The major thing to remember for the Language and Social Contexts question is that context is KEY. It was also mentioned on another thread that everytime you make a point, always ask yourself 'so what?'
So, for example, the data in the power question last year was a headteacher speaking to parents who had just visited an open day at the school. She used lexis in the specific field of education, such as 'Oftsed'. That could be a point you mention - but you have to ask yourself 'so what?' WHY did she use this specific lexical field? You could say that she used it in order to appear more knowledgeable, which would exemplify overt prestige and allow the headteacher to empower herself. You could develop this and say that she uses this specific lexical field in order to alienate the audience of parents; they must be aware of what the jargon means, or otherwise they will not understand what she is talking about. BUT then you could bring in context and say that the parents were at an open day at the school, so they will be likely to be familiar with the lexis in the semantic field of education. Just remember; for the Power/Gender/Technology question, always try to link back to how this shows the text/speaker is asserting power over their audience, or how gender influences their speech.
I'm resitting the exam, and the way I always write essays is a developed PEE (Point Evidence Explain) structure;
-Identify examples of power. Do they use a specific type of lexis? Is it through their use of grammar/syntax? Pragmatics?
-Give evidence for this. Quite simple, just ensure that the quotes are succinct and embedded. Examiners are not looking for reams of quotes, just put appropriate, short quotes in. You don't have to introduce them - you could literally just write 'the speaker uses rhetorical questions in their speech - "Why is this?" - and this allows....'
-Explain how this asserts power This is the 'so what?' part. The text uses imperatives - so what? How does that exemplify power? Bring in context and theory here - how does context influence power? Does the power within discourse parallel the power behind discourse? Is an imperative used as a face-threatening act to exhibit power? How would the audience respond?
REMEMBER: Always, always, always link back to the question. HOW does this exhibit power?
Keep calm and level-headed; we can all do it!