Info on the 2010 paper

1.  EnglishLanguage Exam A2
 Question 1a

2. Topics to Revise
Prescriptivism
Orthography
Plain English
Church English
Legal English
Scientific English
Global English
Language of Technology
PC/Gender

3. What to do in Q 1a
 You will be directed to the first text (a)
 The question will always ask you to
choose 2 KCs and write one paragraph
on each, explaining how they differ from
current Standard English
 USE P-E-E-Analyse+Context

4. Example of q1a
 Select two examples which
represent different key constituents
of language. Using these examples
identify and analyse the differences
between the English used in the
period that Text 1 was created and
current English.

5. Q 1a
 AO2 and AO3 both worth 5 marks

6. AOs
 AO2: shows awareness of concepts and
issues relevant to the selected
 data of why and how language diversifies
according to culture, using
 appropriate structural linguistic analysis.

7. AOs
 AO3: shows knowledge of the context of
language diversity relevant to the selected
data and of the key constituents of
language.

8. The June 2010 Paper – Exam Board
Feedback

9.  Candidates must choose 2 examples
representing key constituents of
 language. These could be:
 l phonology/graphology
 p morphology
 m lexis
 l grammar
 g discourse.

10. The candidate must give an example and analyse it closely
using
appropriate linguistic terminology. In each case the candidate
should comment on standard English use and speculate briefly
on why the change has occurred.
Links to context should include relevant issues about creole
language forms and the fact that the writer’s language has been
affected by the amount of time spent in the UK (and the
education system)
The purpose of the text as an example of cultural
diversity means the writer is trying to show the audience how
language is used in her home country.

11. Phonology/graphology:
Don’t reward for identifying differences in individual
spelling. The candidate must be able to identify a
pattern.
Features should be related to phonology and creating
a distinct written variety for the audience. For
example:
• ‘di’ for ‘the’ links to other Caribbean varieties and
AAE
• elision/omission of final consonants ‘bes’ for ‘best’
• vowel change ‘eva’ for ‘ever’
• assimilation* ‘latta’ for ‘lot of’.
*assimilation is a common
phonological process by which one sound
becomes more like a nearby sound.

12. Lexis:
Limited scope for words of Spanish origin ‘uno’ as a
pronoun. Majority is standard English (meaning it
does not differ from standard so is not really comment
worthy in this question).
This shows both the influence of Standard English
and the fact the writer is UK-based so only certain
defining features of the original Creole are used
because these would be a barrier to understanding.

13. Grammar:
• lack of tense on irregular verb ‘to go’(reduction of
forms)
• formation of the negative ‘if dat experience no satisfy
uno’
• missing ‘to be’‘ The wata round it shallow’
• standard English influences
• object pronoun use ‘them’ for ‘they’
• uno
• ‘no’ used as question tag.

14. Sample Answer 1a
There are some Standard English constructions in this piece. In
many instances the syntactical structure remains the same as in the
opening with ‘Fi tell uno di truth’ which correlates with the S E ‘to tell
you the truth’. This may reflect the fact that the student has spent
ten years in the UK and has assimilated Standard English grammar
and may also reflect the fact that this is a attempt at approximating
the Creole rather than data recorded in a real life situation. It is in
fact a written representation of a representation. However, there are
a number of examples where the grammar diverges from Standard
English. One example is ‘Them got di biggest’. Here the object form
of the pronoun is used instead of the subject, ‘they.’ Further there is
an omission of the verb to be in a number of places. For example,
sky cler blue’ and ‘wata round it shallow’. This, as well as the
pronoun confusion or reduction, may well be because of the
influence of Spanish or even an African language on the Creole,
language that may not distinguish between pronoun forms or that
may not use the verb to be as much. The use of Standard and non-
Standard forms is an example of how the Creole language is a
mixture of several different languages.

15. Sample Answer 1a continued
There are phonological differences between text 1 and Standard
English. In many cases the fricative ‘th’ sound is replaced with the dental
‘d’. This is found in the following examples: ‘Di sky...’, ‘da jaguar...’, ‘dat
them caves...’. It is possible that this pattern emerged through the
influence of the Spanish pronunciation. We know, for example that some
Spanish speakers pronounce the letter C as ‘th’, so there is a difference
in the pronunciation of consonant sounds. This may also reflect
pronunciation in other part of South America and also versions of AAE
(African American English) since we know that migration happened from
the Caribbean to America.

