A level english language CIE

anyone who's taking english language A level CIE for 2014 ? I did AS level 8693 and I want to continue A2. but they changed the syllabus starting from next year. the new syllabus will be 9093 if Im not mistaken. I need help regarding books and resource materials that i need to use and refer to for the new syllabus.
p/s: there wont be any past papers. so any idea how to practice ?

Hey um I'm trying to appear for the same thing, can you tell me if you're appearing in may/june 2014? And can we actually give our exams this may/june?
And also if you find anything, from what you're studying, can you share it?

They've uploaded some specimen papers for the 2014 papers on their website! Here you go, http://www.cie.org.uk/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-international-as-and-a-level-english-language-as-and-a-level-from-2014-9093/past-papers/

And resources for paper 3:

Investigating talk, Cockcroft, F
ISBN number: 978-0340730867

Online:
http://www.cie.org.uk/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-international-as-and-a-level-english-language-as-and-a-level-from-2014-9093/support-material/

Websites for A Basic Guide to Textual Analysis http://www.engl.niu.edu/wac/txtanal.html
Language and power http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/lang/power.htm#adgrammar

For the last paper i can't find anything useful myself i'm just trying to read widely. I don't know if this is going anywhere.

OMG!!!
You are the first person to try to help me out.
You have actually been really very, very helpful!!!!
I had become so disappointed with all that...ah. But your help seems like a bright torch in dead dark a cave!!!!
Thank you so much!
BTW, does investigating transcription not come in paper 4?
Anyway, I am so delighted by your immensely helpful reply....

Hey guys, since you'll have completed your AS-level exams for English Language, could you'll recommend any good textbook or reference material for studying the AS components. Also could you'll tell me how difficult are the papers if you practice well in advance (got a little more than month to go!)
P.S- Need urgent help in commentary (Paper 1)

Hi,

Plz visit xtremepapers.net and download the standard booklet given for CiE AS level Eng Lang. It contains graded essays for all papers. Follow and study the essays carefully to gain good grades. Just practice well. It'll be fine.

Best wishes,
Methew

P.S. Are you self-studying?

Hi,

Plz visit xtremepapers.net and download the standard booklet given for CiE AS level Eng Lang. It contains graded essays for all papers. Follow and study the essays carefully to gain good grades. Just practice well. It'll be fine.

Best wishes,
Methew

P.S. Are you self-studying?

Hey guys, since you'll have completed your AS-level exams for English Language, could you'll recommend any good textbook or reference material for studying the AS components. Also could you'll tell me how difficult are the papers if you practice well in advance (got a little more than month to go!)
P.S- Need urgent help in commentary (Paper 1)

Hi! I'm doing AS English from CIE this May too and I'm really scared
Does anyone have any tips for directed writing or descriptive writing or just everything in general so worried omg

Hope this helps http://www.englishbiz.co.uk

anyone who's taking english language A level CIE for 2014 ? I did AS level 8693 and I want to continue A2. but they changed the syllabus starting from next year. the new syllabus will be 9093 if Im not mistaken. I need help regarding books and resource materials that i need to use and refer to for the new syllabus.
p/s: there wont be any past papers. so any idea how to practice ?

Hey! Thanks so much! I used this site to learn about parallelism, it's amazing!

Hope this helps http://www.englishbiz.co.uk

Thank you!! it really is good

Thanks to kai68!

I don't know about too many websites other than englishbiz, but reading the Helen Toner textbook is supposed to be useful to get an idea of what to include and also for short samples. My friend emailed me this recently so it could help:

EXAMINER TIPS for AS English Language 8693
General Advice
• It is important that you are ready for the examination in terms of your standard of written
English: this is a step up from GCSE and requires a high degree of fluency and accuracy.
• Ensure that you are particularly practised at using consistent tenses and subject-verb
agreement.
• Try to ensure that you are familiar with different types of texts such as travel writing,
autobiography, biography, humorous writing, persuasive or promotional materials, fictional
genres (such as science fiction, suspense, thrillers and so on).
• Try to ensure, too, that you are familiar with writing in different formats for both papers. You should practise writing the openings of different types of texts and familiarise yourself with the
structures and conventions of different genres and formats.
• Ensure that you annotate passages that you read.
• Ensure that you plan your work in the examination.
• Do not try to off-load a prepared list of terminology on Paper 1 but try to select and draw from the terms which you do know which are appropriate for the passage.
• Don’t write under the amount required or go excessively beyond the upper limit.

