English Language

Welcome! Well done for choosing English Language A Level.

Firstly, there is a Power Point below designed to 'get you thinking' - download and add your thoughts if you wish - bring it to your first lesson.

Below is a compilation of articles about various aspects of English Language study. It's quite long, and you don't need to read all of it (of course, it would be great if you did...)

There are some highlights below: start with whatever catches your interest. None are more than a few pages long, and they are designed for your age group. 

Becoming an A Level English Language student (p29) Start with this to get a flavour of how you will be expected to approach the subject.

More than one English? (p25) Read this to realise that what you think of as being the English language is just the tip of the iceberg.

Studying Speech (p21) You won't have studied speech before - but this is an important part of A Level study. Read this to get a flavour of the things we will study.

Being Northern (p44) This may be of interest if you are a local, and maybe even if you're not.

Language in the Age of Technology (p8) Chances are your main method of communication is digital. Plus, there will be an exam question on digital methods of communication. Two reasons to read this....

How do we learn language? (p16) This is known as Child Language Acquisition (CLA), and you will learn much more about it during A Level. Get a head start by reading this. 

Language and the Law (p4) A really interesting article about how looking closely - very, very closely - at language is incredibly useful beyond education. 

Being a Sharp Reader (p33) Why you shouldn't believe everything you read.

Punctuation: Why? (p50) As you've chosen to study English Language at A Level, you must have some interest in how we make written language understandable, right?