OxfordAQA International A-Level English Language: The Route A/Route B Choice for Your Final Unit (9670)

OxfordAQA International A-Level English Language (9670) is a modular qualification of four compulsory-shape units, with a route choice on the last one. AS Paper 1 (Language and Context) and AS Paper 2 (Language and Society) are each 2 hours, 50 marks, 20% of the full A-level. A-level Paper 1 (Language Variation) is compulsory for every candidate: 2 hours, 50 marks, 30%. The final 30% is then either Route A – A-level Paper 2, an exam on Language Exploration (2 hours 30 minutes, 50 marks) – or Route B – a non-exam assessment language investigation, internally assessed and externally moderated, also worth 50 marks. These notes complement the site’s guides to Unit 1 and Unit 2.

Confirm your route well before the final unit begins

Route A and Route B lead to completely different preparation: an exam under timed conditions on unseen material, versus a coursework investigation with its own drafting and moderation timeline set by your school. Exam-preparation priority: confirm with your teacher which route your cohort is entered for as early as possible – Route B in particular needs a research question settled and drafting time planned well ahead of any exam-focused revision.

Three of the four units share close textual analysis as a core skill

Language and Context, Language and Society, and Language Variation all require identifying and explaining specific linguistic features in unseen or provided material, not just describing content. Exam-preparation priority: treat close analytical annotation as the one technique that transfers across all three exam papers, and drill it against material from each unit’s own theme in turn.

Language Variation is compulsory and worth the most of the three fixed units

At 30% against the AS papers’ 20% each, A-level Paper 1 carries proportionally more weight and covers regional, social and historical variation in English. Exam-preparation priority: once AS-level analytical technique is secure, prioritise Language Variation’s specific content – variation is not simply an extension of the AS units’ themes and needs its own dedicated revision.

Route A’s Language Exploration paper is the longest single sitting

At 2 hours 30 minutes, it is 30 minutes longer than any other paper in the qualification. Exam-preparation priority: for Route A candidates, practise a full-length timed sitting specifically – sustaining close analytical focus for the extra half hour is a trainable skill, not a given.

Worked routine: annotating an unseen text for language features

The routine below is an original model written for this resource, not a reproduction of any official past paper or mark scheme.

Step 1 - read once for overall purpose, audience and mode:
Before hunting for individual features, know what the text is for.

Step 2 - reread and mark features by level:
Lexis, grammar, phonology, graphology, discourse -- label each
example with which level it belongs to.

Step 3 - group marked features by the effect they create:
Several small features often combine towards one larger effect --
group before writing, don't analyse in isolation.

Step 4 - select a linguistic framework or concept for each group:
Name the concept precisely; a labelled feature without a named
framework scores lower than one that is properly framed.

Step 5 - link every group back to purpose, audience or mode from
Step 1:
This is what turns feature-spotting into analysis.

Step 5 is the step that most distinguishes a strong answer from a feature-list: analysis is explaining why a feature serves the text’s purpose, not simply naming that the feature is present.

Before/during exam checklist

• Before the exams: confirm your Route A/Route B entry early, since preparation differs completely; drill close textual analysis across all three exam units; give Language Variation’s specific content dedicated revision beyond AS-level technique.
• During any paper: read once for overall purpose before annotating features in detail.
• In every analytical answer: group features by effect, name the linguistic level and framework precisely, and link every point back to purpose, audience or mode.

Self-test

1. Why should you confirm your Route A/Route B entry as early as possible?
2. What core analytical skill do three of the four units share?
3. How is Language Variation weighted compared with the AS papers, and what does that imply?
4. What turns a list of spotted language features into genuine analysis?

Answers: 1. Because Route A (exam) and Route B (non-exam assessment) require completely different preparation timelines – Route B needs a research question and drafting time planned well ahead. 2. Close textual and linguistic analysis of unseen or provided material, identifying and explaining specific features rather than just describing content. 3. It is worth 30% against the AS papers’ 20% each, so it carries proportionally more weight and needs its own dedicated revision beyond AS-level technique. 4. Linking every grouped feature back to the text’s purpose, audience or mode, rather than simply naming that a feature is present.

Written against the assessment section of OxfordAQA’s own International AS/A-level English Language (9670) qualification page (official OxfordAQA page, verified 2026-08-28); the paper structure, route choice and weightings (20/20/30/30) are exactly as the board’s own Assessment section states them. The annotation routine above is an original model written for this resource, not a reproduction of any official past paper or mark scheme. Always check the current specification for your examination series at oxfordaqa.com.