English

The English Curriculum aims to ensure that all students are nurtured yet challenged in order to achieve their potential in all aspects of reading and writing.

It is essential that all students develop their literacy skills in order to thrive in a competitive world yet we also encourage a love of reading and promote creativity through the focus on imaginative writing for a variety of purposes.  We aim to develop imaginative, inquisitive and analytical individuals through a variety of learning activities and stimuli to widen their understanding and enjoyment of texts and to learn more about themselves and the world they live in.

KS3-4 Pathways (Southfield) GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature (both AQA)
KS4-5 Pathways (Southfield) A Level English Language and A Level English Literature (A) (both AQA)
KS5- Higher & Further Education
Pathways

BA English, BA English Literature, BA English Language, BA Creative Writing, BA Journalism, BA Linguistics, BA Classics, BA Combined Studies, BA Communcation; BA English Joint Honours studying English alongside another subject including: History, American Studies, Film and Media, Languages, Politics, Education Studies, Social Studies
Careers 

Publishing, Advertising, Journalism, Copywriting, Teacher, Writer, Academic Librarian, Archivist, Public Relations Manager, Social Media Manager, Law
KS4 Specification links  AQA GCSE English Language: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-language-8700
AQA GCSE English Literature: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-literature-8702
KS5 Specification links

AQA A Level English Language: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-language-7701-7702
AQA A Level English Literature (A): https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-literature-a-7711-7712
Year 7

Unit 1 - The History Of Language

Key questions/concepts

  • How has our language changed and why?

  • How do you correctly punctuate different sentence forms?

  • How have writers experimented with language over the years?

  • How does a writer influence our feelings about a character

  • How can I write empathetically?

Timeframe

  • September - December

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Empathise  To show understand how someone is feeling
Recount  To retell events
Inference  Exploring the suggested meaning of an idea in a text
Viewpoint  Your attitude towards something
 Communication   The process in which people or animals exchange communication

Wider reading

  • The Seven Voyages Of Sinbad

  • Haroun and the sea of stories (Rushdie)

  • Percy Jackson (Riordan)

  • Beowulf: Dragon Slayer (Rosemary Sutcliff)

  • Tales of the Greek Heroes (Lancelyn Green)

 

Unit 2 - My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece (class reader)

Key questions/concepts

  • How does a writer help create sympathy or empathy for a character?

  • How does the description of setting help to create a specific atmosphere?

  • How do writers link ideas together across a text?

  • How do you use time phrases and discourse markers to connect ideas in your writing?

  • How do writers create morals within their stories?

Timeframe

  • January - April

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Time Phrase   Connecting phrases that indicate how different moments connect in terms of time.
Protagonist  Central character
Setting  The surroundings or circumstances.
Stereotype  A set of characteristics that are seen as typical
Moral  Values based on what we believe is the right way to behave

Wider reading

  • A Monster Calls (Ness)

  • Millions (Cottrell Boyce)

  • Wonder (Palacio)

  • Boy at the back of the class (Rauf)

  • Caught in the Crossfire (Gibbons)

 

Unit 3 - Magic

Key questions/concepts

  • What were performances like in Shakespeare's Globe?

  • What are the features of a Shakespearean Comedy?

  • How does Shakespeare create tension in his plays?

  • How can writers describe in exciting ways? 

  • How do you use subordinate clauses to add detail to a description?

Timeframe

  • May - July

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Personification  When an inanimate object is given human qualities
Dramatic Tension  Building fear or danger in a play
Comedy  A light hearted genre
Subordinate Clause  A clause that adds information to support a main clause in a complex sentence
Characterisation  Developing a character is a certain way to show specific behaviours

Wider reading

  • Harry Potter (Rowling)

  • Shakespeare Retellings: The Tempest

  • Twisted Tales: Shakespeare Stories

  • Riding Icarus

  • John Green CrashCourse: Shakespeare (YouTube)

 

Year 8

Unit 1 - Gothic

Key questions/concepts

  • What is Gothic literature?

