Flashcards · 9670 · AS Topic 1

Unit 1 – Language and Context (AS Level) flashcards

11 cards on AS Topic 1, subtopics 3.1.1 to 3.1.2. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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How is OxfordAQA 9670 assessed?: Unit 1 and Unit 2 (AS): 2 hours, 50 marks, 20% of the A-level each. Unit 3: 2 hours, 50 marks, 30%. Unit 4: 30%, either an exam (2 hours 30 minutes) or a non-exam language investigation.
What does Unit 1 Section A (Understanding Texts) require?: A compulsory analysis of two texts, using precise linguistic terminology to explain how language creates meaning in context.
What are the seven frameworks for analysing a text?: Phonology, lexis, semantics, grammar, pragmatics, discourse and graphology.
What is presupposition, and what is its effect?: What a sentence takes for granted. "When did you stop worrying about this?" builds in an assumption that is hard to challenge.
What is nominalisation, and what can it do?: Turning an action into a noun ("mistakes", "lessons"). It makes events abstract and can distance them from anyone responsible.
What is synthetic personalisation?: Addressing a mass audience with "you" as though speaking to each person individually, creating a false sense of a personal relationship.
Overt and covert prestige: what is the difference?: Overt prestige is the status of Standard English in society. Covert prestige is the value a non-standard variety carries within the group that uses it.

What does Unit 1 Section B (Directed Writing) require?: Using some or all of the Section A material to create a new text for a specified brief. There is no separate commentary; credit goes to sustaining an appropriate style.
How do you transform material in directed writing?: Fix form, audience and purpose first; adjust the register; select only relevant material; rephrase rather than lift; and keep the form's conventions throughout.
Which assessment objective dominates Unit 1?: AO3, using English in different ways for different purposes, which is why sustained style in the directed writing matters so much.
What are field, tenor and mode?: The three components of register: field is the subject, tenor the relationship between participants, and mode whether the text is spoken, written or in between.