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English Language

Language is seen as a creative tool for expression and social connection, as well as individual cognition.

This course will help you to develop expertise in English Language, by engaging creatively and critically with a wide range of texts and discourses. You will create texts and reflect critically on your own processes of production, and analyse the texts produced by others.

There are core methods of appropriate analysis to the fields of English Language and linguistics that underpin all that you will consider on this course. There is also scope for you to pursue your own independent lines of enquiry and topics for writing, with support from your teachers, in the non-exam assessment.

Entry Requirements

Grade 5 in GCSE English Literature
Grade 5 in GCSE English Language

Curriculum

Paper 1: Language, the Individual and Society

  • Textual variety and representation 
  • Children’s language development
  • How children learn language and are able to understand and express themselves

Paper 2: Language Diversity and Change

  • Explore language diversity and change over time
  • Language in its wider social, geographical and temporal contexts
  • Social attitudes and debate surrounding language diversity and change

Non-Exam Assessment: Language in Action

  • Explore and analyse language data independently
  • Develop and reflect your own writing expertise

Assessment

Paper 1: Language, the Individual and Society

You will be assessed through an examination worth 40% of your A Level grade.

You are expected to write a discursive essay on children's language development and analyse a pair of texts linked by a topic or theme but from a different time.

Paper 2: Language Diversity and Change

You will be assessed through an examination worth 40% of your A Level grade.

You are expected to write an evaluative essay on either diversity or change. Additionally, you will compare two texts for how they use language to present ideas, attitudes and opinions, and then write your own opinion article based on these ideas. 

Non-Exam Assessment: Language in Action

You will be assessed through a non-examination assessment worth 20% of your A Level grade.

You will conduct a language investigation (2,000 words excluding data) and a written piece of original writing and commentary (750 words each).

Enrichment Opportunities

For information on all our enrichment opportunities, please see our enrichment programme here.

Further Education and Careers

Courses you could study at university include:

  • Creative Writing
  • Drama and Theatre Studies
  • English Literature and Language
  • Marketing
  • Media Studies

Careers which require an English Language qualification include:

  • Digital Copywriter
  • Editorial Assistant
  • English as a Foreign Language Teacher
  • Lexicographer
  • Magazine Journalist
  • Newspaper Journalist

Preparation Work

You need to complete these tasks over Summer to prepare you for your studies.