  • How is tension built in a Gothic text?

  • What are the key features of a Gothic text?

  • How did the Gothic reflect Victorian society?

  • How does a specific word or phrase build specific meaning in a text?

Timeframe

  • September - December 

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Gothic  Fiction texts with dark setting and melodramatic events.
Pathetic Fallacy   The use of weather to create a specific mood in a text.
Atmosphere  The mood created.
Foreshadowing  A warning or indication of a future event.
Analysis  A detailed examination of how meaning is developed in a text.

Wider reading

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events (Snickett)

  • The Graveyard Book (Gaiman)

  • Master Creecher (Chris Priestley)

  • Dracula (Stoker)

 

Unit 2 - Villains

Key questions/concepts

  • What are the conventions of a villainous character?

  • How does Shakespeare use language to make characters appear villainous?

  • What are the features of a Shakespearean tragedy?

  • Are we able to feel sympathy for villainous characters?

  • How can you use language to build tension in your writing?

Timeframe

  • January - April

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Villain  Evil character.
Tragedy  A type of book/film/play in which the hero has a flaw which leads to downfall.
Semantic Field   A group of words that link to a theme/subject e.g words that all link to death.
Juxtaposition  Contrast.
Antagonist  A character whose function is to cause problems for others.

Wider reading

  • Six of Crows (Bardugo)

  • The British Library collection on Macbeth

  • Northern Lights (Pullman)

  • MacB (Arksey)

  • Homeschool History Podcast: William Shakespeare

 

Unit 3 - War (class reader)

Key questions/concepts

  • How did war affect children and their families?

  • How did propoganda influence young men?

  • What was life like in the trenches?

  • How do writers use language to present characters?

  • How does the narrative voice of a novel impact upon the reader?

Timeframe

  • May - July

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
 Propaganda   Information used to promote a political cause.
Irony  Language that usually signifies the opposite.
Motif  A pattern - recurring image.
Patriotism  Loyalty to your country.
Homefront  Those left in cities and towns away from the actual battles.

Wider reading

Year 9

Unit 1 - The Bone Sparrow (class reader)

Key questions/concepts

  • What does the novel show about life for present-day Rohingyan refugees in a detention centre?
  • How does the writer present her message about the treatment and experiences of refugees?
  • How can a text help shape views of vulnerable people in modern society?
  • How can narrative, character and setting be described to create a specific atmosphere?
  • What is evaluation?

Timeframe

  • September - December 

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Refugee  A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
Persecution  Hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race or political or religious beliefs; oppression.
Narrative Voice   The writer's or narrator's use of perspective, language, including tone, diction, and word choice. 
Allegory  A story, poem or picture that has a hidden moral or political message.
Evaluation  Making a judgement based on specific evidence.

Wider reading

 

Unit 2 - Love

Key questions/concepts

  • How has the treatment of women changed since the Elizabethan Era?

  • How can we convey a change in social and historical perspective?

  • How do writers manipulate and craft decsriptive language?

  • Are you able to write multi-clause sentences to add detail to your ideas?

  • What make an effective analytical comparison?

Timeframe

  • January - April

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Craft  Use skill to create and manipulate writing.
Gender  Male Female or to denote a range of identities.
Innovative  Featuring new /original ideas or methods.
Elizabethan  Time Period when Queen Elizabeth was ruling.
Function  Purpose of the character.

Wider reading

  • The Time Machine (Wells)

  • News From the Dead (Hooper)

  • Time Traveller's Wife  (Niffeneger)

  • An Introduction to Shakespeare's Comedies (British Library)

  • John Green Crash Course: Shakespeare's Sonnets

 

Unit 3 - Seminal Literature

Key questions/concepts

  • What does it mean to subvert traditional expectations?

  • How do writers explore contemporary issues?

  • How can you apply ideas from a novel to your own life?

  • How do writers use language to influence our response to characters?

  • What do you believe are the features of a good novel?

