1. English Language As you may already know, the government have made changes to the way A Levels are taught and assessed. If you choose English Language in year 12, you are intending to do this until the end of year 13 as a whole A Level. You will sit the AS exam in year 12 but this will act as a mock exam for year 13. If you have any questions about this please speak to Mrs Betty or Ms Matthews for more information.

2. AS: Specification at a glance Slide 6Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. ComponentWeightingAssessment Component 1: Language and the Individual Written Paper 50%1 hour 30 mins 70 marks One section only Component 2: Language Varieties Written Paper 50%1 hour 30 mins 70 marks Section A – 30 marks Section B – 40 marks

3. A-level: Specification at a glance Slide 5Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. ComponentWeightingAssessment Component 1: Language, the Individual and Society Written Paper 40%2 hours 30 mins 100 marks Section A – 70 marks Section B – 30 marks Component 2: Language Diversity and Change Written Paper 40% 2 hours 30 mins 100 marks Section A – 30 marks Section B – 70 marks Component 3: Non-exam assessment 20%100 marks Investigation - 50% Original Writing and Commentary - 50%

4. Recommended work: Collect a range of non fiction texts. These can include websites, blogs, newspaper articles, transcripts etc. Have a look at how language is used for the intended audience and genre. Read a variety of opinion/ features articles online or in a newspaper. Analyse the writing style. How has the writer achieved their intended effect? Have a go at writing an opinion article about a hot topic using the features you have identified. Look at the British Library Wesbite http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/index.htmlhttp://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/index.html Watch how different people on TV speak and why these vary Watch Stephen Fry’s ‘Planet Word’ about how language has changed http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015h1xb/episodes/guide http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015h1xb/episodes/guide Read ‘The Guardian’ articles based on ‘Mind Your Language’ http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language http://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language