AS/A2 English Language

AS/A2 English Language
The course is designed to enable you to:
Experience and respond to a wide range of texts through discussion, analysis and creative writing
Learn how to analyse and discuss the techniques that writers and speakers use to communicate depending on the audience and purpose
Apply language methods and terminology to the writing of others as well as your own
Communicate through discussion and well-planned and clearly structured essays
Is it for me?
English Language is very different from GCSE English Language. It offers a fascinating insight into how society uses the English language in writing and speech. If you enjoy studying English but are not especially interested in literature, this is the course for you. Assessment is a mixture of coursework and exams.
What's involved?
Categorising Texts
This module introduces you to the linguistic methods you will use throughout the course to analyse a variety of texts. You will learn how to classify and group texts according to concepts of genre (text type), audience and the context in which they were written. You will consider how writers and speakers make language choices in order to suit very different audiences, purposes and genres and you will learn how to discuss these choices.
There is a focus on three areas:
· Language and Technology-how modern technology affects the language we speak and write
· Language and Gender-how language use is affected by the gender of the person speaking, writing or reading
· and Language and Power-how writing and speech can be used to influence people.
Assessment is by one written paper of 2 hours.
Creating Texts
This is a coursework module which should develop your own expertise as a writer. You will write for two different audiences and purposes. You can choose to write to entertain, instruct, persuade or inform - both tasks must have a different purpose. You will be supported on a 1:1 basis by your teacher who will help you to choose your tasks and to improve your writing skills. You will also write an analytical commentary for each piece which will explain your language choices.
Total word count for the two pieces: 2,500-3,500 words.
The second year of the course builds on the skills you have developed in the first year and takes them further.
Developing Language
This module is divided into two areas of study. The first, Child Language Acquisition, focuses on how children learn to speak, read and write. The second area, Language Change, looks at how the English language has changed (and continues to change) from 1700 to the present day. The focus of this part of the module is on written texts-there were no tape recorders to record speech in 1700!
Investigating Language
For this coursework module you produce two pieces of work. The first is an investigative research piece, based on an area of language that interests you and which is approved by your class teacher. For the second piece, you produce a piece of journalism, such as a magazine article, on the same topic to present your research to a non-specialist audience.
Total word count for the two pieces: 2,500-3,500 words.
Progression
English Language will give you a wide range of options when you progress to university including English degrees, Teaching, and Journalism. It is also valued by employers.