Timeframe

  • May - July

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Subvert  Change/undermine an established system/form.
 Contemporary   Living or occuring at the time.
Global  World wide.
Issues  An important topic or problem,
Seminal  Strongly influencing.

Wider reading

Year 10

Unit 1 - Victorian Novel (Jekyll and Hyde/A Christmas Carol)

Key questions/concepts

  • How is meaning developed in a fiction text?

  • How can a text be organised to have an impact on the reader?

  • What impact does specific Victorian Context have on the novel?

  • How are writer's intentions achieved through the novel?

  • What specific technqiues does the writer use to create meaning?

Timeframe

  • September - December 

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Duality  The condition of having two sides/personalities 
Construct  The way a character is created to have specific meaning.
Perspective  A viewpoint.
Motif  A pattern/recurring image.
 Benevolence   Goodwill and kindness

Wider reading

  • Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)

  • Oliver (Charles Dickens)

  • Revise GCSE English Lit by Seneca Podcast

  • Home School History: Charles Dickens

  • Discovering Literature: Romantics and Victorians (British Library)

 

Unit 2 - Modern Text (An Inspector Calls/Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime)

Key questions/concepts

  • How can a writer share their opinion effectively in writing?

  • What techniques effectively convey a writer's opinion?

  • How is a play structured to have an effect on the audience?

  • How do writers use language and stage direction to develop engaging characters?

  • What effect can staging have on an audience?

Timeframe

  • January - April

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Dramatic Irony  The audience have a deeper understanding which makes them realise something is wrong.
Exposition  Beginning.
Catharsis  Releasing strong emotions. 
Archetype  A typical example of a certain person or thing
Denouement  The final part of a play, film or narrative.

Wider reading 

  • J.B Priestley interviews (British Library)

  • The People: The Rise and Fall of the Working Class (Todd)

  • The Birth of the NHS (historic-uk.com)

  • How I Live Now (Meg Rosoff)

  • Animal Farm  George Orwell

 

Unit 3 - Poetry

Key questions/concepts

  • Why are relationships so important to us?

  • What structural and linguistic devices do poets use?

  • How would you approach a poem you have never seen before?

  • How do we explore key themes across texts?

  • How do we create lines of comparative debate?

Timeframe

  • May - July

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Blank verse  Verse without rhyme.
Enjambment  Lines in poetry that do not have a punctuated pause at the end.
 Romantic Age   A Literary Period in history.
Thematic  A body of linked topics for study
Concept  An abstract idea or notion.

Wider reading

  • Shakespeare's Sonnets

  • The Penguin Book of English Verse

  • The Poet Laureate has Gone to his Shed: Simon Armitage Podcast

  • Tell Me the Truth About Life - National Poetry Day

  • Mr Bruff revision podcast

 

Year 11

Unit 1 - Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet)

Key questions/concepts

  • What is Shakespeare suggesting about love?

  • How does time influence the way an audience receives a production?

  • How does a writer structure a dramatic text to have impact?

  • How does a writer construct characters to explore concepts?

  • How do I evaluate and validate my own responses?

Timeframe

  • September - January

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Prologue  Introduction to the play.
Courtly Love  A set of rules for wealthy Elizabethan men and women to follow when dating.
Foil  Deliberate contrast of two charactres to highlight the weaknesses of one.
Melancholic Hero   A literary archetype.
Fallibility  To make mistakes or be weak/wrong

Wider reading

Unit 2 - Review of Texts and Skills

Key questions/concepts

  • How does a writer use language, form and structure to create meaning?

  • What have I learnt about the writers' key intentions?

  • What is the impact of crafting my vocabulary, sentences and content?

  • How do I show that I have engaged with the texts studied?

  • What is meant by clear, thoughtful and perceptive?

Timeframe

  • Febuary - May

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Evaluate  Make a judgement/assess
Analyse  Examine methods and explain the impact.
Summarise  Give a statement of the main points and ideas.
Synthesis  A combination of ideas.
Conceptualisation   To develop a detailed ideas using a variety of influences.

