AS Language Paper 1 - Hints and Tips to Boost Your Grade

Hi everyone,

Now that you have had a go at the exam and have your feedback, you should now focus your attention on how to build on these skills you have picked up. Below is advice on how to address the exam as a whole, and how to approach each of the 3 questions.

A summary: quality not quantity, use 'sophisticated' terminology, proofread and edit (leave time after the 20 mins for question 3 to re-read and improve everything - it can make the difference of a full grade), don't worry about repeating points in question 3 - it is expected and not penalised, be subtle not straightforward, link techniques and context every time you make a point, comment on both texts in each paragraph in Question 3. 

Questions 1&2 

• You get two texts linked by theme but in different forms/genres to analyse separately (one in each question) - you need to show how the different contexts (form/genre, audiences, purposes, modes, means of reception i.e. how the readers access the texts, audience needs and expectations etc.) influence the techniques that the text producers use (identify these with as much terminology as possible). In other words, 'Why do the producers use the linguistic techniques you have identified?' In other words, 'How does language link to context?'
•  In questions one and two, you analyse each of the texts separately, looking at exactly how meanings and representations are communicated - you should try and explore a range of frameworks - comment about not just grammar and lexis but also ideas such as discourse (e.g. use of 1st/2nd/3rd person, structuring devices, discourse markers, level of formality, general tone); mode/multi-modality, and affordances and constraints of the genre, if they are technologically mediated; how graphology supports meanings made through language (e.g. the way the caption interprets the image in a particular way to guide the reader to intended meanings); the implied writer and reader, perhaps even exploring synthetic personalisation, building the consumer etc., the importance of phonological aspects if they are relevant etc.
• In Questions 1&2, you are given marks in AO1 accurate terminology and good PEE (10 marks for accurate terminology used to explore how meanings and representations are made, and SPAG, and coherent/cohesive analysis) and AO3 context (15 marks for the different aspects of the who, how, where and why - I identified some of these in the first bullet point)
• Higher marks are awarded if you comment on what is percieved to be the more 'sophisticated' terminology e.g. the grammar of sentence moods (also called clause types), sentence types (and the order of the clauses within them, including how they are linked e.g. with discourse markers, subordinating or co-ordinating conjunctions, fronting of adverbials etc.), text cohesion (structuring devices, register, tone etc.), affordances and constraints of technologically mediated texts etc.
• Use of even a couple of these 'sophisticated' aspects of analysis can boost even a lower-band marks and are necessary for top-band marks. Looking at the use of sentence moods (especially if you can identify and explore aspects like cloaked imperatives), modal auxiliary verbs, subordinating discourse markers etc. is going to improve your marks.
• Quality is more important than quantity so develop fewer points more deeply but ensure you cover a range of frameworks/levels (grammar, lexis, discourse, phonology etc.) - context is worth the most marks so ensure you comment on this in depth, perhaps exploring how purposes combine in particular quotes or how different sub-audiences might interpret or react to techniques differently.
• Proofread and edit to improve the amount of terminology used, the clarity and accuracy of your writing, the depth of your points, the amount/subtlety of contextual comment etc.

Question 3

• Question 3 is marked on a brand new assessment objective: AO4 - explore connections across texts - and is worth 20 marks.
• The trainer on the course said that quality is way more important than quantity and that you can pick just twoaspects to connect/contrast but you must develop those paragraphs fully to show how techniques make meaning similarly/differently because of the contexts or how meaning is made similarly/differently because of the contexts.
• The trainer said you should spend only 20 minutes of the exam time on this question (perhaps because you know the texts so well at this stage) - my recommendation is to independently find texts that connect on a theme for yourself and practise this type of answer, as often as possible, to get your speed up - how much you can plan and write in the time is like muscles that need developing through exercise. Get mentally muscly!
• You can repeat ideas from questions 1 and 2 because you are now contrasting the texts and it is that aspect that you are being marked on.
• You do still need to use as much terminology and contextual comment as you can, as it is the sophistication of the connections and contrasts and how they are explained that is important. Comment on both texts in each paragraph, using connecting and contrasting discourse markers to guide the reader.
• Ensure that you explore the thematic links (essential!) and any contrasting aspects (beneficial!), especially if they are part of wider discourses on education, race, the environment, politics, the media etc. How are groups and ideas represented, as well as how is the implied reader  represented and how is the implied writer self-representing?
• Comment on the mode and reception, the register, the degree of interactivity, the degree of politeness or whatever seems significant, because evaluating the significance and ambiguities of the techniques is high-level
• 'Straightforward' is the enemy of high marks - by all means cover all the bases by including as much terminology and context as you can but it is the subtler points that show the complexities in the texts and the connections that you make between them that will win you the higher marks.

Look through all of the advice above, the comments on your mocks and the highlighted target sheet. Use the feedback powerpoint and the exam board's A grade example to try and boost your mark.

Over Easter, you can re-sit your mock if you wish. If you do this, make sure it is in timed conditions (allow yourself 1.5 hours) and I will mark it when we get back.

Claudia