AICE AS English Language (9093) Getting to AS Language

PowerPoint Credits Content: Creation: Cambridge AICE AS English Language (9093) Syllabus and Scheme of Work Cambridge Teacher Support Website Previous Cambridge AICE AS English Language (9093) exams Creation: Hanna Ellis

Part 1: AS Language Exam What is it? How is it scored? What will I be expected to know?

What is AICE? What is AS Language? AICE = Advanced International Certificate of Education AS Language = A stand alone course or the first year of a two- year track (A level) that focuses on the vibrancy and fluidity of the English Language. How language is used and can be manipulated is the main topic of AS Language.

What does the AS Language test look like? There are two Papers, or tests, that you will take at the end of this course: A “Passages” Paper (Paper 1) 2 Hours, 15 minutes in length Answer 2 Questions (short essay format) A “Writing” Paper (Paper 2) 2 Hours in length

Paper 1 Sample Test Take a moment to observe this past paper.

Paper 1: Passages Gives you three relatively short texts You only need to respond to two questions: You MUST answer Question 1 You MAY answer either Question 2 OR 3… not both. Questions are relatively straight-forward: Comment on the language used, specifically answering their queries Create your own version in mimicking the style Worth 50 points

Paper 1: Passages Texts will be drawn from a range of English language sources such as: advertisements, reviews, diaries, brochures, blogs, essays, leaflets, investigative journalism, scripted speech (e.g. a speech by a politician) and editorials, letters, news stories, podcasts, narrative/descriptive writing. articles, (auto) biographies,

Paper 1 Scoring Each question will be scored based upon your Commentary (15 points) Knowledge and Understanding of the Reading Passage Analysis of the Language Effects Organization Directed Writing (10 points) Conventions are folded into Organization!!!

Paper 2 Sample Test Take a moment to observe this past paper.

Paper 2: Writing You will be given two sections from which you will write two short essays. You must write only one essay per section. Worth 50 points The questions carry equal marks. 50 pts (Passages) + 50 pts (Writing) = 100 points

Paper 2: Writing Paper 2 contains two sections: Imaginative writing Questions require a narrative or descriptive piece of continuous writing of 600– 900 words (or two shorter linked pieces of 300–450 words). Candidates are required to show that they can write imaginatively, using language to create deliberate effects, e.g. in conveying a mood or describing a character. Writing for an Audience (discursive/ argumentative) Questions require a piece of continuous writing of 600–900 words (or two shorter linked pieces of 300–450 words). In each question, a specified form for the writing will be given (e.g. a magazine feature, article, review, letter to a newspaper, scripted speech, voiceover) for a specified audience. Candidates are required to show that they can present a view clearly, construct an argument carefully, and write coherently and persuasively.

Paper 2 Scoring Each question will be scored based upon your: Knowledge and understanding of the English Language and its uses (Content). Ability to write clearly, accurately, creatively and effectively (Conventions). Both question are worth a maximum of 25 points.

Key Concepts Written and Spoken Texts Audiences Structure Spontaneous Speech Context Language Acquisition Imaginative Writing Spoken Language Persuasive and Argumentative Writing Social Groups Global English

Written and Spoken Texts When AS Language says the characteristics of written and spoken texts, we are referring to the ways in which constructed and spontaneous language are either consciously or unconsciously formed and shaped by different means for a variety of purposes and effects.

Structure Structure refers to the organization of a text or passage, its shape and development and how this contributes to meaning and effect: for example, the way in which a written passage or spoken language may develop using different techniques and moods.

Context Context refers to the relationship between a text and its background – for example, historical, social, cultural, and economic – and the ways in which it may influence the meaning and interpretation of a particular extract.

Imaginative Writing By the features of imaginative writing, AS Language means the ingredients which may help to form different types of creative responses: for example, these may include aspects of structure (such as the opening to a short story) and particular linguistic skills and forms of expression (for example, establishing character and motivation; varying sentence structures; selecting effective vocabulary for different purposes).

Persuasive and Argumentative Writing & Audience The features of persuasive and argumentative writing encompass the different techniques and devices employed in conveying points of view, exemplification and cohesive reasoning in different formats (for example, newspaper articles, magazine features, letters, diaries, scripted speeches) for different types of audiences (such as those based on age or interest).

Spontaneous Speech The features of spontaneous speech include: their differences to shaped and scripted speeches and dialogue; the characteristics which mark spontaneous speech out (for example, hesitation, fillers, use of non-standard grammar) as being unrehearsed.

Language Acquisition Language acquisition refers here to the ways in which children and teenagers learn to recognise, understand and construct language at different times in their development. It also explores how these processes shape their different uses of both written and spoken language as they grow.

Spoken Language and Social Groups When AS Language refers to spoken language and social groups, we mean the ways in which different groups (defined, for example, by gender, occupation, age or culture) construct language (with its own terms, sounds, vocabulary and expression) to form a distinct identity of their own (for example, to include or exclude others or to create power and status).

Global English Issues raised by global English refer to different debates about and reactions and attitudes to the rise of English as an ‘international’ means of communication, its cultural effects, the varieties of English created, its impact on local languages in terms of speech and writing and the threat it may pose to such languages.