English Language Paper 2 AS Level Exam

Original post by Mollynoble

I'm on AQA exam board and my teachers have said the article is most likely to be accent and dialect however one my teachers is friends with one of the people marking for the exam and it seems language and gender could be the article instead

I thought there was occupation as well? I hope so as I know very little about accent

Reply 5

Original post by harry998

What notes have you guys got for gender and occupation (theories etc.)?

I have hundreds of sheets of paper but it isn't very useful as I can't find anything in the piles of handouts my teachers have given me.

[Edit] This my become a useful revision resource...
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4147753#primary_content

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 6

H1212

6

Does anyone know how many questions we get in the exam tomorrow? I really haven't been told much about it at all

Reply 7

Original post by H1212

Does anyone know how many questions we get in the exam tomorrow? I really haven't been told much about it at all

2. Here is the specimen paper 2
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-SQP.PDF
Anyone know if they will be one Q on each topic (Gender, Occupation, Accent &dialect? That's what the specimen is like, but I don't know if it is possible they might have e.g. Q1 and Q3 on gender?

Ah great, thank you!

so nervous for the exam tomorrow, wish we had more past papers :frown:

Reply 10

H1212

6

Could language and power be on the AS exam tomorrow? We haven't studied that :s-smilie:

Reply 11

logophile1998

Original post by H1212

Could language and power be on the AS exam tomorrow? We haven't studied that :s-smilie:

Yeah it could, power is an aspect of sociolinguistics after all. If not, every interaction no matter what topic relates to power anyway. I suggest you learn the power theories, they're really easy!

Reply 12

logophile1998

Original post by yelash

2. Here is the specimen paper 2
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-77012-SQP.PDF
Anyone know if they will be one Q on each topic (Gender, Occupation, Accent &dialect? That's what the specimen is like, but I don't know if it is possible they might have e.g. Q1 and Q3 on gender?

Hi
They'll pick two aspects of sociolinguistics for the essays (power and technology etc)

Then for the article they'll ask for our opinion on a linguistic issue such as accent and slang

Reply 13

merkatron

Original post by logophile1998

Hi
They'll pick two aspects of sociolinguistics for the essays (power and technology etc)

Then for the article they'll ask for our opinion on a linguistic issue such as accent and slang

Not exactly. The new spec is a little different to the old one and language & technology is not a topic for the new course (the ideas could be relevant to various topics but it's not a topic in its own right).

The topic areas for Paper 2 are basically accent and dialect and sociolect (including social groups, social class, occupational groups and gender). The way we split it with our classes was into social groups, occupation, gender and accent/dialect.

You'll get a choice of two essay questions in section A (sample paper was occupation and gender) and no choice in section B where it could be any of the areas (sample paper was about regional accent and social class) but could be occupation, gender, social groups etc. The focus in Section B is more on arguments and debates about language, so often more of a focus on attitudes to accents, sociolect, how gender is represented and the rest of it.

Things like slang, technology, sexuality and power are all relevant in different ways so might be worth bringing in, but the main areas are the ones outlined in the spec.

The details of what could be covered on Paper 2 are all on page 13 of the spec (which is here).

Reply 14

harry998

9

Theorists (that I've learnt about in class) -

Power - Wareing 1999 (3 types of power - political, personal,social group)
- Fairclough (Power behind/in discourse)
- Deborah Tannen (political correctness)

Occupation - Sinclair and Coulthard (initiation,response,feedback theory)
- Wareing (power in the workplace)
- Work talk theory (Lakoff?)

Accent - Trudgill (Norwich N pronunciation theory)
- Workman (hierarchy of accents by intelligence around the UK)

Gender - 4 D's (difference, diversity, deficit, dominance models)
- Dale Spender (feminism numerous theories there lol)

I think that's it but if there are any more then please don't hesitate to add!

Reply 15

merkatron

The question format in Section A is the same each time, so "Discuss the idea that x... ". If you've revised the main topic areas and can do a question on x in the place of the topics on the sample paper you'll be fine. Lots of teachers have produced their own extra questions based on what AQA have provided, so you'll probably have seen some other ideas.
I thought Paper 1 was as close to the sample paper as it could be really. How was it different?

Reply 16

jenniferhextall

Just typed this out now while revising so maybe it will help some of you (:

