English

A-Level English Language

Year 1

Term

Main topic areas

Skills and activities

Assessment

Term 1

Teacher A

Bridging Work:

Students will be developing their analytical and interpretative approaches from GCSE to A-level textual analysis

· Mini text work will be conducted by students to develop their analysis, interpretation and understanding of language levels: vocabulary, grammar, graphology, discourse, pragmatics

· Students will play grammar games and take part in activities to reinforce key frameworks.

· Students will investigate different genres of talk (political speeches, interviews, spontaneous chat, teacher talk, coaching)

· Students will analyse extracts from CMC (Twitter, email, texting, WhatsApp, Shapchat, online forum, Youtube comments)

· Students will take part in grouping and text classification activities

Linguistic analysis of a text.

Term 1

Teacher B

Introduction to sociolinguistics

Students will be studying the following:

Language and the individual (idiolect)

Language and social groups (sociolect, ethnolect and occupational language)

Communities of practice and models for explaining language diversity

Estuary English and ‘neutral’ language.

· Students will create individual language maps: taking part in activities in which they look at their own language use and map it out towards the social groups they are part of and communities they are from.

· Students will study standard and non -standard English usage through the theorists Trudgill, Cheshire, and Kerswill

· Students will learn about Face Theory, Status and solidarity, code switching, networks, class-based theory. restricted/elaborated code.

Essay:

Evaluate the idea that the way you use language is an important factor in establishing your identity.

Term 2

Teacher A

Introduction to Representation

Continuing with earlier work on textual analysis, students will explore ideas around representation as a wider issue.

They will work with texts representing social groups and institutions to explore how meanings are created.

They will also consider the impact of contexts – looking at older texts and representations

Creating representations using style models.

· Students will build on earlier work on language levels to focus on how ideas are represented.

· Students will focus on discourses and positioning, an influence and impact of contextual features of a text.

· Students will undertake creative writing tasks and commentary on language choices, intended impact, representations, positioning, discourse.

Assessment on pairs of texts offering different representations of the same topic over time.

Term 2

Teacher B

Sociolinguistics

Students will be developing work on diversity and attitudes to diversity: complaint tradition, prescriptivism/descriptivism, discrimination, and language issues

· Accent/dialect

· Age

· Ethnicity

· Social class

They will be exploring discourses surrounding these areas of linguistic study.

· Students will build on earlier work on sociolinguistics – focusing on discourses and representations of language and language users.

· Students will analyse articles within the discourse.

· Students will study Language and diversity in education – Cushing/Baker-Bell

· Students will practise their essay writing skills activities.

Essay:

Evaluate the idea that Standard English should be promoted in schools.

Term 3

Teacher A

Introduction to Language Change

Students will start work on how and why language changes

· Students will be introduced to older texts (used alongside other texts from mode and textual variation)

· Students will study reasons as to why language changes

· They will think about the processes of language change

· Models and metaphors will be used to show students language change.

· Students will consider attitudes to language change such as Prescriptivism and Descriptivism, Grammarians, Gatekeeping

Year 12 In class assessments (Section A Paper 1 and 2)

Term 3

Teacher B

Child language development

· Students will chart the stages of children’s language: how their spoken language develops

· Students will use Language Levels approach to different aspects of development and to describe, analyse and evaluate data.

· Students will consider theories surrounding the debate: imitation, interaction, innate, cognitive, usage-based approaches and evidence to support or challenge these theories.

Term 4

Teacher A

Language Change

Students will be developing work on the Language change discourse

· Students will explore more modern influences on language change and existing attitudes

· Americanisms will be studied by students

· Kachru, McArthur, Crystal’s Global English and World Englishes – models and theories will be looked at

· Students will evaluate issues with defining and standardising Global English

· They will also explore effects of positive and negative attitudes towards World ‘Englishes’

· Students will practise their Editorial Writing skills

Essay:

Evaluate the idea that global English should be standardised.

Term 4

Teacher B

Child Language Development continued.

· Students will analyse more challenging data with a focus on higher level syntactical/discourse analysis

· Students will collect data on a trip to a Nursery

· Students will practise essay writing skills for Paper 1 Section B

· Students will be revising and preparing for their examination

Exam-Style question:

To what extent is child language development a creative process? (In response to data)

Term 5

Both teachers

Language, society and the individual paper 1 revision.

