The child language data question (H470/02 Section A, 20 marks): integrating cross-level analysis (AO1), acquisition theory (AO2) and the role of interaction (AO3) into an evaluated response to a transcript or written data.

What this dot point is asking

OCR Component 02, Section A, the child language data question, is worth 20 marks and presents a transcript or sample of children's writing for analysis and evaluation. It is the place where the other child language skills come together: cross-level analysis (AO1), acquisition theory (AO2) and the role of interaction and context (AO3), all integrated into an evaluated, data-led response. This dot point covers the question's demands, the integration of the three objectives, and how to manage the task under time.

The answer

The data question succeeds when it integrates analysis, theory and context into an evaluated argument: precise cross-level analysis (AO1) used to test acquisition theories (AO2) and read alongside the interaction (AO3). The unifying idea is integration: the three objectives are not three separate sections but three strands of one argument, and the best answers weave them together, using features as the evidence on which both theory and judgement rest.

Integrate the three objectives

The structural mistake is to write three blocks: an analysis block, a theory block, an interaction block. The marks come from integration. Each point should ideally do more than one thing: analyse a feature, say what theory it supports, and note the interactional context. A virtuous error, for instance, is an AO1 feature, AO2 evidence for nativism over behaviourism, and (if the caregiver expands it) part of the AO3 interaction.

Lead with the data, not the theory

A theory-led answer that recites Skinner, Chomsky and Bruner before looking at the transcript tends to bolt the data on as an afterthought. Lead with the data: analyse the features, and let them summon the relevant theory. This keeps the answer evidenced and ensures the theory is deployed critically (tested against the data) rather than narrated.

Evaluate, do not describe

The command words ("analyse and evaluate", "evaluate the most convincing explanation") require judgement. Weigh the theories against the data, show what each explains and where each struggles, and reach a conclusion about the child's stage and the best account of their development. Description, however accurate, sits below evaluation.

Examples in context

The data in the exam is unseen, so the moves below are illustrative.

A model integrated paragraph. "The child's 'it breaked' is the answer's pivot: phonologically and grammatically it shows a confident multi-word utterance with an inflectional ending (AO1), but the over-regularised past tense is a virtuous error that the data makes decisive for the theory debate, because no caregiver models 'breaked' (AO2). It cannot be imitation, so it challenges Skinner and supports a rule-constructing, nativist or cognitivist account, and when the caregiver responds 'yes, it broke', the expansion models the correct form, an interactional scaffold (AO3)." One feature carries all three objectives.

A weak approach upgraded. A blocked answer might analyse the phonology, then summarise three theories, then describe the caregiver. Upgraded, it integrates: each feature is analysed, tied to the theory it supports, and read with the interaction, building to an evaluated judgement about the child's stage and the best explanation.

Try this

Q1. Which three assessment objectives does the child language data question assess? [2 marks]

• Cue. AO1 (cross-level analysis and terminology), AO2 (acquisition theory) and AO3 (the role of interaction and context).

Q2. Why is leading with the data better than leading with theory? [2 marks]

• Cue. It keeps the answer evidenced and ensures theory is deployed critically (tested against features) rather than recited, and it prevents the data being bolted on as an afterthought.

Q3. Using a transcript, analyse and evaluate how the child's language develops, with reference to relevant theories and the role of the interaction. [20 marks]

• What the marker wants. An integrated, data-led response weaving cross-level analysis (AO1), critically deployed theory (AO2) and the interaction (AO3) into an evaluated judgement about the child's stage and the best explanation.

A note on the task

This guide is AI-written and not individually human-reviewed. The exact format and mark allocation of Section A are set out in the current OCR H470 specification and its sample materials and past papers, so revise from those. The integrate-and-evaluate method transfers across every child language data question.