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A LEVEL LANGUAGE REVISION with Norman Bernard

August 27, 2023 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

R2,400.00

COURSE DURATION: 12 hours

Dates:

Day 1:  Sunday, August 27th: two 2-hour sessions

Day 2: Saturday, September 2nd: two 2-hour sessions

Day 3:  Sunday, September 3rd: two-two hour sessions

Times:   Sessions run from 10:00 am-12:00 pm and 2:00 pm-4:00 pm respectively,

Price:  R2,400


OVERVIEW

The aim of this course is to give A Level Language students targeted revision help for all the task types in Paper 3 on Language Analysis and Paper 4 on Language Topics. To ensure that the course is directly relevant, the teaching will focus exclusively on actual exam questions drawn from past papers. For some topics, sample student answers will be analysed to give san idea of what examiners are looking for and what is necessary to achieve decent grades.

It must be stressed that there will be no opportunity in a brief revision course to provide comprehensive coverage of language change, child language acquisition, English as a global language or any other module of the A Level syllabus. It will be assumed that detailed teaching of the syllabus has already been taken care of by others.

More detailed information about what will be done for both Paper 3 and Paper 4 appears below.

PAPER 3 LANGUAGE TOPICS

The two questions of this first A Level Language exam test candidates’ knowledge of two modules, namely the Language Change and the Child Language Acquisition Modules. In the language change question students have to be able to integrate information from three texts, A, B and C. Characteristically text A is non-contemporary and could be a piece of writing from the 17th century on. However, Text A could in principle be contemporary and candidates must be able to deal with both possibilities. For the latter module students must know course contents on both stages of language development and theories of language development well as either one could be the focus of an exam question.

Bearing this in mind the following will be covered:

  1. A language change question from a sample Paper 3 created to introduce the new syllabus which came into effect in 2021 will be analysed in detail. Text A in this instance comes from the late 17th century.
  2. A sample student answer with examiner’s comments will be analysed. This will also provide an opportunity to give a brief overview of assessment criteria.
  3. A recent Paper 3 in which Text A is a contemporary piece of writing will be analysed in depth so that students can understand how to approach this second notably different possibility.
  4. A past exam question whose primary focus is stages of language development will be analysed.
  5. A further Paper 3 Question 2 will be analysed in which the primary focus is how language is used in interaction among children and caregivers.

PAPER 4

This paper, titled Language Topics, tests the English as a Global Language and the Language and The Self modules. The latter module in particular covers a wide range of topics such as the relationship between language and thought, language and gender, language and age, language and occupation and so on. There can therefore be no question of comprehensive coverage and only some representative exam questions from past papers will be analysed.

The topics for this section of the course are as follows;

  1. Analysis of an exam question focusing on the variety of Englishes that have arisen as a result of the spread of English as a global language and the question of which variety, if any should be preferentially adopted.
  2. Analysis of an exam question in which the set texts focus on the relationship between the adoption of English and economic growth and opportunity.
  3. Analysis of an exam question focusing on the rise of MLE (Multicultural London English).
  4. Examination of a sample student answer for the above question.
  5. Analysis of an exam question focusing on the controversial question of the relationship between language and thought.

Isabella Nicholson’s testimony of her experience of studying A2 English Language with Norman Bernard.

I started working with Norman when I changed from the NSC curriculum to the International AS and A level curriculum and Norman was happy to teach both my brother and I AS and then A-level English language. Prior to the course I had no real desire to learn English – it was simply a subject that I had to complete in order to apply to the specific university which I intend on going to in Barcelona. However, I can honestly say that I have developed a passion and love for English. Norman not only helped me to achieve academic results but also helped me to develop an enquiring mind. The pieces that we studied in class were always well chosen and thought-provoking. This has been an extremely demanding academic year due to the fact that I have had to complete both my AS and A level exams. Norman was able to compress complex topics into smaller pieces which really allowed me to grasp concepts which would normally be taught over a much longer time period, two years rather than slightly less than one. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Norman and would recommend him to anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of English. Norman is exceptionally diligent and will never miss a deadline – even if that means sacrificing his sleep.

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Details

Date:
August 27, 2023
Time:
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Cost:
R2,400.00

Venue

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