Wider reading

  • Mr Bruff Podcast

  • You Can't Revise for GCSE English. Yes you can! (Roberts)

  • Revise GCSE English Lit by Seneca Podcast

  • The GCSE English Revision Blog

  • First You Write a Sentence (Moran)

Year 12

Literature - Unit 1a - Pre 19th C Poetry Wuthering Heights

Key questions/concepts

  • How has poetry evolved over the ages?

  • How has love been explored in literature over the ages?

  • How is a writer influenced by literary genre and period?

  • How does a significant 19th Century writer craft and shape their ideas?

  • What skills do I need to compare poetry and prose?

Timeframe

  • September - December

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Synoptic  Questions relating to a linked theme.
Restoration  English Restoration(1660–1689), which corresponds to the last years of the direct Stuart reign. 
Romantic  1798 - 1837 - defined by revolutionary zeal.
Cavalier  17th Century English Poets who supported King Charles 1.
 Carpe Diem   Latin - "Seize the Day".

Wider reading

  • Women in Love (DH Lawrence)

  • Cold Comfort Farm (Gibbons)

  • The Good Morrow, The Broken Heart (Donne)

  • Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Hardy)

  • Bonnets At Dawn Podcast.

 

Literarure: Unit 1b - War Poetry Regeneration

Key questions/concepts

  • What different perspectives of WW1 are demonstrated through the prose/poetry of WW1? 

  • How did the image of the soldier evolve through poetry? 

  • Who are the real inspirations behind the novel "Regeneration"?

  • How does Barker use mirroring and realism in the novel?

  • What does Barker suggest about the impact of war the mental health of all?

Timeframe

  • September - December 

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
'Shell Shock'   Soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress were often diagnosed with this.
Pacifism  Being opposed to violence and war.
Emasculation  To deprive a man of his male role or responsibility.
Petrarchan Sonnet  The original form of sonnet popularised by Petrarch in renaissance Italy.
Pyschoanalysis  The aim of treating mental trauma through therapy.

Wider reading

  • Henry V (Shakespeare)

  • The First World War: A Very Short Introduction

  • The Old Front Line Podcast

  • Siegfried's journey (Sassoon)

  • W H R Rivers on the treatment of shell shock, from The Lancet (British Library)

 

Literature: Unit 2a - Pre 19th C Poetry Great Gatsby

Key questions/concepts

  • How has poetry evolved over the ages?

  • How has love been explored in literature over the ages?

  • How is Fitzgerald influenced by literary genre and period?

  • How does a significant 20th Century writer craft and shape their ideas?

  • What skills do I need to compare poetry and prose?

Timeframe

  • January - April

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Historicist  Literary theory which aims to understand intellectual history through literature. 
Morality  Distinctions between right and wrong.
Decadent  Self-indulgent - A state of moral decline.
Synthesasia  Sense impression.
 American Dream   National ethos of the United States.

Wider reading

  • Tender is the Night(Fitzgerald)

  • Atonement (McEwan)

  • To My Brothers (Keats)

  • Goblin Market (Rossetti)

  • Revise A Level English Lit by Seneca podcast. 

  • W H R Rivers on the treatment of shell shock, from The Lancet (British Library)

 

Literature: Unit 2b - Regenaration My Boy Jack

Key questions/concepts

  • How does Haig structure the play to maintain audience interest?

  • How does Haig present the realities of war?

  • What is Barker's intention in the ending of My Boy Jack?

  • What do Barker's female character reveal about the changing role of women? 

  • To what extent is the novel resolved?

Timeframe

  • January - April

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
 Post Colonialism   The theory exploring the last impact of colonoialisation by former empires.
Modernism  At artistic style that deviates from the literary conventions and ideas.
Proxemics  The understanding created by the amount of space between characters on stage.
Turn Taking  The analysis of the balance of dialogue between characters in a play.
 Non Sequitur    A statement that does not follow the other parts of a conversation.