Language variation paper 2 revision.

· Students will revise key terms, concepts and skills.

· Students will look at sample scripts and apply the mark scheme to these

· Students will create and complete own exam papers.

Term 6

Both teachers

Exam prep and feedback

Introduction to NEA

Language Investigation

Students will start work on developing approaches to language investigation work

Introduce research methods

· Students will draw together ideas for investigation based on interests within the group

· Students will set their own research questions

· They will develop data collection and selection skills (observer’s paradox, variables, research ethics)

· Students will learn to analyse Data, evaluate findings, write bibliographies, and read example investigations

· Students will set up their language investigation topics, question and methodologies

· Students will start data collection and analysis (to be completed over the holidays)

Year 12 Internal exams (Full Paper 1 and Section A Paper 2)

A-Level English Language

Year 2

Term

Main topic areas

Skills and activities

Assessments

Term 1

Teacher A

Gender and Interaction

Students will explore Variation with focus on the gender and interaction debate.

· Students will look at the work of Lakoff, Tannen, Cameron, Spender, Hyde, Holmes

· Students will create case studies, research, and write on gender and interaction

· Students swill look at media representations of gender differences

· Students will consider the complexities of polarisation and spectrum of gender identities.

· Students will practise discursive writing skills

Assessment: Evaluate the idea that women’s language is less powerful than men’s language.

Students will receive ongoing support with language investigation NEA

Term 1

Teacher B

NEA

· Students will organise and analyse the data collected over the summer holidays.

· Students will read and apply wider theory and research relevant to their investigations.

· Students will be drawing conclusions and evaluating findings

· Students will learn to write bibliographies.

NEA 1^st draft deadline.

Term 2

Teacher A

Language Reform

Students will develop work on language change, looking at reasons for and attitudes towards language reform.

Internal exams prep.

· Students will look at the theories of determinism, reflectionism, linguistic relativity, reappropriation. Impacted social groups, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, ability.

· Students will read Sapir and Whorf, Cameron, Spender, Aitcheson, Williams, Pinker and learn concepts and terminology to describe the discourse of lexical asymmetry, marked/unmarked terms, generic masculine, trivialising suffixes, semantic derogation, order of precedence, etymology, amelioration, pejoration, semantics.

· Students will analyse texts that support or challenge these ideas.

· Students will develop their comparative analysis skills.

Internal mocks Full Paper 1 and Paper 2

Term 2

Teacher B

Original Writing

Start work on different types of original writing for the second part of their NEA

Internal exams prep

· Students will look at style models for a range of different tasks:

– The power of persuasion

– The power of information

– The power of storytelling

· Students will choose, and analyse style model, plan, draft and write own pieces.

Term 3

Teacher A

Exam Skills

· Students will respond to personalised (deep) marking

· Students will receive extensive individual verbal feedback, they will review their own work, students will target set, the class will look at examiner’s reports

Feedback sessions

Term 3

Teacher B

NEA

· Students write final drafts of Original Writing piece.

· Students plan, draft and write commentaries, linking their writing to their style model: consider genre, style, structure, vocabulary, grammar and syntactical choices.

Term 4

Teacher A

Section B revision of Paper 1 and 2

· Students will revisit discourses focusing on comparative analysis and directed writing.

· Students will revisit Child Language Development – responding to data and evaluating statements.

Year 13 In class assessments

NEA final deadline

Term 4

Teacher B

Section A revision of Paper 1 and 2

· Students will revisit Language, Society and the Individual, analysing and comparing texts from different times.

· Students will revisit Language change and Language variation discourses, focusing on discursive essay writing.

