Work in my absence 18th April

Afternoon everyone,

I am in moderation all day today so am unable to be in the lesson with you. I would like you to continue with some work in my absence. Once you have completed the task, please email me to let me know you have done it - I won't be able to mark you present until I have evidence that you have completed the task.

Today, I would like you to push on with the directed writing task on Paper 2. Now that we have covered (mostly) everything we need to cover in class to do with gender, social class and accent and dialect, you have a wealth of topics to draw inspiration from when doing your directed writing. In the exam, you will be given the topic, but you will be able to choose who and what you are writing for, so the style is up to you.

It is useful to think about the directed writing task as a creative alternative to a discursive essay. Discursive skills involve marshalling points and presenting them in a coherent form. The focus of Paper 2 Section B on language debates will mean that your writing will have the purpose of conveying opinions and arguing a case. Essentially, the task will always require you to present opinions and views and positions to a non-specialist audience. The form specified won’t always be an opinion article, but it will always be an opinion-based piece.

Part of your job in the Directed Writing task is to explain linguistic concepts to a non-specialist audience.

This means that
a) you need linguistic ideas to explain and
b) you need to develop a way of making them clear and intelligible to your readers.

In practice, this means you will need to do the following:

• explain who people are and why you are quoting them or referring to them 
• give a clear explanation of a technical term (and show an example of it in use) 
• untangle different ideas and make them more straightforward for your audience 
• present different arguments and identify where they are coming from 
• show an overview of issues from which you can then select relevant examples 
• demonstrate language practices in use with examples that your readers will understand 
• show your own line of argument and guide your readers through the topic 

Examples of Audiences

Some useful models of opinion-based writing include serious newspaper features such as The Independent’s Voices, more light-hearted features such as The Guardian’s Modern Tribes or Mind Your Language and other articles and editorials in a wide range of publications. Think Huffington Post/Cosmo/Daily Mail. The choices are almost endless, so it's important to do your research before the exam so you can get a true understanding of the styles of different publications. The style and of a Daily Mail article for example will be very different from The Guardian, and you need to specify in the exam who/what you are writing for.

Exemplar for Inspiration

Click here to look at a Section B example question and click here read the exemplar directed writing response on the exam board website. Scroll down until you get to section B. Read the response carefully, looking at the notes from the examiner on the side. This is the kind of response you should be aiming for.


Task

Post to your blog when you are finished, and please email me to let me know you have completed the tasks

Today I would like you to research a number of opinion based sections for different publications. Aim for 5. For each one, make a note of the style of the writing and any characteristics that stand out, this could be narrative voice, use of techniques or emotive language, or it could stand out because it lacks these.

When you have done this, choose your publication and write the opening paragraph and 3 subsequent paragraphs in response to the following question:

Write an opinion article in which you discuss your opinion on the differences between the language used by men and women.

Can't understand your man? He could be speaking 'Menglish' (but here's how you can be fluent too)

• Men and women can't communicate because they speak different languages
• But women can learn to understand their partners says relationship coach
• Men aren't mind-readers but you can talk in a certain way so that they listen

By SARAH BRIDGE FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY 

If you've often thought that you and your partner seem to be speaking completely different languages, then you might be right.

Now British relationship coach Julie-Anne Shapiro has used the word 'Menglish' to illustrate how differently the sexes think and hear things.

She claims that men and women do have their own unique languages which sometimes make it feel as if they are on different planets.

But rather than just continuing feeling as if you are banging your head against a brick wall, she suggests ten steps which will help you perfect your 'Menglish'.