Wider reading

  • Birdsong (Faulks)

  • All Quiet on the Western Front (Remarque)

  • The First Casualty (Elton)

  • A Farewell to Arms (Hemingway)

  • Radio 4 Bookclub with Pat Barker 

  • W H R Rivers on the treatment of shell shock, from The Lancet (British Library)

 

Literature: Unit 3a - Exam Structure Consolidation

Key questions/concepts

  • How do I include critical theory?

  • How do I create a strong line of debate?

  • How can I place typicality or atypicality?

  • What do I know about "Love Through the ages" ?

  • How can I use wider reading to illuminate my ideas?

Timeframe

  • May - July

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
 Critical Theorist   A writer who analyses and judges a text according to a social theory.
Atypical  Not representative of type.
Typical  Representative of Type.
Literary Canon   The significant works of literature that have great influence over other works.
 Seminal   strongly influencing later developments.

Wider reading

  • W H R Rivers on the treatment of shell shock, from The Lancet (British Library)

 

Literature: Unit 3b - War Poetry, Exam Structure, Consolidation

Key questions/concepts

  • What perspectives and experiences of war are presented by female writers and how/do they differ to men?

  • What connections and comparisons can be drawn between My Boy Jack and the poems of the anthology?

  • How do I structure a poetry comparison?

  • How does the attitude presented in Cummings' poetry compare to the attitudes within My Boy Jack?

  • Who was Rudyard Kipling and why is he a significant figure?

Timeframe

  • May - July

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Suffragette   Women seeking the right to vote through organised protest.
Feminism  The advocacy for women's rights through equality between the sexes.
Patriotism  Devoted support for one's country.
Hindsight  The understanding of an event after it has happened.
Jingoism   Aggressive or war-like views towards foreign nations.

Wider reading

  • Oh! What a Lovely War

  • The Wipers Times (Hislop)

  • Kim (Kipling)

  • AS and A2 English Blog

  • Blackadder Goes Forth (BBC)

 

Language - Unit 1 - Introduction To Language Levels

Key questions/concepts

  • What do the two texts mean?

  • What do they represent?

  • How is language used to represent people, situations and ideas?

  • What is a language level?

  • How are language levels applied to a text?

Timeframe

  • 15 Weeks

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Discourse  A block of written or spoken communication.
Denotative  Literal meanings of words (dictionary defintions). 
Connotative  Associated meanings of words.
Grammar  The structural aspects of language that tie items of language together.
Morpheme   Element of meaning smaller than a word.

 

 

Language: Unit 1A - Language Change- The History of English

Key questions/concepts

  • Where does language come from?

  • How is language governed?

  • Is our language decaying?

  • Evaluate the idea that there are superior and inferior varieties of English.

  • Evaluate the idea that the advances in technology will destroy the role of English.

Timeframe

  • 14 Weeks

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Diachronic change How language has developed and evolved through time.
Synchronic change An approach that considers a language at a moment in time without taking its history into account.
Descriptivist Someone who believes that books about language should describe how language is really used, rather than giving rules to follow saying what is correct and not correct.
Prescriptivist Someone who believes that there are correct and wrong ways to use language and that books about language should give rules to follow.
Neologism A neologism is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use.

Wider reading

  • The Language Wars- Henry Hitchings

  • Language Change- Progress or Decay-Jean Aitchison

  • Texting: The Great Debate-David Crystal

  • Brave New Words: Kerry Maxwell

  • Language Change-Adrian Beard

 

Language: Unit 2 - Textual Variations and Representations

Key questions/concepts

  • How do texts work within particular contexts?

  • What language features have been applied?

  • What does language tell you about cultural history?

  • How is phonetic knowledge useful?

  • How is language used to shape meaning?

Timeframe

  • 12 Weeks

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Idiom  An expression whose meaning is not dependent on the meanings of the word it contains. 
Suffix  Grammatical additions to ends of words.
Prefix  Grammatical additions to beginnings of words.
Modifier  Words which add information to verbs, nouns and adjectives.
Passive Voice   The changing of word order in a sentence so that the object is at the front.

