English Language

Course summary

Language, the individual and society: Students study a range of texts, transcripts and data. Textual variations and representations and Children’s Language Development How are people and issues, such as teenagers or footballers, represented in texts? Why? Nature or nurture? How do children become literate and learn to speak? Learn how to understand what lies beneath the messages we see in everyday life. Language diversity and change Do men and women speak differently? Why? What is accentism and how does it discriminate against people? How has English evolved and how do new words enter our lexicon? Is British English superior to international versions of English? Study the language of gender, region, occupation and ethnicity in this fascinating course. Language in action (Non- exam assessment): Students choose an area of language to conduct their own investigation, using a hypothesis which they explore through using and analysing data and evaluating the implications of the language use they discover. Students also produce a piece of original writing – a creative piece where they craft piece of writing to convey the power of storytelling, persuasion or information. This piece is accompanied by a commentary which explains the use of some of the language features and explores the process of the production.