language change
- Language discourses
- Critical evaluation of attitudes to language
- Children's language development
- Writing skills for language study
- Language investigation
- Original writing and commentary
- Paper 1 - Language, the individual and society (AQA 7702/1)
- 2 hours 30 minutes, 100 marks, 40% of the A-Level. Section A - Textual variations and representations: students analyse how two thematically linked but contrasting texts (differing in mode, audience, purpose, genre or period) use language to create meanings and representations, and explore the connections between them; this is the larger, methods-driven section and carries the paper's comparison (AO4). Section B - Children's language development: one discursive, data-driven essay responding to child-language data (a transcript or a written sample) with a prompt in the form 'Evaluate the idea that...'. The paper is dominated by systematic application of the language levels (AO1) and analysis of contextual factors (AO3).
- Paper 2 - Language diversity and change (AQA 7702/2)
- 2 hours 30 minutes, 100 marks, 40% of the A-Level. Section A - Diversity and change: one evaluative/discursive essay (30 marks) chosen from two options - one on language diversity, one on language change - each phrased as an 'Evaluate this idea' statement rewarding theory-informed argument and a reached judgement (AO2 dominant). Section B - Language discourses: two texts that present ideas and attitudes about language; students analyse how the texts use language to present those ideas and explore the connections between them (40 marks, AO1/AO3/AO4), then complete a piece of directed writing - typically an opinion article intervening in the debate (30 marks, AO2/AO5).
- Non-exam assessment - Language in Action (AQA 7702/C)
- 100 marks, 20% of the A-Level, internally marked and moderated by AQA. Two tasks: a Language Investigation (approximately 2000 words) - an independent, data-led study of a self-chosen language topic with a research question, ethically collected data, a linguistic methodology and an evaluative conclusion; and an Original Writing piece (approximately 750 words) in one of three genres (the power of persuasion, storytelling or information), produced from an annotated style model, accompanied by a reflective commentary (approximately 750 words) justifying the linguistic choices. The investigation is weighted towards AO1/AO3; the original writing towards AO5, with the commentary carrying AO1-AO3.
- Assessment objectives and grading
- Five assessment objectives are distributed across the three components: AO1 - apply appropriate methods of language analysis, using associated terminology and coherent, accurate written expression (roughly a quarter of the marks); AO2 - demonstrate critical understanding of concepts and issues relevant to language use; AO3 - analyse and evaluate how contextual factors and language features are associated with the construction of meaning; AO4 - explore connections across texts, informed by linguistic concepts and methods; AO5 - demonstrate expertise and creativity in the use of English to communicate in different ways. AO1 and AO3 are the largest shares overall, with AO2 close behind and AO4/AO5 the smaller weightings. The full A-Level is linear, with both papers sat at the end of the course and the NEA completed alongside, and is graded A*-E (U below E).