Paper 1: Language, the Individual and Society

Paper 1 of AQA A-Level English Language (7702) is worth 100 marks and 40% of the qualification. It is 2 hours and 30 minutes long and consists of two sections: Section A (Textual Variations and Representations) and Section B (Children's Language Development). This lesson provides detailed guidance on how to approach each section, how to structure your answers, and how to use linguistic terminology effectively to access the highest mark bands.

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Section A: Textual Variations and Representations (30 marks)

What the Question Asks

Section A provides you with one text and asks you to analyse how it uses language to create meanings and representations. The text could be drawn from a wide range of genres: newspaper articles, advertisements, speeches, literary non-fiction, online texts, spontaneous spoken transcripts, or multimodal texts.

Example question stem: "Analyse how Text A uses language to create meanings and representations. In your answer you should use and apply the language levels."

The question is worth 30 marks and assesses AO1 (language analysis and terminology), AO3 (context and meaning), and in some cases AO2 (concepts and issues).

Applying the Language Levels