Language and gender
"The gender neutral pronoun: after 150 years still an epic fail" - Dennis Baron
Sweden has the gender neutral pronoun "hen" which is from the male "han" and the female "hon"
J. K. Rowling - didn't disclose the fact she is female when she published Harry Potter, and when she wrote under a pseudonym it was the male Robert Galbraith
The Economist 'Generic man and female airmen' - The male pronoun in the traditional view is sex neutral e.g. "mankind", "all men are created equal". Feminists opt for "people" or "humankind". Language is changing because society is changing e.g. "policemen" and "firemen" were not previously controversial because there were no women in these roles. It's not just England that has this problem.
Examples of Generic Man: two-man tent, manning a stall, take it like a man, may the best man win - possibly problematic as it implies that men are the stronger sex.
Semantic non-equivalences - pairs of terms that are historically differentiated by sex alone, but which over time, have gained different connotations and in some cases,different denotations. Examples:
• Bachelor - young, cool/Spinster - old, lonely
• Tomboy - acting like a boy is cool, accepted/Sissy - negative, implying that being like a girl is bad (man up)
• Master - in charge, positive/Mistress - negative, brothel, woman on the side
Paul Baker: Gender and Language Research Methodologies - Found differences in the dictionary equivalents of bachelor and spinster; titled his chapter as 'Eligible bachelors and frustrated spinsters'
Diminutives - host/hostess, actor/actress
Honorifics - Mrs, Ms, Miss = woman have to specify whereas men are all included under Mr - possibly means that a woman's marital status is more significant than a man's. Mx - can be used by transgender people or anyone who does not wish to disclose their gender.
Key theories:
• Deficit View - male and female speech styles are different, the male form is taken as the norm - Otto Jeperson
• Dominance View - differences in male and female speech are related to the fact that males have dominance in society. - Lakoff's 'Language and Women's Place', patriarchy was to blame for women's linguistic weakness, Dale Spender's 'Man-made Language’
• Difference View - men and women have different aims in conversation since each has been raised with different expectations. - Deborah Tannen "male-female conversation is cross-cultural communication"
• Diversity View - gender is just one of many aspects of our identity which shape our speech and the linguistic differences between people of the same gender are often at least as great as the differences between a man and a woman. - Deborah Cameron's 'The Myth of Mars and Venus'

Language and Occupation
What are the functions of workplace interactions?
• Communicating information
• Delegate tasks/jobs – instructing employees
• To make requests
• Small talk – use it to get things you want/develop relationships
• Requesting help
• Confirming arrangements
Occupational register: lexis
- Almost all occupations have their own special lexicon – a vocabulary that is specific to that occupation
- We can identify words or phrases that are specialist forms or common forms with specialist meaning:
1. Specialist word and meaning e.g. false nine – football, prima gravida – medical
2. Common word with specialist meaning e.g. maggot – navy
3. Common word with common meaning e.g. lesson – education
A key feature of occupational register is special lexis. It is special because it has a denotation that is a different form, or narrower than, that in common use. Sometimes this can be exclusive as it excludes people who do not understand the lexis e.g. myocardial infarction – many medical words are latin.
Jargon – specialist vocabulary associated with a particular occupation or activity.
Benefits
• More specific
• Sounds more professional – makes you seem more knowledgeable of the profession
• You can communicate more efficiently
Criticisms
• Hard for people outside the occupation to understand e.g. if you are in hospital you don’t want to be told what’s wrong in Latin
• Can alienate people who are new to the occupation
• Confusing – could make conversation more difficult

Imperatives e.g. “do this” – key feature in a workplace
Politeness features – Phatic tokens, Taking turns

Face
The status and self-image of a participant in a conversation. British linguists Brown and Levinson suggested two main aspects of face in communication:
• Positive face – where the individual desires social approval and being included
• Negative face – where the individual asserts their authority over and/or independence from others
A face threatening act is an utterance that damages or undermines the status of another participant in the conversation.

Upwards and downwards convergence

Grice’s conversational maxims
Paul Grice (1961) suggested that conversation only works because speakers choose to co-operate. This takes place in the form of four unwritten rules or maxims. When speakers violate or flout these maxims, difficulties occur, either misunderstanding or conflict.
• Quality – truthful, correct information
• Quantity – informative as possible and gives as much information as is needed and no more
• Relevance – says things that are pertinent to the discussion
• Manner – clear, efficient and orderly, avoiding obscurity and ambiguity

Language and Power

• Powerful = standard speech
Powerless = non-standard speech
• Standard languages and prestige dialects are spoken by the highest socioeconomic groups
• Men vs women
• Powerful and powerless forms of talk are defined in terms of the impressions they create
• Features of powerless talk
- Hedges / qualifiers
- Hesitation forms
- Tag questions
- Deictic phrases
- Disclaimers
• Features of powerful talk
- Interrogatives
• Wareing (1999)
Define social groups and power:
Political - Power in the Law e.g. Police, Judge, Barrister
Personal - Occupation / Power within a Job e.g. Doctor, Teacher and so on.
Social Group - Friends and Family, Class in society.
Types of Power:-
Instrumental (Written and Spoken)
Influential (Written and Spoken)
Instrumental Power - Enforces Authority and is imposed by the laws, state, conventions and organisations. for e,g "SHUT UP NOW!"
Influential Power - Persuasive and Inclines or makes us want to behave in a certain way. for e.g. "Please do not touch the wet paint."

