The course will follow the current Cambridge International A Level specification: Cambridge International AS & A Level English Language (9093)
Paper 1 Reading
Learners are encouraged to read widely throughout their programme of study, continually deepening their appreciation of an increasingly rich array of reading material. They should develop an intimate knowledge and understanding of the conventions and discourses associated with a diverse range of genres, styles and contexts. Furthermore, learners should continue to cultivate their personal relationship with reading, enabling them to respond reflectively, analytically, discursively and creatively, as is appropriate to the task or context.
Knowledge and understanding
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- the conventions of a wide range of written textual forms, e.g. advertisements, brochures, leaflets, editorials, news stories, articles, reviews, blogs, investigative journalism, letters, podcasts, (auto)biographies, travel writing, diaries, essays, scripted speech, narrative writing, and descriptive writing
- the linguistic elements and literary features of texts, e.g. parts of speech / word classes, vocabulary, figurative language, phonology, morphology, rhetorical devices, voice, aspect, tense, modality, narrative perspective, word ordering and sentence structure, paragraph- and text-level structure, formality/informality of tone, pragmatics
- the significance of audience in both the design and reception of texts
- the ways in which genre, purpose and context contribute to the meaning of texts
Skills and techniques
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate the following skills and techniques:
- reading a range of unseen texts
- analysing the ways in which linguistic elements come together in a text to create meaning
- recognising different nonfiction textual forms and their conventions
- writing analytically about the effects produced by a range of linguistic elements and literary features
- integrating individual analytical points into broader overall responses to texts
- selecting and interpreting words and phrases from a text with care and precision
- recognising and commenting on the overall style of a text, and exemplifying this through specific instances of language analysis
- using quotations and evidence, with judgement, to produce precise, meaningful commentaries
- using appropriate language to link quotations and evidence with explanatory comments
- integrating quotations and evidence into a cohesive argument
- writing short, directed pieces in response to a text
- writing in the same style as another text
- writing in a different style from a text at the same time as re-using the content/material
- comparing the style and linguistic elements of their own writing with those of a given text
Paper 2 Writing
Using their reading as inspiration, learners should explore and experiment with a similarly extensive variety of genres, styles and contexts in their writing. In addition to refining their ability to express themselves with precision and clarity of purpose, learners should become increasingly reflective writers, capable of adapting the style of their writing to fit a diverse range of forms, audiences, purposes and contexts.
The knowledge and understanding that candidates are required to demonstrate in Paper 2 is the same as is covered in Paper 1.
Skills and techniques
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate the following skills and techniques:
- writing for a specified audience and purpose, to fulfil the brief provided
- producing an appropriate structure for longer pieces of writing, e.g. Freytag’s Pyramid in imaginative writing; dialectical structure in discursive writing; introductory, summary and evaluative sections in review writing
- organising writing to achieve specific effects, e.g. withholding key information in imaginative writing; juxtaposing counterarguments in discursive writing; evidentiary logic in critical writing
- structuring paragraphs, e.g. topic sentences, connectives, internal coherence, discourse markers
- using a range of appropriate linguistic elements and literary features, e.g. imagery in descriptive writing; rhetorical devices in argumentative writing; evaluative lexis in critical writing
- expressing ideas accurately and clearly at both sentence and word level
- reflecting upon and evaluating the qualities of their own writing, including aspects relating to its purpose, form and audience
Paper 3 Language Analysis
Learners should familiarise themselves with a comprehensive set of tools, strategies and conventions for studying language. This should include the following: developing frameworks for analysing and comparing unseen texts; assimilating a range of appropriate technical terminology; assessing, evaluating and synthesising sources of evidence; carrying out independent research into language concepts; contextualising their views in relation to theories; and understanding language data presented in the form of transcripts, tables and graphs.
Section A: Language change
In Section A, learners will explore how English has continually adapted to reflect changes in the social, cultural, political and technological contexts in which it has been used. Learners will explore the causes and consequences of language change in English, developing their knowledge of the topic through research, analysis, and an understanding of conventional methods of presenting historical language data.
