English Language

Course summary

English Language at A Level makes no distinction between a bus ticket and King Lear: they both use English, in different ways and for different purposes. The job for students is to articulate and explore these differences. They will focus on knowledge and understanding of the language levels and application of critical analysis skills through a range of texts from the world around us. The course also explores interesting and varied contexts which affect language in use: gender, power, technology and accent, all have an impact on our language in some way. Alongside this, we explore specific areas such as child language acquisition, language in the media and language change. They will also complete an engaging written production task in which they will demonstrate their own language skills. As part of the course, there is an independent language research component which comprises two sections. Section A Is an independent investigation of language, providing the opportunity to explore an area of study which is of a particular personal interest. Section B The academic poster allows a presentation of research from an independent investigation in a concise and visually accessible way. The ‘real-world’ purpose of the academic poster is for use in conferences and to present research projects to a group of peers. This module therefore provides excellent preparation for the types of activities undertaken in universities.