Wider reading

  • Variation across Speech by Doug Biber

  • The Language of Speech and Writng by Carter & Cornbleet

 

Language: Unit 2A - Language Diversity: Accent and Dialect, Gendered Language   Paper 2

Key questions/concepts

  • What is meant by identity?

  • How does a persons accent and dialect affect their prospects?

  • Why do people assimilate?

  • Evaluate the issues surrounding people changing their accents?

  • Evaluate the idea that levelling has created a more equal society

Timeframe

  • 14 Weeks

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Convergence   A type of linguistic change in which languages come to structurally resemble one another as a result of prolonged language contact and mutual interference, regardless of whether those languages belong to the same language family, i.e. stem from a common genealogical proto-language.
Accommodation   The process by which participants in a conversation adjust their accent, diction, or other aspects of language according to the speech style of the other participant.
Isogloss   A line on a map marking an area having a distinct linguistic feature.
Melioration  The linguistic process in which over a period of time a word grows more positive in connotation or more elevated in meaning.
Cultural Assimilation    The process by which a person or a group's language and/or culture come to resemble those of another group.

Wider reading

  • Language and Region-Joan Beal

  • Language and Identities- Carmen Llamas and Dominic Watt

 

Year 12 Lanuage: Unit 3 - Child Language Acquisition Original writing NEA

Key questions/concepts

  • How do children develop spoken language?

  • What is the nature v nurture debate?

  • How do I prepare for my NEA?

  • How do I structure my NEA?

  • What is a style model?

Timeframe

  • 15 Weeks

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Pragmatics Cultural rules of a society
Virtuous Error Errors made by children which show the learning proceeses they are applying 
Style Model An example of a text in a particular genre.
Annotation Analytical notes which demonstrate understanding of a text.
Context The circumstances of a text which determine the way it is perceived or understood.

Wider reading

  • Listen to your Child by David Crystal

  • The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker

  • Novels

  • Speeches

  • Brochures

 

Language: Unit 3A - Language Diversity: Global language

Key questions/concepts

  • Is there more than one English?

  • Why is English the lingua franca?

  • Does ELF disadvantage other languages?

  • Evaluate the idea that Kachru's model of Circles of Englishes (1992) is inadequate

  • Evaluate the idea that English is changing and breaking up into many different Englishes

Timeframe

  • 14 Weeks

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Lingua Franca is a common language serving as a regular means of communication relating to scientific, technological, and academic information between different linguistic groups in a multilingual speech community.
Creole is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language.
Pidgin a language that combines two or more other languages, enabling the members of different speech communities to communicate
Homogeneous is a language is one that has very few or no regional variations, accents, dialects.
Diaspora is a sociolinguistic idea referring to a variety of languages spoken by peoples with common roots who have dispersed, under various pressures and often globally.

Wider reading

  • The Last Lingua Franca-Nicolas Ostler

  • English as Global Language-David Crystal

  • World Englishes: a resource book for students

  • Transforming Texts-Shaun O'Toole

 

Year 13

Literature: Unit 1a - Othello

Key questions/concepts

  • Does occupational jargon exclude laymen?

  • What speech is more valued in society, rapport or report?

  • Does occupation have a affect on a person's speech?

  • Evaluate the perception that men interrupt/swear/ more than women?

  • Evaluate the perception that women are collabrative?

Timeframe

  • September- January

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
 Jacobean  Relating to reign of James 1.
 Machiavellian   A construct - a cunning, scheming and unscrupulous character.
Malcontent  Agitator, person who is dissentient.
Tragedy  A genre - relate to Greek Form.
Agnorasis Point when main character recognises or discovers another's true nature.

