1B - Full walkthrough

 

📝 Exam Guidance: Section B (Language Change)

⏱️ Timing

  • Total exam: 2 hours 15 minutes
  • Recommended time for Section B:
    • 15 minutes – reading
    • 55 minutes – writing

🧩 Introduction Structure

Your introduction should:

  • Introduce both texts
  • Include:
    • Audience
    • Genre
    • Purpose
  • Clearly highlight key changes over time
  • ❗ Do not analyse in detail yet

🧱 Essay Structure

  • Introduction
  • 3 paragraphs on Text A
  • 3 paragraphs on Text B
  • Conclusion

✅ Include brief comparisons throughout (AO4), even within single-text paragraphs.

✍️ Paragraph Structure (Minimum)

Each paragraph should include:

  1. Topic sentence focused on CHANGE (Make sure at least some mention CONVENTIONS)
  2. Evidence + analysis
  3. Further analysis (linked to audience/purpose)
  4. A comparison to the other text

💡 Example Paragraph (Model Approach)

One clear change between Text A and the modern period is its reliance on a harsh and authoritative tone, which would be seen as inappropriate for a child audience today. This is evident in the directive ‘Stand no wriggling, hither and thither’, where the fronted imperative creates urgency and authority. Furthermore, the archaic idiom ‘hither and thither’ conveys irritation, reinforcing a negative portrayal of children. Similarly, ‘gnaw not thy nails’ uses an imperative alongside archaic lexis to suggest enforced compliance, presenting children as subordinate. This would likely be viewed as overly harsh by a modern audience. In contrast, Text B adopts a more supportive and educational tone, as seen in the interrogative ‘did it ever occur to you…’, where the stative verb ‘occur’ allows for reader autonomy and reflects a more positive writer–reader relationship.

📚 Using Theory (For Top Marks)

Use theory selectively and meaningfully—always link it to context, audience, and change.

🔹 Language Change Theorists

  • Deborah Cameron
    • Language debates = social control (“verbal hygiene”)
    • Use for criticism of slang, discourse markers, non-standard forms
  • Penelope Eckert
    • Change driven by social identity & communities of practice
    • Useful for youth language and group-specific lexis
  • David Crystal
    • Technology drives change (“Netspeak”)
    • Use for emojis, abbreviations, informal digital features
  • William Labov
    • Change led by social groups, especially younger speakers
    • Also relevant for style-shifting
  • Peter Trudgill
    • Change via social contact & dialect levelling
    • Use for reduced regional variation

🔹 Identity & Interaction Theories (from Section A)

  • Howard Giles – Accommodation Theory
    • Speakers adjust language to converge/diverge with audiences
    • Useful when explaining shifts in tone/register over time
  • Norman Fairclough – Synthetic Personalisation
    • Creating a false sense of personal relationship with mass audiences
    • Useful for modern texts becoming more informal/direct
  • Erving Goffman – Face Theory
    • Maintaining self-image (face) in interaction
    • Can link to politeness changes over time
  • Penelope Brown & Stephen Levinson
    • Politeness Theory (FTAs, positive/negative face)
    • Useful for analysing shifts from authoritative → polite/supportive tones
  • Paul Grice – Maxims
    • Cooperative principles in communication
    • Can be used to analyse clarity, directness, or implied meaning

✅ Always:

  • Apply theory to a specific example
  • Link it to change over time
  • Explain impact on audience

❗ Avoid name-dropping—make it meaningful.

🏛️ Archaic Features (Use Briefly)

For top-level responses, mention these in passing when discussing change:

Spelling

  • Extra/missing letters (e.g. final “-e”)
  • I/Y and U/V interchange (vpon, giue)
  • Inconsistent / phonetic spelling

Grammar

  • Inversion (e.g. verb before subject)
  • Negation forms (“loves not”)
  • Long, multi-clause sentences

Punctuation

  • Heavy comma / semicolon use
  • Inconsistent capitalisation
  • Variable apostrophes
  • Hyphenated compounds (to-day)

❗ Integrate these briefly—don’t base whole paragraphs on them.

📌 Final Checklist

Make sure you:

  • ✔️ Use clear topic sentences about CHANGE
  • ✔️ Include evidence + terminology
  • ✔️ Explain why changes occur (AO3 context)
  • ✔️ Apply relevant theory (both change + identity)
  • ✔️ Mention archaic features where relevant
  • ✔️ Compare in most paragraphs
  • ✔️ Maintain focus on language change and conventions

If you consistently link change + context + audience + theory, your responses will stay analytical and reach the top bands.

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Like with any section of the A-Level, your work can be improved through the addition of relevant theory. Here are a few basic theories/theorists who made observations about language change that you could easily include in your essays if the opportunity arises: Deborah Cameron Deborah Cameron argues that debates about language are often about social control rather than language itself . She suggests that criticism of language is frequently a form of “moral panic” , and she calls attempts to control how others speak “verbal hygiene.” Therefore, if you see criticism in your unseen texts of features such as the discourse marker “like”, slang, or non-standard grammar, you could apply Deborah Cameron by saying: “Deborah Cameron would argue that the criticism of ‘like’ here is an example of verbal hygiene. The negative reaction is less about linguistic decline and more about social attitudes towards young speakers, particularly young women. I agree/disagree with this because…” Penelope Ecke...
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