Knowledge and understanding
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- the chronology and essential features of the development of the English language from Early Modern English to Contemporary English, e.g. graphology, orthography, phonology, morphology, syntax, lexis, semantics, pragmatics, grammar
- concepts and terminology related to language change, e.g. etymology, derivation, inflection, telescoping, coalescence, acronym, conversion, compounding, backformation, blending,
borrowing, amelioration, pejoration, broadening, narrowing - theories and theorists of language change, e.g. random fluctuation theory, cultural transmission theory, theory of lexical gaps, substratum theory, functional theory, tree and wave models
- n-gram graphs representing changes in language use over time, e.g. comparisons of related words, parts of speech, inflections, collocations
- word tables derived from corpus data, e.g. collocate lists, synonym lists
Skills and techniques
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate the following skills and techniques:
- researching in the field of language change
- analysing unseen texts as exemplars of certain aspects of language change
- interpreting and analysing n-gram graphs and corpus data relating to language change
- contextualising findings alongside relevant theories and concepts relating to language change
- synthesising their responses to a range of language data into a coherent analytical essay.
Section B: Child language acquisition
In Section B, learners will explore the stages of early development (0–8 years) in child language acquisition, considering the various features and functions of spoken language use during this period, and familiarising themselves with a range of relevant theories, theorists and conventions within the field.
Knowledge and understanding
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- the main stages of early development in child language acquisition, e.g. babbling, holophrastic, telegraphic and post-telegraphic stages
- the different functions of children’s language, e.g. instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, representational, heuristic, imaginative
- theories and theorists of child language acquisition, e.g. imitation and reinforcement theory, language acquisition device, language acquisition support system, cognitive development theory, child-directed or caretaker speech
- the conventions and features of unscripted conversation and spoken language transcripts, e.g. notation for pauses, overlaps, stress, intonation and phonemic features
Skills and techniques
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate the following skills and techniques:
- researching in the field of child language acquisition
- analysing spoken language transcripts as exemplars of certain aspects of child language acquisition
- interpreting and analysing instances of conversation involving children aged 0 to 8 years
- contextualising findings alongside relevant theories and concepts relating to child language acquisition
- synthesising these theoretical considerations into a coherent analytical essay.
Paper 4 Language Topics
Throughout the syllabus, learners are encouraged to move beyond the practical application of English language, and to engage in a deeper consideration of a number of theoretical issues related to its use. Learners should develop their ability to engage in discussion on how the diverse forms of English that exist across the world interact both with one another and with other languages, and, how language use contributes to the construction and development of the self.
For Paper 4, learners will study two key topics in the field of English language studies: ‘English in the world’ in Section A and ‘Language and the self’ in Section B.
Section A: English in the world
In Section A, learners will explore the history of English as a ‘global’ language; the development of standard and nonstandard forms of English, including the varieties used by first-language users outside the UK; and ethical considerations related to the continuing expansion of English usage around the world.
Knowledge and understanding
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theories, theorists and studies relating to:
- the historical development of English as a ‘global’ language, e.g. colonialism, cultural influence and effects, concentric circles model, multilingualism, the future of English
- varieties of English, e.g. standard and nonstandard ‘Englishes’, creolisation, sociolect continuum, official and unofficial attitudes and policies
- relevant ethical considerations, e.g. language shift and death, cultural imperialism, equality of opportunity, global cooperation
Skills and techniques
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate the following skills and techniques:
- reading and demonstrating critical understanding of unseen texts relating to ‘English in the world’
- selecting and analysing pertinent ideas and examples from the texts
- relating these ideas and examples to theories, theorists and studies from their wider research in the relevant topic area
- synthesising these considerations into a coherent analytical essay.
Section B: Language and the self
In Section B, learners will explore how language allows us to communicate our sense of self to others, as well as playing a highly significant role in the ongoing construction, determination and development of that self. Learners will study the degree to which language is innate, learned, or both; the ways in which language and thought are both interwoven with, and separable from, each other; and how we use language, both consciously and unconsciously, to construct and maintain social identities.
Knowledge and understanding
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theories, theorists and studies relating to:
- innateness and learning, e.g. behaviourism, innatism, nativism, empiricism
- the relationship between language and thought, e.g. linguistic relativity and determinism, universalism, language of thought hypothesis
- the relationship between language and social identity, e.g. speech communities, prestige, idiolect, dialect, sociolect, genderlect, variation, standard and nonstandard features, inclusion and exclusion, speech sounds and accents
Skills and techniques
Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate the following skills and techniques:
- reading and demonstrating critical understanding of unseen texts relating to ‘Language and the self’
- selecting and analysing pertinent ideas and examples from the texts
- relating these ideas and examples to theories, theorists and studies from their wider research in the relevant topic area
- synthesising these considerations into a coherent analytical essay.
It is the parents’ responsibility to arrange their child’s examinations; our teachers will provide all the support required. Most students will sit their examination papers at a school or college who accept private candidates. Some students sit their examinations at private examination centres.
If you are intending to study A Level English Language, we recommend that you spend some time in the summer holidays preparing. Here are some suggested activities:
Podcasts and TED Talks:
BBC Sounds – The Reith Lectures – listen to all four of these.
BBC Radio 4 – Word of Mouth – the demigod who is Michael Rosen. Look through for specific language ideas.
The History of English Podcast – 167 episodes, meaning around 80 hours of the history of English. Beautifully made, and so easy to listen to. Maybe listen to two to three per week!
Listen Notes BBC Radio 3 – The Essay – The Art of Storytelling – David Crystal – Mrs H’s hero speaks!
3: Let’s Talk (with David Crystal) – Because Language – a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.
Listen Notes – Episode 100! A Brief History of English (with David Crystal)
Listen Notes – The myth of the native speaker (with David Crystal)
Listen Notes – David Crystal and the Raiders of the Lost Accent
Listen Notes – Why is English the GLOBAL LANGUAGE? – English with Dane
Listen Notes #364 Limor Raviv: Psycholinguistics, Child Development, and Language Acquisition
TED Talks – Michael Corballis: Evolution’s great mystery: Language
TED Talk – Archie Crowley: Language around gender and identity evolves (and always has)
TED Talk – Lera Boroditsky: How language shapes the way we think
Articles:
TED ideas – 5 words that don’t mean what they used to mean
The Guardian – Behemoth, bully, thief: how the English language is taking over the planet
The Guardian – Why it’s time to stop worrying about the decline of the English language
The Guardian – From Seaspeak to Singlish: celebrating other kinds of English – Rosie Driffill
The Guardian – Grammar snobs are patronising, pretentious and just plain wrong – video
The Guardian – How new words are born – Andy Bodle
The Guardian – It’s what you have to say, not how you say it – Gary Nunn
The Guardian – Power grab: reclaiming words can be such a bitch – Gary Nunn
The Guardian – George Orwell, human resources and the English language – James Gingell
The Guardian – Do you speak Kiwinglish? New Zealand’s distinct linguistic identity – Sam O’Flaherty
The Guardian – Journey to the center of the global English debate – David Marsh
The Guardian – So, what’s the problem with ‘so’? – David Shariatmadari
The New York Times – How the English Language Conquered the World
BBC News – Can English remain the ‘world’s favourite’ language?
BBC Culture – How the English language became such a mess
BBC Culture – Mind Your Language! Swearing around the world
The Guardian – ‘The problem of gendered language is universal’ – how AI reveals media bias
The British Library (bl.uk) – Grammatical change in the English language
Books:
Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson- hilarious and entertaining- so worth reading.
The Adventure of English, Melvyn Bragg- a fascinating biography of the language.
English as a Global Language, David Crystal
How English became English, by Simon Horobin- short and accessible.
Language Myths – edited by Laurie Bower and Peter Trudghill- excellent essays that dispel some common myths about the English language.
Don’t Believe a Word: The Surprising Truth About Language – David Shariatmadari
What can learners expect from the A Level English Language online course?
The A Level English Language online course by Cambridge aims to strengthen learners’ understanding of the English language and its applications in various contexts. The course encourages critical thinking by exposing students to diverse texts and improves skills like communication, reading, research, and analysis.
What are the key components of the English Language A Level curriculum?
In the first year, students will focus on reading and writing across multiple forms of texts and providing written analyses. In the second year, they will delve into language changes over time, child language development, the global use of English, and the relationship between language and individual identity.
How is the online English Language A Level assessed?
Students are expected to complete at least one homework assignment each week and revise regularly. Assessments are conducted in June for Level 5 and in November and March for Level 6, followed by detailed reports. Attainment and effort are graded, and constructive feedback is provided.
How can parents stay updated on their child’s progress in the English Language A Level online course?
Parents are advised to make use of their family Teams account to maintain an open dialogue with teachers. This setup allows for a more nuanced tracking of a student’s academic journey than an annual consultation evening would offer.
What does the course recommend for achieving the highest grades in the English Language A Level?
The Chief Examiner’s report indicates that students who actively engage in wider reading, using the suggested list for books, articles, and podcasts, usually achieve the highest grades. It is recommended that for every hour taught in class, an hour should be spent on independent study and wider reading.