IB Diploma Programme Language A: Language and Literature – Language, Context, Culture and Power Revision Notes

For full explanations and worked examples, read the Language, context, culture and power study guide first. These notes condense that unit for IB Diploma Programme Language A: Language and Literature, at SL and HL. They follow the current IB subject brief (first assessments for SL and HL 2021). This site maps the unit to the Time and space component (50 teaching hours at SL, 80 at HL); the course has no numbered subtopics.

Test yourself afterwards with the practice questions. Course links: Language and Literature hub · printable checklist · Time and space revision notes.

The unit in one sentence

A text offers a version of the world, from a position, to an audience – and different readers, in different times and places, may accept it, bend it or reject it.

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Context of production	Who made the text, when, where, for whom, why, and through which institution
Context of reception	Who is reading it now, where, and with what beliefs and stake
Representation	How a text presents people, groups, places or events through its choices
Stereotype	A fixed, simplified image of a group, repeated until it seems natural
Othering	Presenting a group as different from, and less than, an assumed “normal” reader
Perspective	The position a text is written from; every text has one
Stance	The writer’s attitude to the subject, shown through language
Bias	One-sided treatment presented as fair; a claim you must prove
Agency	Who is shown acting, and who is only acted upon
Agentless passive	A passive verb with no “by…” phrase, so the actor is hidden
Nominalisation	An action turned into a noun (“the cuts”), which can hide who acted
Euphemism	A mild word used in place of a harsh one (“let go” for “sacked”)
Generic masculine	“He” or “man” used for everyone (“each pupil… his”)
Marked term	An extra word that signals someone is unusual for a role (“female pilot”)
Code-switching	Moving between languages or varieties, often to signal identity or belonging
Preferred reading	The meaning the producer intends the audience to accept
Oppositional reading	A reading that rejects the intended meaning

Features to look for, and what to ask

Feature	Ask	Typical effect
Naming and labels	What is each group called? By whom?	Builds sympathy or suspicion before any argument
Verb choice and agency	Who does what to whom? Is anyone hidden?	Assigns or removes responsibility
Quotation and sources	Whose words appear? Whose are missing?	Gives some groups authority and silences others
Modality	“Must”, “will” or “may”, “might”?	Makes claims sound certain or open
Pronouns	Who is “we”, “you”, “they”?	Builds an in-group and an out-group
Register and jargon	Who can follow this language?	Includes experts, excludes others
Descriptors of people	Appearance, family, age – or skill, action?	Reveals unequal treatment, often by gender
Omission	What would another source include?	Shows the version is one of several

Method in steps

Analysing a text for context, culture and power

1. Place it. Production: who, when, where, for whom, why. Reception: who is reading now?
2. Map the people. List every person or group and the name each is given.
3. Track agency. For each main verb, note who acts and who is acted upon.
4. Find the voices. Who is quoted, summarised or silent?
5. Name the stance. Pick two or three words that reveal the writer’s attitude.
6. Read from two places. Give the preferred reading, then the reading of a reader with a different stake or culture.
7. Link to meaning. Say what version of the world the text offers, and who it serves.

Small worked reminders

Original texts written for Marlbridge; places and people invented.

Agency in headlines. Three versions of one event:

• “Police clear protest camp” – the police act; responsibility is clear.
• “Protest camp cleared” – agentless passive; no one is responsible.
• “Protesters removed after week-long camp” – the protesters are the subject but still acted upon.

Generic masculine. “Every applicant must send his portfolio by Friday.” The notice assumes the applicant is male. “Every applicant must send their portfolio” or “Applicants must send their portfolios” includes everyone.

Euphemism and power. “Following a review, some roles will not continue into the new year.” The agentless verb “will not continue” and the noun “roles” hide two facts: someone decided, and people lose jobs. The institution speaks; the workers are reduced to “roles”.

Reception across place. A school notice says: “Families are welcome to bring a dish to share at our end-of-term party – please avoid pork.” A reader who shares the dietary rule may read it as welcome and respect. A reader unused to the rule may read it as a restriction. The meaning shifts with the reader’s culture.

