COMPONENT 1B - WALKTHROUGH

The Basics

Remember - 1/3 on the extract, 2/3 on your own wider knowledge



This exam is TWO HOURS long, and contains two sections.


Section A - Spoken Language Analysis
Section B - Language Issues


The section are EQUALLY WEIGHTED (60 marks per section), so you should spend roughly half of the time you are given on each text. You MAY feel you can devote 5 more minutes to section A, as it requires more reading and planning.


Section B - What to expect


You will be given a CHOICE of THREE questions. You MUST ensure that you only answer ONE, which will take the form of a 6-9 paragraph essay. You do not need an introduction
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You have been preparing for this section of the exam by studying a variety of concepts:


Standard and Non-Standard English


Appropriateness of English use in a certain situation
Regional Dialect
Attitudes towards non-standard variations of English
Received Pronunciation
The crossover between spoken and written English.


Language and Power


Status in a particular situation
Conversation Analysis
Power in the media
Political Language
Legal Language
Language in advertising


Language and Situation


Formal and informal contexts (convergence, divergence, formality, code-switching)
Participants and purpose
Politeness
Face Theory
Political Correctness
Other Englishes


There will be a question on at least TWO of the above topics. If you are lucky, there will be a question on each of them. You MAY need to read the keywords of each question to identify which area the question relates to.


Each question will provide you with a short extract. This may be somebody's opinion, a short transcript, or a cutting from a complete text. Whatever the question is, it will ALWAYS ask you to use the extract as a starting point to answer the question, and then use your wider knowledge to finish your essay.


You should aim to answer this question on a 1 third vs 2 thirds basis. No more than 2-3 paragraphs on the extract, and then around 4-6 on your wider knowledge.


This section should be EXTREMELY accessible for you, if you put in the hours with your wider reading. To a certain extent, you should be able to prepare for around 5-6 eventualities, and then just write what you have prepared once you identify a relevant question.


DO NOT ANSWER ON CHILD LANGUAGE ACQUISITION OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH HOW CHILDREN USE LANGUAGE.


I will go into more detail about how to answer this question in a separate blog post.