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.
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
The language levels are the backbone of your analysis. You should work systematically through as many levels as are relevant to the text, rather than writing about every level for the sake of completeness. The key levels are:
Lexis and Semantics
- Identify word classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) and discuss their effects. For example, a text dominated by dynamic verbs may create a sense of urgency, while abstract nouns may establish authority or formality.
- Look for semantic fields — clusters of words related to the same topic (e.g., a semantic field of conflict in a political speech).
- Identify figurative language — metaphor, simile, personification, metonymy — and explain what it implies about the subject being represented.
- Consider connotation and denotation. The word "slender" and the word "skinny" denote a similar meaning but carry very different connotations.
Grammar
- Analyse sentence types: declaratives (statements), interrogatives (questions), imperatives (commands), and exclamatives (exclamations). A text dominated by imperatives, for example, may position the reader as someone who needs instruction.
- Examine sentence structures: simple, compound, and complex sentences. Short simple sentences can create emphasis or tension; complex sentences with multiple subordinate clauses can convey nuance or sophistication.
- Look at modification: pre-modification (adjectives before nouns) and post-modification (phrases after nouns). Heavy pre-modification can create vivid, dense description.
- Consider voice: active voice foregrounds the agent; passive voice can conceal it, which is often politically or ideologically significant.
- Examine tense and aspect: present tense can create immediacy; past tense can distance the reader.
Phonology
- Identify sound patterns such as alliteration, assonance, sibilance, plosive sounds, and onomatopoeia. These are particularly relevant in texts designed to be read aloud or texts that have a persuasive purpose.
- Consider rhythm and pace: short, monosyllabic words create a sharp, punchy rhythm; polysyllabic words slow the pace.
Pragmatics
- Analyse implied meaning: what is the text suggesting beyond what it literally says?
- Consider presupposition — what assumptions does the text make about its audience's knowledge?
- Think about politeness strategies (Brown and Levinson) and face theory: does the text use positive politeness (solidarity, in-group language) or negative politeness (deference, hedging)?
Discourse
- Look at discourse structure: how is the text organised? Does it use a problem-solution structure, a narrative arc, or a list format?
- Identify cohesive devices: anaphoric and cataphoric references, conjunctions, lexical repetition.
- Consider the mode: is the text spoken, written, or a blend? What features of spoken or written language are present?
Graphology
- For multimodal or visual texts, analyse layout, font choices, images, colour, and how these interact with the written text to create meaning.
Model Paragraph: Section A
A strong Section A paragraph follows the PEAL structure: Point, Evidence, Analysis, Link to context/representation.
Model Paragraph:
The writer constructs a representation of the city as threatening through the pervasive use of a semantic field of danger. Lexical choices such as "lurking," "shadowed," and "menacing" draw on connotations of concealment and aggression, positioning the urban environment as a hostile space. The pre-modification in "narrow, dimly-lit alleyways" layers two attributive adjectives to create a sense of confinement and poor visibility, heightening the threatening tone. This representation is contextually significant given that the text is taken from a travel advisory aimed at foreign visitors — the writer's purpose is to encourage caution, which explains the consistently negative lexical selection. The representation thus reflects a particular ideological perspective on urban environments, one that may reinforce existing stereotypes rather than reflecting the full reality of city life.
Notice how this paragraph integrates terminology naturally, explains effects, and links the analysis to context and representation.
Common Mistakes in Section A
- Feature-spotting without analysis — Do not simply list features. Every feature you identify must be linked to an effect on meaning or representation.
- Writing about every language level — Only write about levels that are genuinely relevant to the text. If phonology is not significant, do not force it.
- Neglecting context — The text has a purpose, audience, mode, and genre. Your analysis must connect language features to these contextual factors.
- Using terminology inaccurately — Calling a metaphor a simile, or identifying a noun as an adjective, will actively lose you marks. Be precise.
Time Allocation: Section A
You should spend approximately 45 minutes on Section A, broken down as follows:
- 5 minutes reading and annotating the text
- 5 minutes planning your response (identify 4-5 key points)
- 30 minutes writing
- 5 minutes reviewing and refining
Section B: Children's Language Development (70 marks total)
Section B contains two questions: a data-response question (Q2, 30 marks) and an essay question (Q3, 40 marks). Both focus on Children's Language Acquisition (CLA).
Question 2: Data Response (30 marks)
You are given a set of child language data — typically a transcript of a child interacting with a caregiver, or examples of early writing. You must analyse the data using language levels and apply relevant CLA theories and research.
Example question stem: "Analyse how the child in Text B uses and develops language. You should refer to specific details from the text in your answer and use the language levels."
How to approach the data: