IB Language A: English Language and Literature Course Material

The course is broken into four parts. Your English language skills and your textual analysis skills will be increasingly challenged and refined by the topics studied. You will be assessed through spoken and written assignments during each part of the course.

Language in a Cultural Context

The focus of this part is to explore how people are influenced in thought and culture by the language they use. It will also investigate how languages change and adapt to suit the cultural context. Each topic will consider a different aspect of language and culture and explore case study examples as well as developing your own language skills.

Topic 1: English Language, Community and Individual Identity

Discussing issues such as how language reinforces social or cultural values, how language constructs our identity, and how English speaking leads to English thinking.

Topic 2: English Language and Power

Discussing issues such as Globish, English imperialism, language death and metaphorical language.

Topic 3: English Language and Taboo

Discussing issues such as swearing, appropriate contexts for language use, People First language and euphemism.

Topic 4: History and evolution of the English Language

Discussing issues such as language change and conversion in words.

Language and Mass Communication

This part of the course will explore the different ways language is used to communicate in the mass media. We will explore the different potentials for educational, political or ideological influence of the media and investigate the way language and images inform, persuade or entertain.

Topic 5: Media and Ethics

Topic 6: Representation and Identity in Media

Topic 7: Media Ownership and Power

Topic 8: The Shocking Truth

Literature - Texts and Contexts

The purpose of the part is to master detailed analysis of literature, explore texts and their relation to context, and develop oral commentary skills. We will be studying these texts in preparation for the oral commentary assessment. You will get an extract of 40 lines from one of the texts, and your spoken analysis of the extract will be recorded under timed conditions.

Literature - Critical Study

The Great Gatsby

Start with the following videos and reading for context and interpretation

Accidental Death of an Anarchist

History of Literature

Course Assessment

You will find the Language A: language and literature subject outline will answer most questions about assessment, but you should read the complete guide to be familiar with all expectations of the course.

Assessment Objectives

There are four assessment objectives for the course. These are summarised here but see page 10 of the guide for more details.

Knowledge and understanding
You must gain the knowledge necessary to critically read a wide variety of texts. You must learn to analyse how language, structure, technique and style are used for effect. You need to understand how and why readers might form different perspectives and interpretations of a text.
Application and analysis
You must be able to analyse and produce texts of various genres and styles. You must understand the relationship between purpose and construction (including factors such as language, structure, technique and style).
Synthesis and evaluation
You must compare and contrast the construction, the content and the context of texts. You must be able to appreciate and evaluate conflicting viewpoints within and about a text.
Selection and use of appropriate presentation and language skills
Your written and oral communication must be clear and fluent and you must demonstrate the ability to adapt your language use to a range of styles and registers. Your expression of ideas should be focused and logical.

Assessment Outline

Internal Assessment
1. Individual oral commentary
  Students comment on an extract from a literary text studied in part 4 of the course
2. Further oral activity
  Students complete at least two further oral activities, one based on part 1 and one based on part 2 of the course
External Assessment
1. Paper 1: Comparative textual analysis (exam paper)
  The paper consists of two unseen texts.
2. Paper 2: Essay (exam paper)
  In response to one of six questions students write an essay based on the literary texts studied in part 3.
3. Written tasks
  Students produce at least four written tasks based on material studied in the course.
  
  Page 25 onwards of the guide deals with this in detail. Written tasks are designed to demonstrate students’ ability to produce or critically reproduce types of work studied in the course. Students will be marked on the appropriateness of their language in relation to the task. Students are expected to be able to state the audience for their work and the purpose for which it was produced and, in doing this, they then must use the language appropriate to the task. The written task must be accompanied by a rationale which explains:
4. how the content of the task is linked to a particular part of the course
5. how the task is intended to explore particular aspects of the course
6. the nature of the task chosen
7. information about audience, purpose and the varying contexts in which the task is set

Course Terminology

It is important you become confident with the language and terminology used in the course guide. The descriptions below should help you with some of the basic language but you need to spend time making sure you fully understand any new terms.

What is a Text?

From the perspective of critical literacy a text is any visual or written information. In expressing a thought, idea, belief or facts a text is designed to make an impression upon the reader. The construction of this impression is what we will learn to interpret as critical readers, and will learn to create as writers. Once a writer has decided on the message or purpose of the text, they will normally choose the genre or text type to best address the intended audience.

For the composition of a text to be most effective a writer needs to consider lexical cohesion and the careful use of literary devices suited to the genre. The genre will also define the structure of the text. For further analysis we also need to consider the context and page layout

Brief list of genres

By adopting this detailed approach of New Criticism to a text you will be able to both analyse with detail and specificity, and understand what it would take to recreate texts of this type.

What is Context?

Context is the social environment in which a text is produced. Context might be historic, cultural, economic, political, religious, gendered, ethnic or ideological. The social context will influence what texts are produced and how they are interpreted. You must learn to recognise contextual factors and the influence they have on a text. Understanding how different audiences might react to texts due to their different contexts will be a significant part of your reading and writing process.

What is Interpretation?

Texts have multiple meanings and interpretations. It is important to remember that there is no "right" answer, responses are subjective and often conflicting. In learning to be a critical reader you need to identify and explain the many factors that influence you responses to texts. Through self-reflection, reasoning and critical theory you will understand more about why you respond the way you do, and when and why other readers might interpret texts differently.

Interpretation requires exploration of the construction and the meaning of texts. Some important terms are context, genre, denotation and connotation.

Literary Criticism and Linguistic analysis of texts will help you develop and explain a variety of interpretations.

Course Skills

Commentary Analysis Skills

Writing

Your ability to compose careful, accurate, precise English suited to a variety of styles and situations is a major part of the course assessment. It is vital to spend time developing and practicing writing skills and perfecting your style.

Speaking

Clarity, variety, effective intonation and adaptability are key speaking skills you will need to demonstrate through the course assessments. In both formal and informal oral activities, showing eloquence and sophistication in your ability to speak English is essential. Practice and self criticism will ensure you progress through the course.

Grammar

There are lots of brilliant resources available to help you perfect and refine you accuracy of English. Make use of them.