AS English Language

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Overview of AS English Language

Week beginning

Mrs Ward Mrs Whelan

1nd Sept Introduction to Unit 1: WritingGraphology

Introduction to Unit 1: SpeechSpoken language features8th Sept

15th Sept22rd Sept29th Sept6th Oct13th Oct20th Oct

Half Term3rd Nov Unit 2: Creating Texts coursework

Style modelsProducing textscommentaries

Coursework due Mon 15th December

Unit 2: Creating Texts coursework Style modelsProducing textscommentaries

Coursework due Mon 15th December

10th Nov17th Nov24th Nov1st Dec8th Dec15th Dec

Christmas

5th Jan Language and Power

FINAL coursework due no later than 9th Feb

Language and Gender

FINAL coursework due no later than 9th Feb

12th Jan19th Jan26th Jan2nd Feb9th Feb

Half Term23rd Feb TRIAL EXAMS TRIAL EXAMS2nd Mar Language and Technology Language and Gender9th Mar16th Mar23rd Mar30th Mar

Easter20th April Exam preparation

Jan 2011June 2011Jan 2012

Exam preparationJune 2013Jan 2013June 2012

27th April4th May11th May18th May

Half Term1st June Tuesday 2nd June (AM) AS Eng Lang Unit 1

Exam8th June15th June22nd June29th June6th July13th July

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The Course

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Unit 1 (The exam)

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Coursework Guidance

Key Dates (2014-15)

First draft – Monday 15th December 2014

Final draft- Monday 9th February 2015

You need to hand these in to your teacher by the end of lunchtime on the specified date, whether you have a lesson or not on that day.

THE KEY FACTS6

The coursework you produce for this unit is worth 40% of your AS Level grade.

You have to produce a coursework folder with two texts in it.The two texts have to be for different audiences, purposes, styles and

genres.One text must be a creative piece. The other text must be a functional piece.The total for the coursework text folder must be between 1500 & 2500

words.You also have to produce two commentaries of 500 words each. These

will explain exactly how you have chosen to use language and how you have used the drafting process to meet your audience and purpose.

Your COURSEWORK PLANNING DOCUMENTS This is your first task. You should hand in two separate plans for your coursework.

Follow this basic format, but you MUST provide detailed explanations for each section.

1. Mode2. Genre / Sub-genre3. Purpose (Primary & Secondary, if necessary)4. Audience5. Content outline6. Style / Register7. Examples you will study as Style Models8. Other details you feel need mentioning

The DRAFTING PROCESS Once you have decided upon your two pieces, you need to begin planning and writing.

The planning stage needs to go through the LINGUISTIC FRAMEWORKS, making detailed notes on how you will make your piece fit these.

n.b. Keep all these plans in your coursework file as you will need to submit them with your Main Draft and then again with your Final Coursework Folder.

Your written first draft needs to constantly keep AUDIENCE and PURPOSE in mind. You should also seek to sustain your written STYLE and write with the DISCOURSE STRUCTURE in mind.

Be careful to make sure your work is your own. If you rely on other sources for information and inspiration, you must take care to make sure your work is your own, in wording and content. Plagiarism will lead to your entire folder being disqualified.

Preparing a STYLE MODEL ANALYSIS

The content could be done as a brainstorm

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Essentially this is an investigation into what characterises the genres in which you have chosen to write your coursework.

This should be completed as two separate pieces, one per genre, in an accessible note form. Ultimately, it needs to help YOU to write lucidly, and with the correct level of technical knowledge, about the traits of those genres. It will form a very good basis for part of your commentaries.

You will need to hand in TWO style models for each piece of coursework

BASIC CONTEXTSMode

– what helps us initially to place the piece in a specific MODE / GENRE?

a) Written / Reading Piece – - How is information put across, via the LANGUAGE FRAMEWORKS?- What, specifically, defines the GENRE (and SUB-GENRE)- What PRESENTATIONAL DEVICES are integral?

b) Spoken / Listening Piece –- Study the conventions of the genre and define them.- What PHONOLOGICAL FEATURES can you find?- What PARALINGUISTIC FEATURES (non-verbal communication) is employed?- Are PROSODICS a necessary aspect of the spoken word here?

c) Is there any degree of MULTI-MODALITY?