Term 5

Both Teachers

Revision

· Students will revisit all aspects of the course

Final exams

English Literature

A-level English Literature Year 1
Terms	Main Topics	Skills and activities	Assessment
Term 1 Teacher A	Unseen Poetry Bridging unit – development of skills from GCSE to A-level	Students will become familiar with broad aspects of love for study. Students will begin to understand that attitudes to love in a text may be dependent upon the time in which it was written. Students will develop an ‘English Literature through time’ grid which can record the changing literary conventions and attitudes to the representation of love; within this, students will research the key poetry movements across time. Students will be introduced to a range of poetry from across time to consider how it reflects the literary conventions and attitudes to love of the time in which it was written. Using the AQA-issued Poetry Anthology, poems will be selected which collectively address a wide range of aspects of love Students will develop their comparative analysis skills of two poems about love from different time periods.	Comparative analysis of two unseen poems – past paper.
Term 1 Teacher B	Unseen Prose Bridging unit – development of skills from GCSE to A-level	Students will work with extracts to refresh their skills of analysis and interpretation, and to consider how to respond critically and creatively to literature. Students will be introduced to the idea of an historicist approach by considering how texts relate to their contexts of production Students will be introduced to literary terms which may be unfamiliar to them. Student group work will be undertaken to research and present visually the key events, movements etc. which have influenced writers of their chosen time period. Students will create a working wall display which can be added to during the entirety of the course. Students will predict the aspects of their chosen time period for study and explore how these (and others) are represented in a range of extracts.	Unseen prose analysis of an extract from The Great Gatsby.
Term 2 Teacher A	Love Through the Ages – Drama Othello	Students will analyse Othello for the following: dramatic structure; stagecraft; dramatic characterisation; and dramatic speech and language. Students will consider the representation of aspects of love, how this reflects the time in which the play was written and how this compares with the representation of these aspects in other reading about love from across time. (Unseen poems will be continued to be studied alongside the play to exemplify this.) Students will consider TV, film or stage adaptations and/or critical views of Othello to engage with possible alternative interpretations and how these reflect contexts of reception. Students will develop analytical skills of key extracts from the play, each for the representation of a particular aspect of love, and make links to the wider play.	Paper 1 Section A style question based on an extract from the beginning of the play.
Term 2 Teacher B	Love Through the Ages -prose The Great Gatsby	Students will analyse The Great Gatsby for: narrative structure; use of time and place; characterisation; and point of view. Students will consider the representation of aspects of love in The Great Gatsby, how this reflects the time in which the novel was written and how this compares with the representation of these aspects in other reading about love from across time (including the unseen poems, Othello and poetry anthology). Students will consider TV/film adaptations and/or critical views of their novel to engage with possible alternative interpretations and how these reflect contexts of reception.
Term 3 Teacher A	Exam prep Paper 1 and Paper 2 section B Unseen Prose	· Students will revise Othello so far · Students will revise Unseen poetry skills taught so far	Year 12 In class assessments
Term 3 Teacher B	Exam prep Paper 1 and Paper 2 section B unseen prose	· Students will bring The Great Gatsby and anthology poems studied so far together · Students will revise unseen prose analysis skills · After exams feedback will be given and targets set by the teacher	Year 12 In class assessments
Term 4 Teacher A	Othello continued	· Students will continue to study Othello · Students will practise the skill of close reading of the text as closed book · Students will focus on Love Through the Ages · Students will hone their essay writing skills
Term 4 Teacher B	The Great Gatsby continued	· Students will continue study The Great Gatsby · Students will practise close reading of texts · Students will compare with Poetry Anthology
Term 5 Teacher A	A Streetcar Named Desire	Students will analyse A Streetcar Named Desire for: dramatic structure; stagecraft; dramatic characterisation; and dramatic speech and language. Students will consider the representation of key aspects of the time period in the play, how this reflects the time in which it was written and how this compares with the representation of these aspects in other reading from this period (including The Great Gatsby and the unseen prose extracts). Students will consider TV/film adaptations and/or critical views of their A streetcar Named Desire to engage with possible alternative interpretations.
Term 5 Teacher B	The Handmaid’s Tale	Students will be assessed on how familiar with the conventions of prose fiction of the time in which The Handmaid’s Tale was written, and how it reflects these or otherwise. Students will analyse The Handmaid’s Tale and unseen prose extracts for: narrative structure; use of time and place; characterisation; and point of view. Students will consider the representation of key aspects of their chosen time period in The Handmaid’s Tale, how this reflects the time in which the text was written and how this compares with the representation of these aspects in other reading from this period (including the unseen prose extracts). Students will consider TV/film adaptations and/or critical views of the text to engage with possible alternative interpretations.
Term 6 Both teachers	Revision and exam preparation NEA introduction	Revision of Love Through the Ages and Modern Times (Option 1 in exam) · Othello · Unseen poetry comparison · The Great Gatsby and Anthology pre 1900 poems · Unseen prose · The Handmaid’s Tale · A Streetcar Named Desire Introduction to the NEA Independent Study · Students will study their first NEA text and research appropriate secondary sources. · Their wider reading around the NEA texts might include biographical works; other texts by the same author. · Students will consider the areas of interest arising from their study and possible texts for comparison (with teacher support where appropriate). · Students should aim to start Year Two with an outline plan of their comparative critical NEA response	Year 12 Internal exams (Full Paper 1 and Paper 2 Section B)