Reply 17

jenniferhextall

Just typed this out now while revising so maybe it will help some of you (:

Language and gender
"The gender neutral pronoun: after 150 years still an epic fail" - Dennis Baron
Sweden has the gender neutral pronoun "hen" which is from the male "han" and the female "hon"
J. K. Rowling - didn't disclose the fact she is female when she published Harry Potter, and when she wrote under a pseudonym it was the male Robert Galbraith
The Economist 'Generic man and female airmen' - The male pronoun in the traditional view is sex neutral e.g. "mankind", "all men are created equal". Feminists opt for "people" or "humankind". Language is changing because society is changing e.g. "policemen" and "firemen" were not previously controversial because there were no women in these roles. It's not just England that has this problem.
Examples of Generic Man: two-man tent, manning a stall, take it like a man, may the best man win - possibly problematic as it implies that men are the stronger sex.
Semantic non-equivalences - pairs of terms that are historically differentiated by sex alone, but which over time, have gained different connotations and in some cases,different denotations. Examples:
• Bachelor - young, cool/Spinster - old, lonely
• Tomboy - acting like a boy is cool, accepted/Sissy - negative, implying that being like a girl is bad (man up)
• Master - in charge, positive/Mistress - negative, brothel, woman on the side
Paul Baker: Gender and Language Research Methodologies - Found differences in the dictionary equivalents of bachelor and spinster; titled his chapter as 'Eligible bachelors and frustrated spinsters'
Diminutives - host/hostess, actor/actress
Honorifics - Mrs, Ms, Miss = woman have to specify whereas men are all included under Mr - possibly means that a woman's marital status is more significant than a man's. Mx - can be used by transgender people or anyone who does not wish to disclose their gender.
Key theories:
• Deficit View - male and female speech styles are different, the male form is taken as the norm - Otto Jeperson
• Dominance View - differences in male and female speech are related to the fact that males have dominance in society. - Lakoff's 'Language and Women's Place', patriarchy was to blame for women's linguistic weakness, Dale Spender's 'Man-made Language’
• Difference View - men and women have different aims in conversation since each has been raised with different expectations. - Deborah Tannen "male-female conversation is cross-cultural communication"
• Diversity View - gender is just one of many aspects of our identity which shape our speech and the linguistic differences between people of the same gender are often at least as great as the differences between a man and a woman. - Deborah Cameron's 'The Myth of Mars and Venus'

Language and Occupation
What are the functions of workplace interactions?
• Communicating information
• Delegate tasks/jobs – instructing employees
• To make requests
• Small talk – use it to get things you want/develop relationships
• Requesting help
• Confirming arrangements
Occupational register: lexis
- Almost all occupations have their own special lexicon – a vocabulary that is specific to that occupation
- We can identify words or phrases that are specialist forms or common forms with specialist meaning:
1. Specialist word and meaning e.g. false nine – football, prima gravida – medical
2. Common word with specialist meaning e.g. maggot – navy
3. Common word with common meaning e.g. lesson – education
A key feature of occupational register is special lexis. It is special because it has a denotation that is a different form, or narrower than, that in common use. Sometimes this can be exclusive as it excludes people who do not understand the lexis e.g. myocardial infarction – many medical words are latin.
Jargon – specialist vocabulary associated with a particular occupation or activity.
Benefits
• More specific
• Sounds more professional – makes you seem more knowledgeable of the profession
• You can communicate more efficiently
Criticisms
• Hard for people outside the occupation to understand e.g. if you are in hospital you don’t want to be told what’s wrong in Latin
• Can alienate people who are new to the occupation
• Confusing – could make conversation more difficult

Imperatives e.g. “do this” – key feature in a workplace
Politeness features – Phatic tokens, Taking turns

Face
The status and self-image of a participant in a conversation. British linguists Brown and Levinson suggested two main aspects of face in communication:
• Positive face – where the individual desires social approval and being included
• Negative face – where the individual asserts their authority over and/or independence from others
A face threatening act is an utterance that damages or undermines the status of another participant in the conversation.

Upwards and downwards convergence

Grice’s conversational maxims
Paul Grice (1961) suggested that conversation only works because speakers choose to co-operate. This takes place in the form of four unwritten rules or maxims. When speakers violate or flout these maxims, difficulties occur, either misunderstanding or conflict.
• Quality – truthful, correct information
• Quantity – informative as possible and gives as much information as is needed and no more
• Relevance – says things that are pertinent to the discussion
• Manner – clear, efficient and orderly, avoiding obscurity and ambiguity

Language and Power

• Powerful = standard speech
Powerless = non-standard speech
• Standard languages and prestige dialects are spoken by the highest socioeconomic groups
• Men vs women
• Powerful and powerless forms of talk are defined in terms of the impressions they create
• Features of powerless talk
- Hedges / qualifiers
- Hesitation forms
- Tag questions
- Deictic phrases
- Disclaimers
• Features of powerful talk
- Interrogatives
• Wareing (1999)
Define social groups and power:
Political - Power in the Law e.g. Police, Judge, Barrister
Personal - Occupation / Power within a Job e.g. Doctor, Teacher and so on.
Social Group - Friends and Family, Class in society.
Types of Power:-
Instrumental (Written and Spoken)
Influential (Written and Spoken)
Instrumental Power - Enforces Authority and is imposed by the laws, state, conventions and organisations. for e,g "SHUT UP NOW!"
Influential Power - Persuasive and Inclines or makes us want to behave in a certain way. for e.g. "Please do not touch the wet paint."

Reply 18