← English Language syllabus

EnglandEnglish Language

Language, gender, power and the individual

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Do men and women use language differently, and why?

Language and gender: deficit, dominance and difference models, Lakoff's women's language, Zimmerman and West, Tannen and critiques of binary gender approaches.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level English Language gender topic, covering the deficit, dominance and difference models, Lakoff, Zimmerman and West, Tannen and modern critiques of binary approaches to language and gender.
11 min answer →

How is power created, maintained and resisted through language?

Language and power: instrumental and influential power, Fairclough's synthetic personalisation and unequal encounters, power in discourse and behind discourse, and persuasive techniques.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level English Language power topic, covering instrumental and influential power, Fairclough's synthetic personalisation and unequal encounters, power in and behind discourse, and persuasive techniques.
11 min answer →

How does the way we speak signal the social groups we belong to?

Language and social groups: class, ethnicity and age varieties, slang and Multicultural London English, social networks, accommodation theory and group identity.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level English Language social groups topic, covering class, ethnicity and age varieties, slang and Multicultural London English, social networks, accommodation theory and how language signals group identity.
11 min answer →

How do we use language to build and present our own identity?

Language and the self: idiolect and identity, code-switching, style-shifting, the performance of identity and how individuals construct a sense of self through language.
A focused answer to the AQA A-Level English Language self topic, covering idiolect and identity, code-switching and style-shifting, the performance of identity, and how individuals construct a sense of self through language.
10 min answer →