A-level English Literature Year 2

Time Frame

Main Topics

Key skills and activities

Assessment

Term 1

Teacher A

The Handmaid’s Tale

NEA

· Students will continue to study The Handmaid’s Tale

· Students will practise close reading of the text in comparison to A Streetcar Named Desire.

· Students will continue to study linked unseen prose extracts.

· Students will practise their essay writing skills

· Students will be negotiating their NEA task with their teacher and drafting their NEA response

NEA Tutorials

NEA 1^st draft deadline.

Term 1

Teacher B

A Streetcar Named Desire

NEA

· Students will continue to study A Streetcar Named Desire

· Students will practise close reading of the text in comparison to The Handmaid’s Tale.

· Students will continue to study linked unseen prose extracts.

· Students will practise their essay writing skills

· Students will be negotiating their NEA task with their teacher and drafting their NEA response

Term 2

Teacher A

Poetry Study

Skirrid Hill – 1st section

Paper 1 Revision and exam prep.

Students will study the first section of Skirrid Hill poems up to YGaer (The Hill Fort)
Students will become familiar with the conventions of poetry of the time and how Skirrid Hill text reflects these or otherwise.
Students will analyse Skirrid Hill for: subject matter; voice, attitudes and ideas; poetic structure; imagery; sound.
Students will consider the representation of key aspects of the chosen time period in Skirrid Hill, how this reflects the time in which the text was written and how this compares with the representation of these aspects in other reading from this period (including the set prose and drama texts and the unseen prose extracts).
Students might consider critical views of Skirrid Hill to engage with possible alternative interpretations.

Students will revise their set texts.
Students will revise key quotations for Paper 1, Section A (as this is a closed-book exam section.)
Students will revise key passages from their set texts for close analysis in the open-book exam section.
Students will revise the changing literary conventions and attitudes to the representation of love across time including the key poetry movements.
Students will practise their analysis of unseen poetry
Students will revise the connections between the set texts to be used for comparative responses in Paper 1, Section C.

Students will respond to practise exam questions, including: writing of their own exam questions; annotation of exemplar scripts; pair planning and writing of exam responses before individual exam responses are written.

Internal mocks

Full Paper 1 and Paper 2

Term 2

Teacher B

Skirrid Hill 2^nd section

Paper 2 Revision and exam prep.

· Students will study the 2^nd section of poems starting with The Hill Fort (Y Gaer)

· Students will become familiar with the conventions of poetry of the time and how Skirrid Hill reflects these or otherwise.

· Students will analyse Skirrid Hill for: subject matter; voice, attitudes and ideas; poetic structure; imagery; sound.

· Students will consider the representation of key aspects of their chosen time period in Skirrid Hill, how this reflects the time in which the text was written and how this compares with the representation of these aspects in other reading from this period (including the set prose and drama texts and the unseen prose extracts).

· Students will consider critical views of Skirrid Hill to engage with possible alternative interpretations.

· Students will revise their set texts.

· Students will produce maps to show links between their texts which (potentially) will be compared in Section B for: the broad aspects of their chosen time period; authorial methods; contextual factors; and different interpretations.

· Students will revise the key events, movements etc. which have influenced writers of their chosen time period for Paper 2.

· Students will revise key passages from their set texts for close analysis in the open-book exam.

Term 3

Teacher A

Exam skills

NEA final draft support

· Students will act upon the extensive individual feedback received

· Students will attend NEA writing and drafting sessions

Students will receive personalised (deep) marking of their NEAs and examination responses

NEA writing sessions

Term 3

Teacher B