1. Structuring a response
ENGB3 Language Change
Structuring a response

2. There is no guaranteed successful structure – it all depends on the text(s)
Before working through this, remember to keep an open mind about how to structure your essay.
You must have a structured approach in mind and cover all the assessment objectives. However, one structure does not work for every question: the question might even be worded in a way that suggests a different approach, or the text(s) you get might be better approached in a different way.
Bearing that in mind, always consider the following features, making changes where you feel it will make your essay more cohesive.

3. Annotating/Planning – up to 15 mins
AO1: Identify relevant frameworks to the text(s): always include lexis, grammar (syntax, morphology) and consider what else is applicable: discourse, orthography, phonology, graphology, semantics, pragmatics
AO2: Tie AO1 ideas in with your knowledge: level of standardisation at the time and how the text reflects this, any processes of change, attitudes, theories, representations etc. are present. Consider how the lexis, grammar and any other features make up the register(s) of the text(s).
AO3: Identify GAP & consider relationship between writer and reader. Make sure you are aware of any differences in the GAP if comparing two texts, particularly the situation of the audience.
Consider the social/historical environment of the text(s) – and any changes between them if looking at two.
Identify contextual factors that effect change, e.g. historical (such as war), technological, social (class change/role of women etc.)

4. Opening Paragraph
In one sentence, explain what the text(s) is/are, along with their purpose and where they are from/when they were written.
Consider the audience: if two texts, are they aimed at the same audience? Importantly, show you awareness of the social/historical environment surrounding the audience(s) – including how this audience changed between publications, if looking at two texts (or how the audience has changed compared to now, if looking at one older text).
Explain 2-3 contextual factors that relate to the change in the text (e.g. technological such as publishing, internet, inventions; historical such as war; social such as attitudes to/role of women, religion, class, or even attitudes to language itself; industrial, such as travel, production). For each contextual factor you identify, support with a quote from the text which indicates how this factor has influenced changed within your piece(s).

5. Next step: Analysing Register
The best way of moving into the main part of your essay is often to focus on register. Describe the register(s) of the text(s) and why this register is used – think about the writer and the audience.
Support by quoting lexical, grammatical & any other features that create this register.
It is useful to consider aspects like:
elaborated code
mode – any mixed modal features?
terms associated with class/gender
sophisticated/low frequency/polysyllabic/Latinate lexical choices
syntax construction

6. Main paragraphs: be systematic
For your main paragraphs, work through your frameworks, linking to AO2 knowledge and context (AO3) where necessary (consider the contextual factors you highlighted in your introduction).
It is often best to focus on lexis first, especially as you will have already begun exploring this if you have written about the register.
Look for neologisms and words that have undergone lexical change. Remember that words could have been new to a text at the time, whenever it was published. Also consider how word choices have changed since the publication.
Consider how different lexical choices have been made because of your contextual ideas, too. There might be words that wouldn’t be used in Present Day English due to changing attitudes, changes in genre (eg marketing techniques) or political correctness, for example. Similarly, there might be words in a more modern piece that would not have been used in the past, for similar reasons.
Remember that for a lot of language change texts, lexis is the key framework and the one that you’ll spend most time writing about & linking to the context. It also often overlaps with semantics.

7. Main paragraphs: be systematic and tentative
Following this, work through the relevant frameworks in a logical order. Think carefully about which framework to use at each stage, as some AO2/AO3 ideas may overlap different frameworks, so would provide a suitable link between stages.
Cover a range of frameworks, but remember those that are looked upon most favourably by examiners: grammar, lexis/semantics, phonology (if relevant). Remember that pragmatics may play a role without requiring a paragraph of its own.
Remember to relate to AO2 & AO3 throughout. Back up your points with knowledge about language change but unless something is definite, be tentative rather than certain: it’s fine not to be sure about why certain things changed (e.g. where a borrowed word is from) – you can offer suggestions.

8. Main paragraphs: avoiding generalisations
Similarly, as part of a tentative approach, don’t just add in the same rehearsed comments about your knowledge – link them to the text(s) you are analysing.
Don’t make generalised statements, such as these common overstatements/misconceptions:
language wasn’t standardised at all pre-18th century (if it wasn’t, pre-18th texts wouldn’t make sense to us at all – but standardisation did take huge strides at this time due to dictionaries, grammar books etc)
all people at a certain time were either prescriptive or descriptive (never the case)
Johnson was prescriptive and trying to ‘fix’ language like grammarians (consider the preface to his dictionary – he accepted this would be difficult, although did show a prescriptive view in places)
Aitchison is prescriptive (she’s actually descriptive but her theories are about prescriptivists’ views)
assuming that once dictionaries and grammar books were printed, language was completely standardised (it was – and still is – an ongoing process, and access to these books varied initially)