Enga3 exam 3rd june&#x27;13

i'm so worried about this exam haha. What do you think will pop up? I still haven't fully revised yet, I've completed half the AQA book but have found bits and pieces on the internet to make my theories a bit stronger like the bull's eye theory etc.

Reply 2

OP

Original post by The_Deputy

i'm so worried about this exam haha. What do you think will pop up? I still haven't fully revised yet, I've completed half the AQA book but have found bits and pieces on the internet to make my theories a bit stronger like the bull's eye theory etc.

haha,half the AQA book?Man that's a lot of stuff.I haven't done anything so extensive :P
And I don't know about the Bull's Eye theory :confused:

..I've never come across it...
Anyway,as for what I think would pop up,it's tricky to just guess but going strictly by instinct,I'd say that Question 3 is going to be on Variation (particularly Creoles and MLE) or Political Correctness.I really hope we don't get Gender or anything because it's just plain boring but it's unlikely since it's such a grey area for examiners.
I really hope the Change Question is nice and approachable because I don't like the Variation Section :P

Reply 3

username318090

Original post by LostByeol

haha,half the AQA book?Man that's a lot of stuff.I haven't done anything so extensive :P
And I don't know about the Bull's Eye theory :confused:

..I've never come across it...
Anyway,as for what I think would pop up,it's tricky to just guess but going strictly by instinct,I'd say that Question 3 is going to be on Variation (particularly Creoles and MLE) or Political Correctness.I really hope we don't get Gender or anything because it's just plain boring but it's unlikely since it's such a grey area for examiners.
I really hope the Change Question is nice and approachable because I don't like the Variation Section :P

thats not alot at all haha, the books kinda limited with theories though and it takes so much time researching them on google etc urgh

id deffo have a look at gender though because both my english teacher and an aqa examiner think there will be a gender question in either section a or b. but that's a guess so its not 100% certain.

as for the bull's eye theory, I found this on these forums from 2010 and it seemed useful in discussing about how words enter the language:

It's a really useful model/theory that helps to explain phonological (and in extreme cases graphological) change. Annoyingly it's not in the A2 guide, but is discussed by Jean Aitchison in her book on language change. It was created by Charles Hockett (who created random fluctuation), who said that random fluctuation can also occur subconsciously, and during this process, the sounds gradually drift from their original pronunciation - missing the 'target' of the bull's eye.

Hockett suggested that when we say a word, we are aiming at a certain ideal target - the correct pronunciation. But since words are usually comprehensible even if every sound is not perfectly articulated, speakers often get quite careless, and do not trouble too much about hitting the bull's eye each time. And, as time passes, quite a lot of shots miss the 'target' (the correct pronunciation), as people hear numerous near misses. Eventually they begin to think the bull's-eye (the correct pronunciation) is in a different place. So, a drift from the centre of the bull's eye would be a change in the pronunciation of a word towards the most commonly used pronunciation (which would be the new one).

A good example is people saying 'would of' instead of 'would have'. They do this because of the common contraction 'would've'. Because this sounds so similar to 'would of', people have gradually moved towards saying this, and thinking 'would have' is something entirely different. This has become graphological, as you do see it written in forums.

i really hope they don't ask about creoles and stuff because they're so annoying

Reply 4

OP

Original post by The_Deputy

thats not alot at all haha, the books kinda limited with theories though and it takes so much time researching them on google etc urgh

id deffo have a look at gender though because both my english teacher and an aqa examiner think there will be a gender question in either section a or b. but that's a guess so its not 100% certain.

as for the bull's eye theory, I found this on these forums from 2010 and it seemed useful in discussing about how words enter the language:

i really hope they don't ask about creoles and stuff because they're so annoying

Thanks for the info on the Bull's Eye theory!It could come in quite handy for change and it's definitely related to the S Curve in how it slowly changes until those changes are considered the new norm+Random Fluctuation!
For the gender one,I also heard from a classmate recently that his private teacher said it might just be gender this year.Well I guess I'm ok with the main theories,gotta learn the more specific ones now (Pamela Fishman,Holmes etc).You'd think they'd be tired with gender as they see it so much in coursework every year and it in the old specification it was a mandatory section.
I just hope they don't mix it up with MLE or Political Correctness because :mad:

Reply 5

sophiech

I feel awful for this exam :frown:

our teachers have definitely not prepped us enough compared with my other subject teachers.