Power and literacy (public domain). In Frederick Douglass’s Narrative (1845), Chapter VI, his enslaver bans his reading lessons, and Douglass concludes: “From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.” Remember the pattern: the powerful control access to language, and the writer takes power back by writing. The study guide analyses the full extract.

Gender asymmetry. “Tom Reyes, 34, leads the new research team. Dr Ana Vidal, a keen baker and mother of three, joins him.” One scientist is defined by his role; the other by hobbies and family, and “joins him” makes her secondary.

Must-know distinctions

• Perspective vs bias. Every text has a perspective. Bias is a stronger claim that needs evidence of one-sided language.
• Representation vs reality. Analyse how the text builds its version; do not argue about what “really” happened.
• Production vs reception. Production is where the text came from; reception is where it is read. Say which one you mean.
• Active vs agentless passive. “The council closed the library” names the actor; “The library was closed” hides it.
• Marked vs unmarked. “Nurse” is unmarked; “male nurse” is marked. Marking shows an assumption about who normally fills the role.
• Preferred vs oppositional reading. Name the reader. The same words can serve one audience and offend another.
• Self-naming vs being named. A group that names itself holds power over its identity; a group named by others does not.

Linking to assessment

• Paper 1 (35% at both levels): unseen non-literary passages “from different text types”. Use the features table on any news report, advert or brochure.
• Paper 2 (35% SL, 25% HL): comparative essay on two literary works. Gender, identity and power make strong points of comparison.
• Individual oral (30% SL, 20% HL): a literary work and a non-literary body of work on “a common global issue”. Power and identity supply many global issues.
• HL essay (HL only, 20%): 1,200–1,500 words. A line of inquiry on representation works well.

Quick self-test

1. Define representation in one sentence.
2. What is the difference between perspective and bias?
3. Rewrite “The council closed three youth clubs” as an agentless passive.
4. What does the agentless passive in question 3 hide?
5. Identify the marked term: “The lady doctor saw twelve patients.”
6. What is the generic masculine in “Each member should bring his own racket”?
7. Give the euphemism in “The company is rightsizing its workforce” and say what it hides.
8. In “We must protect our borders from them”, which pronouns build an in-group and an out-group?
9. What is nominalisation? Give the noun in “The cuts hit hardest in the north.”
10. Name the three reading positions described by Stuart Hall.
11. A brochure calls a village “unspoilt by progress”. Give one preferred and one oppositional reading.
12. Which of the brief’s assessment objectives names “contexts in which texts are written and/or received”?

Answers

1. The way a text presents people, groups, places or events through its choices of language, selection and framing.
2. Perspective is the position every text is written from; bias is a one-sided treatment presented as fair, which you must prove with evidence.
3. “Three youth clubs were closed.”
4. Who closed them: the council is no longer named, so responsibility disappears.
5. “Lady” – it marks the doctor as unusual for the role because she is a woman.
6. “His” – it assumes every member is male.
7. “Rightsizing” – it hides that people are losing their jobs, and makes the cuts sound correct.
8. “We” and “our” build the in-group; “them” builds the out-group.
9. Turning an action into a noun; “cuts” – it hides who is cutting.
10. Dominant (preferred), negotiated and oppositional.
11. Preferred: a visitor reads peace and charm. Oppositional: a resident reads a claim that the village is backward or should stay poor for tourists.
12. Assessment objective 1 (know, understand and interpret).

Where marks are usually lost

• Writing “the text is biased” with no quotation and no effect.
• Treating one of two texts as neutral instead of showing that both select.
• Giving context as a paragraph of history with no link to a word in the text.
• Arguing for or against the issue instead of analysing the language.
• Spotting a passive verb without saying who it hides and why that matters.
• Naming a feature (“pronouns”) without the specific words (“we”, “them”).
• Describing “the reader” as if every reader responds the same way.
• Discussing gender only in texts about women, and missing how men are represented too.
• Forgetting to say which version of the world the text offers, and who it serves.

Official syllabus

International Baccalaureate Organization, Diploma Programme Subject Brief, Language A: language and literature, first assessments for SL and HL 2021 (2019).