Original post by hlaffHey,
I'm doing this exam and I find looking at model answers so helpful when revising and building essay structure. Usually, if I want to find one I'll just type in on google e.g. ENG3 June 2011 exemplar script. If not, there is this website called Aquinas English which has a few exemplar script, but not all of them are top band.
When doing language acquisition my basic plan usually consists of:
Introduction
Caregivers
Lexis & Semantics
Discourse
Pragmatics
Theorists (obviously linked throughout)
I always feel as if the introduction of these essays are the hardest part, so I always exemplify the stage that they're in (usually the telegraphic/post telegraphic) with the use of contractions so for example...
Text A and B are transcripts of Jake, a four year old boy reading bedtime stories with his parents. Due to Jake being four years of age, theoretically we would place him into the post-telegraphic stage of lexical and grammatical development. However, Jake is seemingly suited to these groups within the two texts as it seems that he has is comfortable when employing more complex forms of grammar such as his use of contractions such as 'they're' and 'don't.' This is significant because the contracting of two separate lexemes comes later in grammatical development and the fact that he is able to use them confidently and correctly is impressive for someone of his age, which would be supported by Brown who believed that contractions were complex for children to comprehend so the fact that Jake uses them confidently suggests both a strong grammatical and cognitive ability which is typical of someone of his age.
The key is to always offer other explanations for things and be tentative. So, if you're saying that a child has mispronounced something like 'crying' as 'cwying', this may be due to consonant clusters, or it could also be from 'baby talk' that the caregiver may have previously used. Grunwell said that certain lexical items are easier to pronounce, so 'cwying' may be more phonetically pleasing due to it being related to baby talk that may have been used.
The same thing can be applied to Language Change. Always be offering alternative explanations, as at the end of the day, you never know why a text-producer has done something.
My general plan for Language Change includes:
Introduction (GAP, Mode of Production/Reception, diachronic/synchronic change, Register, etc.)
Lexis (Archaisms, modal verbs, perjoration/amelioration, broadening, etc.)
Discourse
Power (synthetic personalisation, accommodation, face theory, etc.)
Technology (advancements? printing press? etc)
Gender (if applicable)
Graphology (logos, colours, etc)
Also learn a few key dates (Dictionary, Lowth's Grammar Books, Education Act, World War's, etc.)
Theorists including Jean Aitchison and so on.
Just make sure to always be backing everything up with data and you should be fine, but don't ramble on certain things e.g. the long s because the examiner doesn't really care about that as its obvious.