We were taught language change very shoddily by one teacher and were "taught" language variation by another who has now left. Taught is in inverted commas because he taught us gender quite thoroughly and then taught us nothing of value for any of the other topics! for example for accents and dialects we watched a few videos of different accents and that was basically it. I know what a bloody Yorkshire accent sounds like, I need the theories for it thanks!
Luckily we have another teacher now as the crap variation teacher left, but it still isn't enough :mad:

i feel really angry (as do the rest of my class) because I need an A in this to get into uni and I don't feel I have any chance of getting it :frown:

Urgh, oh well. Just got to re-teach myself the whole syllabus in 5 days. No biggie.

Reply 6

lucybrown92

I think variation is a big possibility BUT what bit of variation is the question!?
There is too much content to know...anyone suggest what the main bits of variation I need to know please? Need this A else im screwed aswell :frown:

Reply 7

OP

Original post by sophiech

I feel awful for this exam :frown:

our teachers have definitely not prepped us enough compared with my other subject teachers.

We were taught language change very shoddily by one teacher and were "taught" language variation by another who has now left. Taught is in inverted commas because he taught us gender quite thoroughly and then taught us nothing of value for any of the other topics! for example for accents and dialects we watched a few videos of different accents and that was basically it. I know what a bloody Yorkshire accent sounds like, I need the theories for it thanks!
Luckily we have another teacher now as the crap variation teacher left, but it still isn't enough :mad:

i feel really angry (as do the rest of my class) because I need an A in this to get into uni and I don't feel I have any chance of getting it :frown:

Urgh, oh well. Just got to re-teach myself the whole syllabus in 5 days. No biggie.

I'm sorry to hear that about your teachers ugh :/....It's the same with psychology at my college and people are just out of options.
I'll post some of the key theories here,hopefully they'll help you but definitely look at the Variation theories listen in the book.Don't look over the changes ones,I'll write them now,they're made too complex in the book.

CHANGE

S CURVE MODEL:
It discusses the pace of language change and how it affects users being similar to that of an S curve.A first, it starts with the change of a few words (the change is minimal).Then it accelerates and changes our language considerably. A the end,with only few words left to be changed, the pace is very slow and happens over a period of time to conclude the S curve.*Applying the Great Vowel Shift to this model,first it was only a few words affected,then a much greater vocabulary and at the end only those few stubborn words that were changed over time.

WAVE MODEL:
Very simple.It discusses how the expansion of change is similar to how when you throw a stone in the water,waves are spread outwards from the central point,weakening as they rise until they come to a halt.
*Take Estuary as an Example which originated near Kent and Essex.If we take the banks of the Thames Estuary and label it ''X'', it is only reasonable that Estuary English will be more popular amongst the South of England and its social groups.Travelling upwards,near the Northern Areas it would weaken significantly,reaching a point where any variation or change would be hardly distinguishable.

SUBSTRATUM THEORY:
Just know that if people come in contact with others of either different cultures or different backgrounds their language changes,as they're slowly affected by the patterns of language the other user employs.

CULTURAL TRANSMISSION THEORY:
Practically the same with Substratum,only the focus is with cultures.An English coming in contact with an Australian for example.The Australian would, albeit perhaps unknowingly, pick up elements of the English person's accent and vice versa.

FUNCTIONAL THEORY:

New inventions that are technological or industrial (new concepts can be used with this theory but it's mostly about inventions) have to be named and those Eponyms or Proper Nouns enter our language e.g: Internet,DVD,USB.
This is where archaisms (archaic lexis=vocabulary not used anymore) can fit in as well since the term ''Cassette'' is now replaced by the ''Compact Disk'' and ''Floppy Disk'' by ''USB''.

