How DP Language A: Language and Literature Is Assessed: Revision Notes

Condensed for quick recall of how the course is assessed. For the full subject overview, use the IB DP Language A: Language and Literature subject overview, and for a paper-by-paper exam-day plan see the exam preparation guide.

Two course elements sit behind every assessment component without being assessed themselves: the seven central concepts (identity, culture, creativity, communication, perspective, transformation, representation), and the mandatory learner portfolio, which is not marked or moderated but which schools may be required to submit to check the authenticity of a student’s work.

Why weightings shift between SL and HL

Paper 1 stays at 35% for both levels, but Paper 2 drops from 35% at SL to 25% at HL, with the difference absorbed by the HL essay (20%), which SL students do not complete. The individual oral also carries relatively more weight at SL (30%) than HL (20%), since HL students have an additional independent written component to balance against. Recognising this shift matters for revision planning – at SL, the oral and Paper 2 together account for 65% of the grade, making fluency in both comparative essay writing and spoken analysis especially high-value at that level.

SL vs HL weightings

Component	SL	HL
Paper 1 (guided textual analysis, unseen texts)	35%	35%
Paper 2 (comparative essay, studied literary texts)	35%	25%
HL essay (independent coursework, 1,200-1,500 words)	—	20%
Individual oral	30%	20%

What distinguishes HL

Not simply a longer exam overall – HL differs from SL in three linked ways: Paper 1 is longer (2 hours 15 minutes instead of 1 hour 15, since HL students analyse both unseen passages instead of one, for 40 marks instead of 20); weightings shift, with Paper 2 falling from 35% to 25% and the individual oral from 30% to 20%; and HL students complete an extra piece of independent written coursework (the HL essay, 20%), on a literary work or a non-literary body of work studied in class. Paper 2 itself is the same length (1 hour 45 minutes) and format at both levels.

The individual oral

• Common to both levels.
• A single prepared spoken response examining how a global issue of the student’s choosing is presented through the content and form of one studied literary work and one studied non-literary body of work, supported by an extract from each.

The individual oral in more depth

The oral is graded against criteria covering: knowledge and understanding of both the literary work and the non-literary body of work, including their context; the quality of the analysis connecting the chosen global issue to how it is presented across both; the focus and organisation of the response within the fixed preparation and speaking time; and language (register, clarity and appropriate terminology). A common weakness is choosing a global issue too broadly stated to analyse precisely within the time available – a tightly framed issue, clearly evidenced in specific details from both, consistently scores more highly than a broad theme gestured at only in general terms.

The HL essay in more depth

The HL essay is independent coursework on one non-literary text (or a collection of non-literary texts by the same author), or one literary text or work, studied during the course. Teachers give regular formative feedback throughout but must not edit or correct the student’s writing directly. Only near the end of the writing process may a teacher give written advice on one complete draft – typically by annotating it with comments in the margin – and under no circumstances may a teacher edit or rewrite that draft; the next version the student submits must be the final one. The essay is assessed against criteria covering: the clarity and sustained development of the essay’s central line of inquiry; the quality of analysis of the chosen text or work; and organisation and language appropriate to a formal, extended piece of academic writing. Because it is completed independently and outside exam conditions, examiners expect a higher standard of structured argument and textual evidence than an in-class timed essay – an HL essay that reads like an expanded exam response, rather than a genuinely independent piece of extended writing, typically underperforms against the criteria’s higher bands.

Command terms across the papers

Paper 1’s guided textual analysis provides a specific guiding question for each unseen text, and responses are expected to work closely from that question rather than offering a generic close reading – ignoring the guiding question in favour of a broader commentary is a common way marks are lost even when the textual observations themselves are accurate. Paper 2’s comparative essay question is deliberately broad enough to be answered using any two of the studied literary works, and is assessed on how effectively a student selects and compares evidence across both texts to build a sustained argument, rather than treating the two works as separate mini-essays stitched together.

How this course compares to Language A: Literature

Both Language A courses share an identical overall assessment structure and weighting – Paper 1, Paper 2, the HL essay, and the individual oral – but differ in scope: Language and Literature’s Paper 1 works with a wider range of text types (including non-literary and media texts) reflecting its broader study of language in use across contexts, while Language A: Literature’s Paper 1 and Paper 2 focus exclusively on literary texts. Students choosing between the two courses (where a school offers both) should weigh whether they are more drawn to analysing language and communication broadly, or to close literary study specifically, since this shapes the entire course, not just the exam format.

Exam traps

• Preparing the individual oral around only one text type, when it specifically requires one literary work and one non-literary body of work, supported by an extract from each.
• HL students treating the HL essay as optional extra reading response, when it’s a formally assessed, weighted component (20%).
• Confusing Paper 1’s unseen textual analysis with Paper 2’s comparative essay on studied texts — different skills, different preparation.

Self-test

1. What specifically distinguishes HL assessment from SL in this course?
2. What two text types does the individual oral connect?
3. What is the word range for the HL essay?
4. What are Paper 1 and Paper 2 weighted at, at HL?
5. Name one criterion the individual oral is graded against, beyond language.
6. How does Paper 1 differ in scope between this course and Language A: Literature?

Answers: 1. Three linked differences: a longer Paper 1 (both passages analysed, 40 marks, 2 hours 15 minutes), shifted weightings (Paper 2 and the oral both fall), and the added HL essay — an extra piece of independent written coursework only completed at Higher Level. 2. One literary work and one non-literary body of work. 3. 1,200 to 1,500 words. 4. Paper 1: 35%, Paper 2: 25%. 5. Any of: knowledge and understanding of both the literary work and the non-literary body of work and their context, the quality of analysis connecting the global issue across both, or focus and organisation within the time available. 6. This course’s Paper 1 works with a wider range of non-literary text types, whereas Language A: Literature’s Paper 1 focuses exclusively on literary extracts.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Diploma Programme Subject Brief – Language A: Language and Literature, first assessment 2021, published 2019 – the same source cited by the full syllabus guide and the subject overview.