Paper 1
• When asked to comment on the language and style of the set passage try to be prepared inyour approach: don’t be afraid to plan, highlight or annotate the text.
• Try to avoid being inflexible; try not to write a list of prepared terms or to spot
features/techniques that you recognise. Examiners call this ‘feature-spotting’. Unlike some
other subjects English Language is not really content driven but tends to involve the
application of specific reading and writing skills. Trying to off-load revised content for the
subject is, therefore, not really appropriate.
• Try to break the set passage into small sections and consider each section in turn.
• As you consider each section try to select issues or techniques which are clearly in evidence
in the passage; not everything you know will necessarily be there.
• As a starting point, ask yourself what the mood of the passage is; highlight the key words and phrases that create this.
• Ask yourself what we learn about the narrator or a character, the kinds of attitude they show to others or any issues that arise.
• Ask yourself about the use of setting – which key words and phrases establish this?
• If there is dialogue, what does it show us about different speakers and their attitudes
to/relationships with others?
• The key words and phrases that you highlight should form the basis for the brief quotations
you should blend into your answer.
• Quotations should be brief (about five words maximum for each one) and be embedded into your sentences: avoid copying huge chunks of the text out.
• Try to comment on these quotations by asking yourself a range of prompt questions for each one: What mood does this create? What qualities does it bring to mind? Does it contrast with any other words or phrases in the text and, if so, what is the effect of this? What do the words suggest about the voice (the narrator perhaps or another character) using them?
• Try to look for differences between each of the smaller sections you have broken the text up into.
• See if there are changes in mood, attitude or characterisation.
• When answering tasks based on directed writing, ensure that you read the instructions
carefully so that you understand the purpose of the task, which character it might involve, the format in which it is to be written and the appropriate conventions and style of such a format.
• Keep to the word limits
• If you are asked to write in the style and language of the original passage, refer to some of the material you have highlighted in commenting on the language and style and try to adapt the same techniques.
• If the directed writing task is set first and followed by a task which requires you to compare your piece of writing to the original extract, then focus on the style and language first: so that,
when it comes to the writing task, you are familiar with the writer’s techniques and can base your writing on them. Again, highlight and annotate the original text.
Paper 1
This paper tests your reading skills in particular. However, there is also the opportunity to
demonstrate some of your writing skills too.
You have to answer two of the three questions available. It is best to allow some reading time for
the passages and the questions.
• Take your time to choose your questions carefully at the start of the examination.
• Planning is very useful.
• Don’t be afraid to highlight key words and phrases, even using colour coding if you think it
might help; don’t be afraid to make notes on the paper.
Questions will be drawn from a range of different resources.
These may include some of the following: travel pieces, autobiography, biography, advertising,
speeches, reviews, persuasive writing, and fiction.
You will be asked to comment on the language and style of the set passage and asked to carry
out a direct writing task of between 120-150 words.
For this paper, it is important that you are familiar with a range of different reading materials and
the conventions different genres may use. For example, sometimes extracts from speeches are
set and it is helpful if you have some familiarity with some of the rhetorical devices a speaker may
use: for example, a list of three or rhetorical questions. Similarly, if part of a ghost story is set, it is
useful to know how writers might create mood and suspense: for example, through the use of
setting and adjectives that creative mystery and the unknown.
The key point about answering these questions is that you are not being asked to spot a list of
features such as a list of three, rhetorical questions, the use of adjectives: you are being asked to
comment on the possible effects that these features may achieve, the possible thoughts and
feelings they may bring into a reader’s mind, the mood(s) they may create at different points, the
qualities that specific words and phrases may bring out.
To achieve higher marks you should also show an awareness of the structure of the passage,
how it unfolds: therefore, it is sometimes best to work through the passage when commenting on
language and style by breaking it up into smaller sections and commenting on any changes
between them: for example, does the mood change between different sections?
You are not really expected to address the question by writing an answer based on a pre-learnt
checklist: for example, it is not really effective to have a prepared list of subheadings in your mind
to the point that you are determined; whatever the passage is, to write about things such as types
of sentence, punctuation, vocabulary. You need to be flexible in your approach and select
terminology that is relevant to comment on the set passages on the day of the examination.