REFLECTIONISM+DETERMINISM:
Reflectionism is the idea that our thoughts are shaped by our language whilst Determinism suggests the opposite; our thoughts shape our language.
*You use a racist term because you are a racist person -->That's Reflectionism
*If you choose to not use a racist term, even if you are a racist person, you are using the concept of ''Determinism'' to shape your language to be more appropriate.

Reflectionism + Determinism are directly related to Political Correctness.
----------------------------------
Gah,that took long to type!I hope I've helped a bit.I had to use the book for a few instances to make sure everything's right but I think it is.You can use the book (p.34) to see more details about Reflectionism+Determinism but I like to keep it simple and stay away from debates or else my brain would be fried.

Use the book for Language Variation and there are plenty of helpful websites such as http://www.putlearningfirst.com

Use think link to learn Variation Theorists without the extra waffle --> http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/research/research.html

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 8

OP

Original post by lucybrown92

I think variation is a big possibility BUT what bit of variation is the question!?
There is too much content to know...anyone suggest what the main bits of variation I need to know please? Need this A else im screwed aswell :frown:

I know what you mean.In my case I'm really bloody stressed because in my mocks I'm about 2 raw marks off getting an A* every single time and you can imagine how bloody annoying that is!
As for Variation,dear,where to start.I really don't know what they might throw us in the exam.Learn ALL the Variation theories or if you can't be bothered just find a couple that are really useful and learn them in Depth.I recommend learning just Cheshire's, Milroy's and Labov's theories but in more depth to have social class,gender,age,covert and overt prestige and solidarity to talk about which should back you up in the exam.

Reply 9

lucybrown92

Original post by LostByeol

I know what you mean.In my case I'm really bloody stressed because in my mocks I'm about 2 raw marks off getting an A* every single time and you can imagine how bloody annoying that is!
As for Variation,dear,where to start.I really don't know what they might throw us in the exam.Learn ALL the Variation theories or if you can't be bothered just find a couple that are really useful and learn them in Depth.I recommend learning just Cheshire's, Milroy's and Labov's theories but in more depth to have social class,gender,age,covert and overt prestige and solidarity to talk about which should back you up in the exam.

Didnt think this 3rd question could be on gender but judging from what i've read possible! That justs adds more, im sick of gender from all the coursework ha!
Good Luck with the exam anyhow!
Just hope I cant get all content into my head before monday!

Reply 10

OP

Original post by lucybrown92

Didnt think this 3rd question could be on gender but judging from what i've read possible! That justs adds more, im sick of gender from all the coursework ha!
Good Luck with the exam anyhow!
Just hope I cant get all content into my head before monday!

I did it for coursework too :tongue:

....Well we'll just have to add those gender theories in too but I'm pretty sure the main ones would suffice in the exam unless it's a very specific question which I doubt.

Reply 11

I'm doing this exam too! I really hate History of Language (aka language change). I hope global English comes up! I wouldn't be too unhappy with gender.

Anyone has any tips for analysis? Especially, when you have to compare two texts for Question 1 - the timing really gets me. How much time should we spend on analysis? o.O

Anyway, sentence types get really good marks. So I need to focus on them for analysis :P

Reply 12

Also, for me, gender is the one that really has fixed, set in-depth theories. All the other theories are so brief :/ If gender comes up, I'll kinda be glad :P

Reply 13

OP

Original post by Cryl

I'm doing this exam too! I really hate History of Language (aka language change). I hope global English comes up! I wouldn't be too unhappy with gender.