Wider reading

  • A Streetcar Named Desire (Williams)

  • Various critical works and essays in Othello Work Book

  • University of Oxford Approacing Shakespeare Podcast

  • Folger Shakespeare Society Podcast

  • You Can't Revise for A Level English? Yes You Can! (Roberts)

 

Literature: Unit 1b - NEA

Key questions/concepts

  • A statement of theory that is put forward to be proven or explained

  • A  list of works referred to in an academic text.

  • A consideration of how literature is influenced by social, historical or philosophical elements

  • To improve a piece of work based on feedback and further ideas

  • The ability to discuss complex ideas with well thought through evidence and analysis

Timeframe

  • September- January

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
Thesis  A statement of theory that is put forward to be proven or explained.
Bibliography   A list of works referred to in an academic text.
Critical Theory  A consideration of how literature is influenced by social, historical or philosophical elements. 
Redrafting  To improve a piece of work based on feedback and further ideas.
Perspection  The ability to discuss complex ideas with well thought through evidence and analysis.

Wider reading

 

Literature: Unit 2a - Love Through The Ages Unseen Poetry

Key questions/concepts

  • Is there such a thing as innovative literature?

  • What are the key periods of change?

  • How does intertextuality affect our interpretation of a poem?

  • How do I analyse and explore an unseen poem?

  • How can I be a critical reader?

Timeframe

  • February - May

Key vocabulary

Word/phrase Definition
 Innovative   Featuring new methods, advanced and inventive.
Intertextuality  Relationship between texts.
Pathos  A quality that evokes pity or sadness.
Pastoral  A form of poetry.
 Literary Period   Writing of a certain style influenced by the events and thoughts of a certain period in time.

Wider reading

  • Book of Matches (Armitage)

  • Selected Poems (Plath)

  • The World's Wife (Duffy)

  • AS and A2 English Blog

  • The Poet Laureate has Gone to his Shed: Simon Armitage Podcast

 

Literature: Unit 2b - Non Fiction Wider Reading

Key questions/concepts

  • What are the typical elements of WW1 Literature?

  • What influences might cause someone to contrast the typicality of WW1 Literature?

  • How do modern war texts compare and contrast with texts written in WW1?

  • Why do modern writers still write about WW1?

  • Which poems across the anthology link well?

Timeframe

  • January - May

Key vocabulary

 Word/phrase  Definition
Convention  The way that something is usually done.
Georgian  Early War poetry focusing on Nature that is often quite patriotic.
Chivalry  A moral and social code based on the system of knights and noblemen.
Credibility  The reliableness of someone's view based on their experiences and evidence. 
Homefront   Used to describe those at home during war and the trials these people faced.

Wider reading

  • British Army War diaries 1914-1922 (The National Archives)

  • WW1 Uncut: Dan Snow (BBC)

  • The Great War Interviews (BBC)

  • The Donkeys (Clark)

  • The First World War Poetry Digital Archive (Oxford University)

 

Language: Unit 1 - Introduction to NEA Investigation

Key questions/concepts

  • What is an investigation?

  • How do I choose my NEA?

  • How do I formulate a question?

  • How do I structure my writing for investigation?

  • How do I find out information to back up my hypothesis?

Timeframe

  • 13 Weeks

Key vocabulary

 Word/phrase  Definition
Transcribe  Turning speech into text
Hypothesis  An idea which will need proving
Style Model  An example of a text in a particular genre.
Annotation  Analytical notes which demonstrate understanding of a text.
Methodology   How a hypothesis is trialled

 

 

Language: Unit 1A - Language and Diversity: Gendered Language 2, Occupational Language, Technology and language

Key questions/concepts

  • Does occupational jargon exclude laymen?

  • What speech is more valued in society, rapport or report?

  • Does occupation have a affect on a person's speech?

  • Evaluate the perception that men interrupt/swear more than women?

  • Evaluate the perception that women are collabrative?