Paper 2
For Section A (Narrative/Descriptive/Imaginative Writing)
• Be familiar with a range of styles of writing and different genres.
• Try to appreciate the conventions, the features which we would expect to find, in different types of text.
• Practice writing the opening chapters to different genres.
• In the examination read the rubric of each title carefully: there will usually be a specific
requirement to focus not just on the title but on one or two fore grounded elements in
particular. These elements usually come in pairs and include matters such as: setting and
mood; suspense and mystery; character and motivation.
• Try to practice planning the structure of a complete story: sometimes the titles in this section may ask you to write a story with a twist at the end or a story where a secret catches up with a character; plotting of content and the revelation of detail becomes important when addressing such titles.
• Don’t overwrite: this means that you should not make your language too flowery or show off your impressive vocabulary by combining words and phrases that sound excessive in the chosen context.
• Try to create a sense of sentence variation.
• If you are writing an essentially narrative piece blend in short bursts of description – of
setting, people, character qualities – to break up the narrative.
• Ensure you write a minimum of 600 words: short work is penalized





For Section B (Discursive/Argumentative Writing)
• Ensure that you practice writing different kinds of essays.
• When writing compositions which require balanced arguments, practice summarizing the arguments of other people (your personal view of such arguments is not necessarily
relevant).
• Use some useful terms in such compositions in order to facilitate summaries: ‘according to’,‘supporters of this view argue that’, ‘proponents believe that’, ‘opponents claim that’ ‘ to counter this argument’, ‘they also add that’
• When writing compositions which require personal judgment, try to avoid offering an
outpouring of unstructured arguments; address the arguments which seem opposite to your view and assess them in a measured and persuasive tone
• Compositions which require different formats: sometimes you may be asked to role-play
and write in a certain style or format – such as giving advice or offering an opinion in a
newspaper; be aware of the audience for and purpose of the piece.
• Ensure you write a minimum of 600 words: short work is penalized





(ii) Paper 2
This paper focuses on your writing skills. You answer two questions in total.
It is essential to note that each answer must be between 600 and 900 words. Compositions under this length lose marks.


Section A of the paper gives you a choice of 4 questions based on
Narrative/Descriptive/Imaginative Writing.
You choose one of these to answer.
Titles may include some of the following: the opening to chapter to a novel (title given); a
complete short story; two contrasting descriptive pieces; the opening to a particular genre of
writing (such as a science fiction story, a ghost story, a story based on suspense).
Holistic marks are awarded for imaginative or descriptive content, a sense of structure, variation
in vocabulary and sentence structure, technical accuracy.
The issue of technical accuracy – as well as that of appropriate length noted above – is an
important factor to consider. A good degree of fluency in English is a prime consideration when
awarding marks at this standard, a step up from GCSE.
Section B of this paper gives you a choice of 4 questions based on Discursive/Argumentative
Writing.
You choose one of these to answer.
Titles tend to fall into two categories: the first kind of title may ask you to consider a moral or
ethical issue, sometimes in the form of a direct question or in the form of two contrasting
quotations which you are asked to consider; the second kind of title may ask you to answer
questions in a certain format – such as giving advice in a newspaper or magazine article, writing
a review of some kind, delivering a speech. Again, it is essential to note that each answer must
be between 600 and 900 words.
Holistic marks are awarded for choices of appropriate and effective approaches, vocabulary, a
sense of audience and purpose, persuasive strategies.