Audience

- How is this met? You need to bear AUDIENCE in mind constantly as you write. - How would you describe the writer’s attitude/tone? Do they address the reader like an

equal? a friend? a kindly older person? Is their tone serious? lighthearted? pleading? polite but formal?

- Does the genre have a specific age / sex / interest / region / value – based appeal? - What allusions and references to audience appropriate subject matter are there?

Register

- Start with the basic question of the level of FORMALITY.- Is there a sense of a specific STYLE and TONE which may be unique to the genre? e.g.

descriptive qualities, technical terms.- In which PERSON and TENSE is the genre generally written and why?- Try to suggest how register fits AUDIENCE.- Identify any collocation or typical phrasing which belongs specifically to that genre, e.g.

framing devices, journalese.Purpose

- What is the PRIMARY PURPOSE of the genre? You need to bear PURPOSE in mind constantly as you write. Is there a SECONDARY PURPOSE?

- Again, how is this achieved by specific genres? e.g. persuasive devices, different ways of conveying ideas / information.

- How does this link to register / style & audience?

THE LINGUISTIC FRAMEWORKS

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Genre What type of text is this? Be specific.

How does the genre affect the style of the language.

Audience Who is going to read this? Is It aimed at all adults? Males? Females? Certain age groups? People interested in specialist areas / topics?

How does that affect the language used?

Purpose (angle)

What does this text want to do? Inform? Entertain? Persuade? Instruct? Educate? Conjure emotions? What angle does the writer take in carrying out this purpose?

How does this affect the language used?

Context / Discourse

What are the expected conventions of the discourse? Are these adhered to? What is the effect?

Where/when was the text produced? How does this affect the language? Where/when will the text be received? How does this affect language and interpretation of it? Is there anything unusual about this discourse? Are there shared beliefs and values that are important to the discourse?

Lexis Is there a significant title? What do the individual words suggest? What is noticeable about the style? Simple? Easily readable? Appropriate? Satirical? Sarcastic?

Indifferent? Are the words formal or informal? Is there repetition of words, clauses or sentences, highlighting key points? Modifiers – are they there to express detail or for making the text emotive? What are the connotations (nuances) of different words? Verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. What imagery is used through the lexis – Metaphors or similes evoking emotive associations?

Personification or animation creating a mysterious or humorous atmosphere? Clever or comic puns? Ambiguity, adding interest or amusing the reader? Appeals to the senses, collocations?

Register (to do with in/formality)

What is the mode? Written or spoken? Is the boundary blurred? What is the manner – the relationship between the writer and the reader? Formal? informal?

Personal? Impersonal? Reliable? Are there any shared beliefs, values, knowledge? What ideology is expressed – the ideas and values of the writer? This will affect the register. How does the function (purpose – see above) affect the register. What is the field (subject matter)? – how does this affect the register? Is the writer reliable? How? Or why /not? What is the relationship created between reader and writer? How are we made to feel about

them and their beliefs?

Grammar (and structure)

Is the sentence structure varied? What affect does sentence structure have as a whole AND at different points in the text?

How does it slow it down or speed it up? Change the tone? Simple, compound and complex? What about the syntax? How does this affect the tone of the story? Is it complicated? Or straight

simple? Is grammar: standard? Non-standard? Archaic? Modern? Etc. How does tense affect the text – past, present, future? Shifting tenses? Are rhetorical techniques used? How does the writer persuade the reader to carry his/her

ideology? – Juxtaposition? Listing? Parallelism? Rhetorical questions? Emotive words? Humour? Passive or active voice? Hyperbole? Personal pronouns? Clusters of three? Use of positivity/negativity? Balance of sentences? Selective choice of detail? Reliable sources / links? Intertextuality? Personal attacks? Opinion as fact? Well-known or respected public figures?

Structure – is the structure of the text important to its meaning, purpose? Is it structured as a narrative? What pattern does it follow?

Phonology Does the writer use any alliteration? Assonance? Onomatopoeia? Rhythm and rhyme? What effect does this have?