16. Tackling question 1b

17. Before writing
 Read and annotate both texts.
 Consider the key constituents
 Consider similarities and
differences

18. PLAN
 Write the KC beside some
points
 Make sure you make notes on
how the context is reflected in
the language of the text
 Number your notes!!

19. Writing your answer
 Startwith comments about the
provenance of the texts
◦ Say what kind of text it is
◦ When, where was it written
◦ By whom and for whom

20. Writing your answer
 Stick with P-E-E
◦ In the explain try to include
 some analysis of language
 some reference to the context
 and possibly a link to the other
text

21. Comparing texts
Either write a paragraph on each
text in turn
Or
Write a P-E-E-Link paragraph
(Best to use a mixture of both!)

22.  Be careful to answer the
question. It usually asks you
about an issue that is reflected in
the language. For example,
attitudes towards religion and
religious language.

23. What the exam board say
 Analysis and comments should focus on
how travel writing has changed.
 The data should be placed in the context
of the changing nature of travel
 writing – from personal account to
guides.

24.  Now use the following slides to go back
over the texts and practise identifying
features that you might use in an answer.
 Consider what the features might say
about this form of writing generally and
how they fit in with expectations.

25.  The main areas of focus are likely to be:
 • phonology/graphology
 • morphology
 • lexis
 • grammar
 • discourse/pragmatics.

26.  Phonology/graphology:
 • use of bold
 • use of italics
 • alliteration in Text 3 (‘soft sand and
snorkellers’).

27.  Morphology:
 Text 2:
 • polysyllabic.
 Text 3:
 • compounding (‘longtail’, ‘lagoonside’).

28. Lexis:
Lexis and the role of language change over time, including audience
needs.
Text 2:
• interception, unknown profundity
• words not part of modern standard English ‘hither’ for ‘here’
• collations (small meals on fast days)
• proper nouns
• use of adjectives
• use of modifiers and prepositional phrases.
Text 3:
• proper nouns (bold capitals to draw reader’s attention)
• more informal to relate to reader – ‘clamber’ ‘hauling’
• contraction used to reduce formality
• more use of modifiers and prepositional phrases
• noun phrases in apposition.

29.  Grammar:
 Use of pronouns and the relationship
with the reader:
 • Text 2 – 1st person plural/singular
(including personal opinions)
 • Text 3 - 2nd person.

30. How writing has changed over time
 Text 2:
 • use of passives
 • many relative clauses for detail
 • non-finite clauses acting as modifiers
 • adverbials and position
 • long, complex sentences with much subordination.
 • complex compound sentences
 • unusual word orders to highlight information ‘it is a rock
 perpendicularly tabulated’ ‘their extent we had not time to try’
 • declarative – account of travels
 • past tense.

31. How writing has changed over time
 Text 3:
 • use of passives to front information for the reader
 • fronted adverbials to highlight
 • fewer relative clauses
 • use of modals
 • imperatives (modern demands for guide)
 • adverbials and position
 • present tense – immediacy and sense of being a current guide
 • still many long complex sentences to give detail
 • parentheses to give additional information.

32.  Discourse/pragmatics:
 How the use of words identifies the relationship between writer and
reader
 and assumptions about the readership.
 Text 2:
 • limited audience (possible link to social class)
 • time before travel was widespread for all classes
 • makes assumptions about gender – more likely to be male (reflects
 society of time) – ‘no man’ (unlikely to be generic use) and ‘he that
 ventures’
 • purpose is to entertain by describing and to evoke an image – not a
 practical guide
 • relationship is impersonal with some personal asides.

33.  Text 3:
 • much wider audience – anyone wishing to go to
Thailand – all classes
 and genders.
 • no gender assumptions – audience directly addressed
‘you’ builds up
 a relationship between writer and reader
 • purpose is to inform and perhaps to persuade and
entertain
 • pragmatics- comments on the relationship between
the writer and
 reader.

34.  With all of this in mind, try to write a P-
E-E-A-C-L paragraph
 POINT
 EVIDENCE
EXPLAIN
ANALYSIS
CONTEXT
LINK TO TEXT 3