Year 12 English Language

Summer 2

This booklet contains hard copies of resources you will need to complete work for the second half of the summer term. You will be completing a CLA mock exam question and then returning to the topical language issue question.

Please note that more detailed weekly instructions will be uploaded to insight in order to tell you what to do with these resources.

Week 1-Final preparation for CLA mock exam question

Task 1: Below is a checklist of key terminology and theory you will need to revise and be able to identify and discuss in depth. Using this checklist, go over your class work to create your own revision glossary.

PhonologyPhoneme deletionPhoneme additionPhoneme substitutionConsonant clustersFricativesPlosives

LexisConcrete nounsAbstract nounsLexical fields

GrammarStages of development:One-word stageTwo-word stageTelegraphic stagePost-telegraphic stage Auxiliary verbsContractible auxiliariesPresent perfectPresent continuousPast tensePluralsPossessivesPronouns

Key theory and related termsThe Fis PhenomenonHalliday’s functions of LanguageNelson and nounsThe Wug Test ChomskyUniversal grammarLanguage acquisition deviceSkinnerPositive and negative reinforcementBrunerLanguage Acquisition Support SystemScaffoldingChild Directed SpeechCognitive TheoryPiagetObject PermanenceUniversal Stages of DevelopmentVygotskyZone of proximal developmentMore knowledgeable other

Task 2: Below is a proposed essay structure for your exam response. Memorise this structure for the exam.

IntroductionIdentify the child’s stage of development and briefly ascertain what elements of their language suggest they are at this stage of development.Offer an introduction to the context of the transcript by identifying any of Halliday’s functions of language which seem to drive the child’s/children’s use of language. Paragraph 1Identify and discuss the child’s/children’s phonological development. Include any relevant links to theory.Paragraph 2Identify and discuss the child’s/children’s grammatical development. Include any relevant links to theory.Paragraph 3Identify and discuss the child’s/children’s lexical development. Include any relevant links to theory

Task 3: Below is a final practice question. Plan and write a response to the question. Use the potential points list after you have attempted your response; this will allow you to identify any final areas for your revision.

Potential answers

Phonology There are patterns of substitution and deletion throughout the transcript including:

Lucy deletes the initial fricative /s/ in her pronunciation of ‘Superman’ Lucy does not produce the fricative /ð/ in her pronunciation of ‘that’ and ‘with’. Jake

is able to produce this phoneme when Lucy pronounces the final part of Superman as /men/ Patrick models the

standard form Lucy deletes the final consonant in ‘and’ Lucy deletes a consonant in the initial consonant cluster found in ‘scratching’ to

simplify the pronunciation.

Grammar Lucy does not use the possessive /z/ in the example ‘Superman friend’. Her mother

models the standard form and clarifies Lucy’s meaning Lucy can inflect verbs to form the present participle: ‘scratching’ but she does

overextend this to the infinitive in ‘Max trying /trɑɪjɪn/ to licking /lɪkɪn/ you’. Jake deletes the auxiliary verb and pronoun from his question ‘need a figure?’ Lucy is able to form a standard negative verb phrase: ‘I can’t find Barbie’, but also

misses out the auxiliary verb: ‘he not coming back’ Lucy is variable in her production of the verb ‘to be’ when it is the copula: ‘Barbie

here’ and ‘Max is silly’ the children can use their grammatical knowledge to form a variety of clause types.

Discourse: Jake and his mother use interrogatives to interact with the other children which can

be related to aspects of Child Directed Speech Lucy is able to respond correctly to her mother’s questions, enabling interaction to

take place the mother clarifies and models Lucy’s utterances: ‘Superman’s friend?’, ‘he is

trying /trɑɪjɪn/ to lick me isn’t he?’

Lexis all three children use the colloquial ‘yeah’ which is appropriate to the context of the

conversation and may reflect environmental influence Lucy repeats the colloquial form ‘comfy’ used by her mother.

Week 2-CLA mock exam

Complete the assessment in timed conditions. Email your response to your teacher to be marked. Please note, the question is included after the transcript (in the interest of formatting and saving paper).

Week 3: Should taboo language be removed from our lexicon?

Task 1: Make notes on the following articles and clips. Be prepared for a ‘Teams’ class discussion based on these articles and the topical language issue question.

(1)Why do people swear? David Edmonds-BBC newshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39082467

(2)Steven Pinker-The Language of Swearing Part 1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BcdY_wSklo

Steven Pinker-The Language of Swearing Part 2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyNmGHpL11Q&t=6s

(3)How swearing got less taboo-Mark Lawson-The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/21/how-swearing-got-less-taboo

(4)When very bad words are the sh*t (linguistically speaking). Chi Luu- JSTOR Daily

https://daily.jstor.org/when-very-bad-words-are-the-shit-linguistically-speaking/

Task 2: “Taboo language should be removed from our lexicon”

In response to this statement, write a 500 word blog post for the Huffington Post. The Huffington Post is a liberal online only newspaper.

Create a four point plan for this topical language question before writing a response.

(a) Intro-hook reader with a relevant anecdote  (b) Introduce your point of view. What is it and what specific linguistic examples would you use? (c)Counter-argument- what would the opposition say and why are they wrong? (d) Conclude-what final thing will you say to persuade people to your point of view?

Week 4: Does language have the capacity to render people powerless?

Task 1: Read the following articles and make notes. Find two more specific examples of instances where the media’s choice of language has attempted to render people powerless.

(1)Chav: the vile word at the heart of fractured Britain-Polly Toynbee-The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/may/31/chav-vile-word-fractured-britain

(2)UK press is most aggressive in reporting on Europe’s ‘migrant’ crisis-The Conversation

https://theconversation.com/uk-press-is-the-most-aggressive-in-reporting-on-europes-migrant-crisis-56083

Task 2:

‘Language has the capacity to render people powerless’Write a speech, aimed at sixth form students, which responds to the above statement.

Write a response to the above Topical Language issue question. Make sure that you include examples from your own research, as well as from the two set articles above.

Week 5-Feedback from mock exam and re-draft task

Your teacher will give you feedback from your mock exam and set an individual re-draft task for you.

Week 6: “Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

Task 1- Read and make notes on the following articles:

(1)George Orwell-Politics and the English Languagehttps://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit/

(2)’Invisible mugger’: how Boris Johnson’s language hints at his thinking-David Shariatmadari The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/apr/27/muggers-and-invisible-enemies-how-boris-johnsons-metaphors-reveals-his-thinking

(3) If we care about NHS staff we should stop calling them saints-Ian MacDonald The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/25/care-about-nhs-staff-stop-calling-them-saints-doctors-nurses-miracles-coronavirus

Task 2:

“Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

In response to this statement, write an open letter to the guardian.

An open letter is a letter a letter addressed to a particular person or group of people but intended for publication in a newspaper or journal.

Look up examples of open letters in the guardian newspaper and make a bullet point list of key stylistic features of this type of writing.

Based on the articles above and other linguistic examples from your own knowledge and research, plan and write a response to the Topical Language Issue question.

Week 7:

See insight for Power Point talking through how to frame and plan for a Topical Language issue question. Use this Power Point guide to help you create a four point topical language issue plan for the following three questions.

(1)‘The English Language presents a barrier to equality’. In response to this statement, write a blog post for BuzzFeed.

(2) ‘The media must be held responsible for their use of the English Language’In response to this statement, write an open letter to the editor in chief of a broadsheet newspaper.

(3) ‘Language acts as our guide to the world’In response to this statement, write a speech to be delivered to sixth form students.