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English Language A level NEA Coursework ideas?

Hello. I am thinking of what language i could study in my English Language NEA coursework, however finding it hard to think of a subject that could be studied. I have been recommended things like: interviews, YA fiction, speeches from films/tv shows, or language of psychological reports, as I also study applied psychology. It has been said that students should pick something they are legitimately interested in. At first, I considered analysing representations and meaning and shaping of identity via the speaker in interviews, specifically musician interviews. But I am unsure.

I was wondering if anyone here has taken this A level and has any recommendations or ideas?

Reply 1

Original post
by langandpsych
Hello. I am thinking of what language i could study in my English Language NEA coursework, however finding it hard to think of a subject that could be studied. I have been recommended things like: interviews, YA fiction, speeches from films/tv shows, or language of psychological reports, as I also study applied psychology. It has been said that students should pick something they are legitimately interested in. At first, I considered analysing representations and meaning and shaping of identity via the speaker in interviews, specifically musician interviews. But I am unsure.
I was wondering if anyone here has taken this A level and has any recommendations or ideas?

Hey, I'm in Y13 and finishing up my NEA just today.
I did mine on a specific dialect and how widespread it is in the present-day and its social meaning among speakers, because it's the dialect I speak.
So that's always an option.

What are you interested in? Musicians? If it's in an interview or anything recorded to publish, you should bear in mind that the speaker is likely 'performing' for the camera to some degree.
You can really do it on anything.

a dialect

an accent

the speech of a specific person, celeb or not

how the speech of a person is 'performative' for cameras

the speech of people on reality tv

the speech of podcasters

speech of 2 politicians

how speech changes online/in person

codeswitching

accent biases (essentially, ask around and see which accents people have bad things to say about-- i touched on this in mine!)

the speech in a specific show

the usage of specific words

world englishes

It's always important to be able to tie your topic to a theorist or two (or more...), though. So mine was on a dialect and change-- so I discussed Labov's overt and covert prestige a LOT among other, less well-known researchers

Also consider your methodology. I (honestly couldn't be arsed) recording people, so I wrote out a survey and had 15 people from various backgrounds fill in. I used Likert scales to gather frequency data, and open-ended questions to gather the 'social meanings' of the dialect. It's very important to have a strong methodology, in my opinion. Using a questionnaire was risky, but I think it was handled strongly and so shouldn't have marks taken off for it.

The fact that you're doing psychology is great! You won't have to do as much research as me if you know it all alr, so you can definitely consider 'social meanings' of specific lexemes or whatever. Just remember to keep your language technical and stick to the word count.

Which exam board are you doing BTW? I'm doing AQA.
(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 2

Original post
by langandpsych
Hello. I am thinking of what language i could study in my English Language NEA coursework, however finding it hard to think of a subject that could be studied. I have been recommended things like: interviews, YA fiction, speeches from films/tv shows, or language of psychological reports, as I also study applied psychology. It has been said that students should pick something they are legitimately interested in. At first, I considered analysing representations and meaning and shaping of identity via the speaker in interviews, specifically musician interviews. But I am unsure.
I was wondering if anyone here has taken this A level and has any recommendations or ideas?

Hi, So I have done my NEA on american men's discourse, phonology and lexis on abortion rights. It may have just been mine but using Youtube videos to transcribe is very difficult. I would recommend using 2 articles or use songs annd focus on a semantic field around it-- (for example: rap and the talking about gun violence)

Reply 3

Original post
by Amberrrr2
Hi, So I have done my NEA on american men's discourse, phonology and lexis on abortion rights. It may have just been mine but using Youtube videos to transcribe is very difficult. I would recommend using 2 articles or use songs annd focus on a semantic field around it-- (for example: rap and the talking about gun violence)

That is such an interesting (and relevant) topic! I had so much struggle tying mine to relevancy today icl

Reply 4

Original post
by ethereal-bleach
Hey, I'm in Y13 and finishing up my NEA just today.
I did mine on a specific dialect and how widespread it is in the present-day and its social meaning among speakers, because it's the dialect I speak.
So that's always an option.
What are you interested in? Musicians? If it's in an interview or anything recorded to publish, you should bear in mind that the speaker is likely 'performing' for the camera to some degree.
You can really do it on anything.

a dialect

an accent

the speech of a specific person, celeb or not

how the speech of a person is 'performative' for cameras

the speech of people on reality tv

the speech of podcasters

speech of 2 politicians

how speech changes online/in person

codeswitching

accent biases (essentially, ask around and see which accents people have bad things to say about-- i touched on this in mine!)

the speech in a specific show

the usage of specific words

world englishes

It's always important to be able to tie your topic to a theorist or two (or more...), though. So mine was on a dialect and change-- so I discussed Labov's overt and covert prestige a LOT among other, less well-known researchers
Also consider your methodology. I (honestly couldn't be arsed) recording people, so I wrote out a survey and had 15 people from various backgrounds fill in. I used Likert scales to gather frequency data, and open-ended questions to gather the 'social meanings' of the dialect. It's very important to have a strong methodology, in my opinion. Using a questionnaire was risky, but I think it was handled strongly and so shouldn't have marks taken off for it.
The fact that you're doing psychology is great! You won't have to do as much research as me if you know it all alr, so you can definitely consider 'social meanings' of specific lexemes or whatever. Just remember to keep your language technical and stick to the word count.
Which exam board are you doing BTW? I'm doing AQA.

Thanks so much for your reply! You've given me a whole lot of ideas to consider, and potential ideas to build off of. And for my exam board, it's AQA.

Reply 5

Original post
by langandpsych
Thanks so much for your reply! You've given me a whole lot of ideas to consider, and potential ideas to build off of. And for my exam board, it's AQA.

Of course!! I'm doing AQA as well. I haven't actually had the opportunity to discuss the NEA with many people, so if you've any questions feel free to DM, I hope you enjoy writing it up as much as I do!!

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