1. H070 Topic Title
H470/1 Exploring language

2. Guidance
This guide is designed to take you through the A level English Language H470/01 exam paper. The aim is to explain how candidates should approach the paper and how marks are awarded to the different questions. The orange text boxes offer further explanation on the questions on the exam paper. They offer guidance on the wording of questions and what candidates should do in response to them. The green text boxes focus on the awarding of marks for each question. They give further information on the percentage of each assessment objective attributed to each question. The percentage given is over the whole qualification.
This will always be a comparison based on a cultural or social situation with a clear thematic link between the situations and/or experiences
AO3 (5%)

3. Section A – Language under the microscope
You are advised to spend no more than 40 minutes on this section.
Read Text A in your Resource Booklet and answer the following questions.
Giving careful consideration to the context of the text:
(a) identify and analyse uses of lexis in this text [10]
(b) identify and analyse the way sentences are constructed in this text [10]
Clear guidelines are given around timings in this section.
The text used in this question (Text A) will always be a non-fiction prose text
The focus of this section is on the effect of lexical choices and grammatical features in a short sample of written text. The question is in 2 parts, the first section will always require learners to identify and analyse a lexical feature, and the second part to identify and analyse a grammatical feature. Both parts of the question require consideration of the influence of contextual factors.
AO1 10 marks / 5% of total A level.
AO3 10 marks / 5% of total A level
The instruction for this question will remain similar year on year

4. Section B – Writing about a topical language issue
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.
‘Technology is spoiling the English language’.
Taking the above statement into account, write a short editorial for a student newspaper expressing your views about how language has been affected by technology. It should be no more than 500 words long.
[24]
Clear guidelines are given around timings in this section.
The quote (issue) used in this question will always be drawn from issues raised by the study of the whole specification, as the question is part of a synoptic paper.
There will always be an indication about form.
There will always be an indication of audience, but it’s worth noting it will not be a specialist audience ,so reference to conceptual areas and theorists can be made but appropriate language and terminology for the target audience should be considered.
The response is meant to be partial and persuasive. Candidates should not include everything about the topic but should show focus on using what they think is needed for a convincing argument.
AO2 12 marks / 10% of total A level.
AO5 12 marks / 10% of total A level.
The word limit means that the answer should be crafted.

5. Section C – Comparing and contrasting texts
You are advised to spend about 1 hour and 5 minutes on this section. Approximately 15 minutes should be spent reading and preparing your answer and about 50 minutes writing your response.
Read Text B and C in your Resource Booklet and answer the following question.
Using appropriate linguistic concepts and methods, analyse the ways in which language is used
in these two texts. In your answer you should:
explore connections and variations between the texts
consider how contextual factors contribute to the construction of meaning
[36]
Clear guidelines are given around reading and writing times in this section.
At least one of the texts used in this question will always be a spoken text.
The term ‘methods’ is a reference to the patterns of language and/or linguistic features that are being employed to communicate meaning.
The instruction for this question will remain similar year on year
AO1 12 marks / 6% of total A level.
AO3 12 marks / 6% of total A level.
AO4 12 marks / 6% of total A level.