Anyone has any tips for analysis? Especially, when you have to compare two texts for Question 1 - the timing really gets me. How much time should we spend on analysis? o.O

Anyway, sentence types get really good marks. So I need to focus on them for analysis :P

Memorise the mark scheme.In the A grade section they always say that you need to do Sentence Types,Phrase Types and Analyse Clauses and elements.
Don't do it superficially though.Break everything down.If you mention a compound sentence,mention what the coordinating conjunction is.If you identify a phrase,also identify the headword and why it is the Headword.Moreover,other than just talking about what a sentence's type is,take it further and say of what clause types it is comprised of and then quickly take one of the clauses (unless it's a simple sentence) and analyse it,linking it to the second clause if it's a complex sentence to evaluate the entirety of what is said.
As for time,I'd say leave about 20 mins for theory and about 40 mins for analysis,considering that you spend the recommended 15 mins on annotating the texts.
Hope this helps but as I said,DO take a look at the mark schemes of previous papers.

Reply 14

Original post by LostByeol

Memorise the mark scheme.In the A grade section they always say that you need to do Sentence Types,Phrase Types and Analyse Clauses and elements.
Don't do it superficially though.Break everything down.If you mention a compound sentence,mention what the coordinating conjunction is.If you identify a phrase,also identify the headword and why it is the Headword.Moreover,other than just talking about what a sentence's type is,take it further and say of what clause types it is comprised of and then quickly take one of the clauses (unless it's a simple sentence) and analyse it,linking it to the second clause if it's a complex sentence to evaluate the entirety of what is said.
As for time,I'd say leave about 20 mins for theory and about 40 mins for analysis,considering that you spend the recommended 15 mins on annotating the texts.
Hope this helps but as I said,DO take a look at the mark schemes of previous papers.

o.O you have to identify why something is a certain thing? e.g. Why complex sentence is a complex sentence? or what the headword is?! Oh damn, I've just been pointing out sentence types, phrases and clauses and analysing their meanings etc. Still managed to get A in the mock. I think pointing out headwords and stuff will be very time consuming for me!

Your timing tip is great! Thanks! I'd keep that in mind. I can analyse texts forever - I just wouldn't know when to stop :P Except if it's the January 2010 paper :s that one was so hard.

Also, do you (or anyone else) have any tips on how certain words in the question indicate certain theories? Like, when it asks "Evaluate significance of changing words used to refer to different social group?" - I think that one talks about political correctness. But it's was a bit tricky to guess -.-

Reply 15

OP

Original post by Cryl

o.O you have to identify why something is a certain thing? e.g. Why complex sentence is a complex sentence? or what the headword is?! Oh damn, I've just been pointing out sentence types, phrases and clauses and analysing their meanings etc. Still managed to get A in the mock. I think pointing out headwords and stuff will be very time consuming for me!

Your timing tip is great! Thanks! I'd keep that in mind. I can analyse texts forever - I just wouldn't know when to stop :P Except if it's the January 2010 paper :s that one was so hard.

Also, do you (or anyone else) have any tips on how certain words in the question indicate certain theories? Like, when it asks "Evaluate significance of changing words used to refer to different social group?" - I think that one talks about political correctness. But it's was a bit tricky to guess -.-

Just mention what the conjunction is when analysing sentence types to get that extra tick :wink:

....I know,it's so time-consuming to analyse :frown:

and yeah that one talked about political correctness,

Reply 16

Original post by LostByeol

Just mention what the conjunction is when analysing sentence types to get that extra tick :wink:

....I know,it's so time-consuming to analyse :frown:

and yeah that one talked about political correctness,

Ooh. Okay

Reply 17

lucyelle

Can someone help with world english, I'd be at an utter loss if it came up, I only have Mc Arthur and Kakru, and that's it!

I'm hoping for a change, gender or PC question for discourses.

I'm also concerned as We've been taught to use lots of theory whereas all the full marks I've read have been full of analysis with a very small amount of theory and then lots of evaluation on own views and offloading your personal opinion!

Reply 18

OP

Original post by lucyelle

Can someone help with world english, I'd be at an utter loss if it came up, I only have Mc Arthur and Kakru, and that's it!

I'm hoping for a change, gender or PC question for discourses.

I'm also concerned as We've been taught to use lots of theory whereas all the full marks I've read have been full of analysis with a very small amount of theory and then lots of evaluation on own views and offloading your personal opinion!

Well I don't know anything about World Englishes so there ya go. lol
I need to revise that.

Reply 19