Language investigation and writing (AQA A-Level English Language non-exam assessment) quiz

10%

20%

40%

50%

About 2,000 words

About 500 words

About 1,000 words

About 5,000 words

As broad as possible so it can take in every language area and all of the data gathered

Phrased so loosely that the available data could never realistically answer it in full

Narrow and focused, answerable within the data and word limit

Unrelated to any recognised area of language study so the findings feel fresh and original

Paying every participant a fee so they feel obliged to give you usable spoken data

Recording people covertly without their knowledge so the speech stays completely natural

Restricting the whole study to published news articles to sidestep any need for consent

Gaining informed consent and anonymising participants

Quantitative counts and tabulates features; qualitative interprets selected examples closely

Quantitative interprets a few chosen examples closely, while qualitative simply counts and tabulates frequencies

They are essentially the same approach, just given two different names by different linguists

Quantitative analysis is only ever used for written data, while qualitative is only ever used for speech

List as many identified language features as possible to prove the breadth of the analysis

Apply theory and explain what the patterns mean for the research question

Avoid using any linguistic terminology so the discussion stays clear and accessible to readers

Describe what the data contains in detail without offering any interpretation of it

The power of translation

The power of memorisation

The power of persuasion

The power of transcription

About 250 words

About 500 words

About 1,500 words

About 750 words

Analyse the writer's own choices, explaining why they were made and their intended effect

Retell the original piece line by line so the examiner can follow exactly what happens in it

Summarise the chosen style model in detail without ever referring back to the student's own writing

List the spelling and punctuation corrections that were made during the drafting process

So that the finished piece can copy the style model as closely and exactly as possible

So the commentary can show how the writing draws on and adapts an analysed model

Because the assessment does not permit students to use any of their own original ideas

So that the writing reaches the required word count more quickly and with less effort