Graphology Anything significant about print size? Shape? Style? Making text manageable/clearly structured?

AS Coursework: Writing a Commentary The Facts:

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You are writing a separate Commentary for each piece. The total for the Commentaries together must be 1,000 words – there’s no reason for not

getting within 5 words of that! That means 500 words per Commentary – maintain that balance. The Commentaries are worth 30 marks (50 marks for the pieces) Quotations do not count as part of the final word count, but keep these brief.

The Criteria:

Your Commentary must be a finely polished piece of analytical writing which demonstrated your understanding of the writing crafts that you have used in producing your texts. Think of it as a scientific report on your coursework!

The board says it must include:

• discussion of the style model(s) used in the planning process

• discussion of any significant changes made during the writing process (the redrafting of your work)

• reference to any reading materials used, and discussion of how they were adapted to suit the new text

• analysis of the stylistic devices used in the text, with exemplification from the text

• reflection on the effectiveness of the final piece including, where relevant, feedback from a variety of sources.

A Suggested Approach - PLANNING

1. Get together all the work and notes you have done towards your coursework.2. Read these through and make sure you have a clear view of what processes you have

gone through to achieve your piece.3. Print out a copy of each text (as ‘final’ as it can be at this moment). Ask yourself about

what are the AUDIENCE and PURPOSE of each piece, and how you have met them: make some notes on this.

4. Next, read through and annotate both pieces, as though you are studying them as pieces of work by a writer! (which they are!) This will give you lots of useful notes to refer to. As you do this, look for your use of the LINGUISTIC FRAMEWORKS–

- Lexis & Semantics- Grammar- Discourse- Pragmatics- Graphology- Phonology

5. Look next at how the piece has evolved (makes notes as you study this) – we only need to know why changes have been made – what effect they have had. What we DON’T need is ‘The story of how I wrote my pieces’!

A Suggested Approach – WRITING

o Open by giving a brief overview of details such as genre, form, subject matter, audience and purpose.

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o In the body of your commentary you’ll be discussing and giving examples of your major linguistic choices made to create a style that fulfils genre conventions and suits your audience, their context and your purpose. You will need to discuss why you made these choices (i.e. your reasons and motivations) and how you went about achieving these things. You will need to show a close consideration of several things, including:

o How your style models were useful in guiding your ideas, stylistic choices and decisions. The use of these MUST be mentioned – how did it affect it.

o How genre conventions affected –help or limited – your choices of style.o How you adapted your style and content in the light of aspects of

contemporary discourse.o How you improved the appeal and effectiveness of your text through careful

and effective use of drafting and redrafting (DON’T omit this – it’s AO2).

Open by saying what led you to your choice of subject matter (e.g. it will have been influenced by your own interests, the interests of your audience and by other issues related to present day discourses and ideologies).

State what led to your choice of audience (who will, of course, be more interested in reading about some things more than others and prefer certain styles, e.g. in journalism, a colloquial style is increasingly popular).

Discuss what led you to your most significant choices of style (i.e. the way you have tried to choose language and structure to suit your audience and so achieve your purpose. As an example, you might have used slang or taboo language now that we are less constrained in these areas.).

Consider genre conventions and discuss how these have constrained and aided your linguistic choices?

It might be relevant to show how genre could help to ‘position’ your audience in important ways. After all, genre can act as a powerful interpretive device (e.g. the genre of journalistic writing creates an important level of trust and authenticity, rightly or wrongly, particularly quality broadsheet journalism. Consider how genre contributes to your own writing and to its interpretation by your audience).

How else have you tried to ‘position’ or persuade your audience to become an ‘ideal reader’ for your text; that is, to accept the kind of ideas or ‘ideological mind set’ you want of them in your writing?

What important and effective linguistic choices have you made to create a suitable register, voice, style and tone? You should aim to discuss this methodically using some of the following language frameworks:

Lexis What interesting, effective and appropriate choices of words have you made and why, e.g. use of colloquialisms, idiom, slang, jargon, etc. Always quote brief examples.

Grammar Have you been formal and used standard grammar; or have you used non-standard grammar in places, e.g. the use of minor sentences to mimic conversation. What is the effect and why did you do it?

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Discourse Discourse analysis views a text not in a vacuum or as an academic exercise but incorporating aspects of the social world of which it is a part. Different kinds of social discourse encode different kinds of social relationships between you and your reader. Power relationships are one important aspect, the reinforcement of dominant ideologies is another – accounting for these will gain higher marks because these aspects are clearly sophisticated and subtle. Look out for any use of ‘ideologically loaded’ words, for example, and how have you ‘positioned’ your audience to accept these, e.g. consider how different newspapers might label certain social groups in ways it is difficult for their reader to dispute without themselves feeling the ‘odd one out’: ‘youths’, ‘young people’, ‘yobs’; ‘terrorists’, ‘freedom fighters’, ‘single mothers’, ‘out of work’, ‘drains on the state’s finances’…, and so on.Certain discourse structures are especially important and worthy of comment. For some structures there are clear audience expectations, e.g. narratives, letters, explanations, arguments, instructions, etc. all have discourse structures that limit your choices because they place particular demands on the structure and coherence of your text. Particular sentence and paragraph structures might aid or hinder the coherence, clarity and unity of your text; the use of ‘discourse markers’ (such as ‘So…’, ‘therefore…’, ‘in conclusion’) creates fluency in arguments by providing important and useful ‘linguistic signposts’ intended to guide and aid your reader. Much ‘meaning’ can be worked out only though pragmatic inference – commenting on such pragmatic subtleties is well rewarded because it shows you capable of a far from routine analysis.

Semantics Semantic interest can be introduced in writing by varying your choices of literal, figurative (e.g. metaphorical), ironic and symbolic meanings. Have you used an appropriate semantic field, e.g. war in a sport’s report; ‘food’ in a romantic story, etc. These can be very helpful in creating certain styles.

Graphology

Meaning and interpretation can be guided, even manipulated through particular choices of presentation, layout and illustration. If the layout and presentation of your text adds in any useful way to its meaning… say so! Think about the power aspects of certain kinds of genre and layout – these are often worthy of comment.

Phonology Sound features can sometimes be useful to a text, e.g. alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme, rhythm, etc.

Remember, too, that you are expected to comment on what you have learned through the whole writing process – evaluate your work, saying how you feel about it, how a typical reader might respond, how it might be improved with more space.

Be specific and use quotations – but only about significant aspects; explain and describe using correct terminology; avoid vague generalisations and AVOID STATING THE BORINGLY ROUTINE AND OBVIOUS!

Finally, ask yourself this –

“Do my commentaries explain, in technical terms, what I have tried to achieve in my pieces? Do they make it clear how I have crafted language, form and style to meet my audience, purpose and intended sense of attitudes and values?”

Final Commentary Checklist

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1. Read through the commentary and annotate where it includes the following:

Clear explanation of purpose, audience and genre.

Reference to research and use of style models. Explain how these affected your choices.

Comments on discourse structure (eg. beginning and ending, progression, use of presentational devices, cohesive devices etc)

Comments on register and tone (level of formality/technicality, how to address readers, level of seriousness etc)

Explanations of stylistic choices to achieve purpose for audience – at least 3 specific examples using frameworks:

Grammar (eg. types of sentences and structures)

Lexis

Semantics

Phonology

Pragmatics (Graphology – if relevant)

Use of accurate language terminology

Short quotations from the text included to illustrate points

References to at least two changes made during the drafting process.

Very brief evaluation of final text.

Close to specified word count (500 words)

Submitting your FINAL COURSEWORK FOLDER

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Your folder needs to contain the following –

1. Cover Sheet for Piece 1, with details - Genre Audience Purpose Word Count

2. Piece 13. Commentary for Piece 14. Bibliography for Piece 15. Plans for Piece 16. Drafts of Piece 17. Cover Sheet for Piece 2, with details -

Genre Audience Purpose Word Count

8. Piece 29. Commentary for Piece 210. Bibliography for Piece 211. Plans for Piece 212. Drafts for Piece 2

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Unit 2 (coursework mark scheme)

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Unit 2 (Commentary mark scheme)

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