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The language levels toolkit (linguistic methods)
Quick questions on Pragmatics and discourse: analysing implied meaning and structure - OCR A-Level English Language
7short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the pragmatic toolkit?Show answer
A focused set of concepts covers most pragmatic analysis, and naming them precisely is the AO1 foundation.
What is move from feature to effect?Show answer
The habit that separates bands is the move from feature to effect. Naming a feature ("the speaker flouts the maxim of quantity") earns AO1; reading the implicature or the relational effect earns AO3. Each point names the feature, quotes or references the moment, and reads the effect.
What is a model pragmatics paragraph?Show answer
"When asked whether the product works, the advert never states that it does; instead it flouts the maxim of quantity, offering testimonials and the implicature that results follow, while avoiding a claim it could be held to. The inclusive deixis of 'we all want' constructs a shared community of readers, a positive-politeness strategy that flatters the audience into the group the advert addresses." This names features (flouted maxim, implicature, deixis, positive politeness) and reads their effect.
What is a model discourse paragraph?Show answer
"The letter is organised as a problem-solution structure: it opens by establishing a difficulty the reader will recognise, builds the stakes, then presents the writer's proposal as the resolution. Cohesion is managed by lexical repetition of the key term across paragraphs, which keeps the issue in focus and makes the closing call to action read as the inevitable end of an argument rather than an abrupt request." This reads structure and cohesion as meaningful organisation.
What is q1?Show answer
What is an implicature, and how is one generated? [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
What is the difference between positive and negative face? [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Analyse how pragmatic and discourse features in a text construct the relationship between participants. [10 marks]
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