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AQA A2 ENGB3 English Language June 19th

Didn't find a thread for this so thought I'd make one (if there is one I've been oblivious to then I'm sorry!).

How is everyone feeling about the exam? What are you struggling with? What are you confident with? Hopefully we can help each other out and all do well.

I'm feeling good for both sections currently, but who knows how I'll feel next week before the exam. For acquisition I've made a revision guide for myself on all the theories I know which I'll attach as it could help others. Sorry if there are any mistakes in it, just my knowledge.

Good luck for the exam everyone!
(edited 8 years ago)

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Reply 1
Hey

I feel fine about acquisition and know my stuff, and I'm getting there with language change.The big thing I find is how are you suppose to apply attitudes/ views such as prescriptive and descriptive within the essay. Also do you have any theories for language change?

I'm basically doing what I did for the AS exam and teaching myself the entire year again, lessons not that helpful! :redface:

Hope you can help me out
Reply 2
Original post by CaraCC
Hey

I feel fine about acquisition and know my stuff, and I'm getting there with language change.The big thing I find is how are you suppose to apply attitudes/ views such as prescriptive and descriptive within the essay. Also do you have any theories for language change?

I'm basically doing what I did for the AS exam and teaching myself the entire year again, lessons not that helpful! :redface:

Hope you can help me out


Yeah I found this pretty hard too, but I feel that the theories are easier to apply than the approaches/views.

There are three theories that are very easily applied to pretty much any Change text:

Functional Theory - Halliday (only for lexical change)
>Language changes due to the needs of the user
>This is mainly technological advancements as we need to name new things, or reuse words to name new tech. This also makes other lexis obsolete such as horse and carriage because of the development of cars. This can be easily applied to any text.

Linked to archaisms, you can say that Accommodation Theory - Giles links to the high prestige/complex words such as "thus" "thence" etc have become archaic due to the informalisation of our language over time and so writers are downwardly converging towards a simpler lexicon because of the wider readership as well as a reaction to the more informal lexis we use in today's society.

Substratum Theory
>Language changes due to contact.
>Used to be invasions (so the French influence on our language, the Anglo-Saxon capitalisation etc)
>But now is mainly due to immigration and travel so new borrowings are brought about etc.

To apply the pre/descriptivist views, I find it easiest to say that pre-1755 was a descriptive era since language use was more liberal, but afterwards there was a period of prescriptivism popularity due to the dictionary, Lowthe's short intro to grammar etc.

There are more theories which I'll include in another reply as it's a picture from my phone.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 3
Thank you so much, really sound like you know your stuff!
Reply 4
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Sorry for keyboard in background! :biggrin:

Original post by CaraCC
Hey

I feel fine about acquisition and know my stuff, and I'm getting there with language change.The big thing I find is how are you suppose to apply attitudes/ views such as prescriptive and descriptive within the essay. Also do you have any theories for language change?

I'm basically doing what I did for the AS exam and teaching myself the entire year again, lessons not that helpful! :redface:

Hope you can help me out
Reply 5
Original post by CaraCC
Thank you so much, really sound like you know your stuff!


No problem, any time!
Original post by msr176
Didn't find a thread for this so thought I'd make one (if there is one I've been oblivious to then I'm sorry!).

How is everyone feeling about the exam? What are you struggling with? What are you confident with? Hopefully we can help each other out and all do well.

I'm feeling good for both sections currently, but who knows how I'll feel next week before the exam. For acquisition I've made a revision guide for myself on all the theories I know which I'll attach as it could help others. Sorry if there are any mistakes in it, just my knowledge.

Good luck for the exam everyone!



The revision guide you attached is amazing. Thank you so much!!!
Reply 7
Original post by Wobbytheman
The revision guide you attached is amazing. Thank you so much!!!


No problem, it was just how I was revising at the time to ensure I knew all the theories again. How you feeling for both sections?
Original post by msr176
No problem, it was just how I was revising at the time to ensure I knew all the theories again. How you feeling for both sections?


I am confident in Acqusition as i have been getting A's is all my mocks but i fail to apply theorist to Change. You don't happen to have a reivison guide for that do you? :smile:
Reply 9
Original post by Wobbytheman
I am confident in Acqusition as i have been getting A's is all my mocks but i fail to apply theorist to Change. You don't happen to have a reivison guide for that do you? :smile:


I don't unfortunately. But if you read up then I've posted pictures of my theory sheet as well as an explanation of three of the easier theories to include. Is it a case where you don't know any theory or is it more that you don't know how to apply them to the texts?
(edited 8 years ago)
Hey!

I'm feeling quite good for the exam, I'm fine with language acquisition spoken and language change single texts/comparison texts. Feeling okay about reading, but really not sure how best to approach writing - we've only done a little of this in class and one practice question and then been left to our own devices...
Also, not confident with dictionary entries for language change. Hasn't come up as an option since 2011 and there will of course be another option I can select for LC if it does, but we haven't been taught how to approach dictionary entries and question phrased like 'discuss the attitudes to language change in text a' or 'discuss how language change has been recorded in text b'
I'm all good at language acquisition and theories, I just don't know any theories for language change which I know will bring my garden down? Does anyone have any that can help
Arghhhh help! My teacher has been away sick for the majority of the year and I feel like I know hardly anything! Do you guys have a specific structure for your Responses?x
Hi guys!

I've been revising the mark schemes from 2012 to 2014 and have made a document on the points that have came up every year for language acquisition and language change. Hopefully it is helpful. The files should be attached.
I'm looking forward to the exam - it is a subject that I can actually do!

Better at change, rather than acquisition - but I guess that you're bound to migrate towards a favourite .
Original post by cmccann95
Hi guys!

I've been revising the mark schemes from 2012 to 2014 and have made a document on the points that have came up every year for language acquisition and language change. Hopefully it is helpful. The files should be attached.


thank you for them!

any tips on approaching a child's writing text or a dictionary entry (LC)?
Original post by heatherjaynee
thank you for them!

any tips on approaching a child's writing text or a dictionary entry (LC)?


Writing wouldn't be my strongest topic. I prefer speech and reading. Same with the dictionary entry. If either did come up in the exam I'd probably choose the other option. For writing I would focus a lot on lexis, grammar and graphology. I'd mention whether the child was in the holophrastic/telegraphic/post-telegraphic stage of language development and talk about the child's ability to structure their writing (e.g. use of paragraphs/ writing from left to right etc)
Reply 17
I don't feel confident about the language change question for this at all! I'm okay with language acquisition and can PM anyone some past papers that I have done if they wish :smile: attempting to do a language change question now and really struggling :frown:
Reply 18
Hey guys, I recommend the CGP revision book for this, I got one from Waterstones and it's really useful, also - any predictions for what kind of questions will come up?
Are people revising for both the child language and child literacy? or just one?

I'm feeling alright about English. It's so annoying, all year I've been getting really high marks, but recently they've dropped a lot. I take philosophy, and my writing technique for this has matured into a more sophisticated style, but its impacted on how I write my English exam, as I end up being more conceptual, meaning I lose marks. I have had no issue with this subject for 2 years, and have been on track for an A*, and now I'm suddenly struggling to write the essays....!!

Also anyone else fallen into the trap of neglecting this subject a little? because I've been comfortable with it, and because it's my last exam and I have 9 uninterrupted days to revise, I feel like I've done nothing and now I'm panicking a little! Child language is fine, but language change will be my downfall. I cannot get my head around wave theories, and substratum stuff, I didn't engage with it at the time and I'm failing to now!

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