Timeframe

  • 13 Weeks

Key vocabulary

 Word/phrase  Definition
Semantic Derogation Meaning shift in which words take on more negative connotations or denotations. For example, the word mistress was once the female counterpart of mister but has taken on negative meanings not matched by its male counterpart.
Determinism The concept that language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or thought.
Collabrative The act of working together in speech to bring about an amicable resolution
Polari A language that has evolved from necessity within the gay community
Phatic Utterance Is communication which serves a social function, such as social pleasantries that don't seek or offer information of intrinsic value but can signal willingness to observe conventional local expectations for politeness.

Wider reading

  • The Myth of Mars and Venus- Deborah Cameron

  • Language and Gender-Angela Goddard

 

Language: Unit 2 - Completion of NEA original Writing and Investigation Revisit child language

Key questions/concepts

  • How do children learn to read and write?

  • What linguistic theories can I apply to support my views?

  • Is there a definitive theory about language acquisition?

  • Have I structured my writing clearly?

  • Have I edited my NEA thoroughly?

Timeframe

  • 7 Weeks

Key vocabulary

 Word/phrase  Definition
Utterance  A language that combines two or more other languages, enabling the members of different speech communities to communicate.
Overgeneralisation  Applying a rule without realizing there are exceptions.
Child Directed Speech   Speech that parents and caregivers use with children.
Evaluation  Examining the data and drawing conclusions
Power  The significance of different communication functions in society

Wider reading

  • How Children Learn Language by William O'Grady

  • Child Language Acquisition in Language by P. Ibbotson

  • A new kind of language article by Paul Ibbotson

 

Language: Unit 2A - Language Diversity: Political correctness, MLE, Polari, Paper 2

Key questions/concepts

  • Evaluate the idea that Polari is devisive

  • Evaluate the idea that new language can be born out of prejudice

  • Why might Multicultural London English arouse strong feelings?

  • Do people speak differently depending on their age?

  • How do we write?

Timeframe

  • 15 Weeks

Key vocabulary

 Word/phrase  Definition
Idiomatic Phrases   A phrase that has an accepted and known meaningthat is different from the dictionary definition.
Code-Switching   A bilingual speaker will use and alternate between different languages.
Multiethnolect  Is used by a number of linguists to define an emerging, distinct variety of language found in young, working-class urban neighbourhoods, across Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain.
Dichotomy   A difference between two opposite things : a division into two opposite groups.
Implicature   An implied meaning that has to be inferred as a result of a conversation maxim being broken.

Wider reading

  • Sociolinguistics: a resource for students-Peter Stockwell

  • Language and Power-Paul Simpson and Andrea Mayr

 

Language: Unit 3 - Exam Preparation

Key questions/concepts

  • How do I apply the knowledge gained during my studies?

  • Do I understand the exam requirements?

  • How do I use terminology in my analysis?

  • How much reference to data do I need?

  • What should I focus my revision on?

Timeframe

  • 7 Weeks

Key vocabulary

 Word/phrase  Definition
Analysis  Detailed examination 
Data  The textual evidence to which you refer or analyse
Coherence  Logical and clear expression of ideas
Concept  An idea or thought
Connections  Links or patterns between texts

 

 

Language: Unit 3A - Revising Course Content

Key questions/concepts

  • Is occupational language a good thing or a bad thing?

  • Evaluate the idea that spoken interactions between men and women are characterised by miscommunication.Why might Multicultural London English arouse strong feelings?

  • Evaluate the idea that some accents are ‘better’ than others. 

  • What is the future of English?

  • How do I revise theorists?

Timeframe

  • 7 Weeks

Key vocabulary

 Word/phrase  Definition
Collocations   Two or more words that frequently occur together as part of a set phrase
Ideology   Any set of beliefs about languages as they are used in their social worlds.
Orthographical  The features of the writing system such as spelling, capitlisation and punctuation

Hypercreolisation

   A reaction by creole speakers against the standard language of a community, motivated by a desire to protect and maintain their ethnic identity, involving the deliberate adoption and emphasis of distinctive features of the creole.
Malapropism   Misuse of word that sound similar (prescription/desrption)

Wider reading

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