What are the main language issues debated at AS, and how do you write the part (a) essay on a language issue in Unit 2?
Language issues (part a): the key debates including standard and non-standard English, accent and dialect, language and power, language and gender, and language acquisition, discussed with reference to data.
The WJEC Unit 2 part (a) language issues essay: standard and non-standard English, accent and dialect, language and power, language and gender, and language acquisition, and how to argue about them with data and theory.
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What this dot point is asking
Unit 2 part (a) is the language issues essay. The unit sets one question in three parts, and part (a) asks you to discuss a language issue with reference to provided data. The examinable issues are the long-running debates of the subject: standard and non-standard English, accent and dialect, language and power, language and gender, and language acquisition. You are expected to define terms, deploy relevant concepts and theorists, analyse the data, and reach a balanced judgement.
The answer
Standard and non-standard English
A strong issues essay separates the linguistic fact (all dialects are rule-governed) from the social attitude (some are valued more), and uses the data to show those attitudes at work.
Accent and dialect
Language and power
When you analyse power in the data, ask who controls the interaction, how, and whether less powerful participants resist; then judge how far language reflects an existing hierarchy or actively builds it.
Language and gender
Language acquisition
How part (a) is assessed
Part (a) rewards AO1 (using terminology and concepts), AO2 (understanding issues and concepts about language) and the handling of data. The discriminator is judgement: the best essays argue a clear line about the issue, supported by concepts and close reference to the evidence, rather than summarising both sides without deciding.
Examples in context
Model paragraph (standard versus non-standard). Attitudes to standard and non-standard English in the data reveal a gap between linguistic reality and social judgement. The non-standard forms the speakers use (a regional past-tense form, a double negative) are not errors but features of a systematic dialect with its own rules, so linguistically they are the equal of the standard. Yet the data shows them attracting judgement: one speaker "corrects" another, treating the standard as proper and the regional form as careless, which reflects the overt prestige the standard has accumulated through its use in education and print. At the same time the regional features carry covert prestige, signalling local identity and solidarity that the speakers clearly value, which is why they persist despite pressure to standardise. The evidence therefore supports a descriptivist judgement: the varieties differ in social standing, not in correctness, and the "issue" is really one of attitude rather than grammar.
Try this
Q1. What is the difference between accent and dialect? [2 marks]
- Cue. Accent is pronunciation; dialect is the vocabulary and grammar of a variety.
Q2. Distinguish instrumental from influential power. [2 marks]
- Cue. Instrumental power is enforced through a role or institution; influential power persuades, as in advertising or politics.
Q3. Using the data, discuss attitudes towards non-standard varieties of English. [20 marks]
- What the marker wants. Defined terms, the concepts of overt and covert prestige and descriptivism, close analysis of the data, and a clear judgement that the varieties are linguistically equal but socially loaded.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC Unit 2 (specimen)20 marksUsing the data, discuss attitudes towards standard and non-standard English.Show worked answer →
A part (a) issues essay rewarding a debate framed by data and informed by concepts.
Strong answers refuse to treat standard English as simply "correct". They define terms and weigh prestige against prejudice.
Define standard English (the dialect of education, print and public life) and non-standard varieties (regional and social dialects), then use the data to discuss attitudes: the overt prestige of the standard, the covert prestige of non-standard forms, and how accent and dialect attract judgements about competence and class (the work on attitudes to accents, and the difference between descriptivism and prescriptivism).
The top band reaches a judgement: that standard and non-standard varieties are linguistically equal but socially loaded, supported by close reference to the data.
WJEC Unit 2 (sample)20 marksExamine how language can be used to exercise and reflect power, using the data provided.Show worked answer →
A part (a) essay on language and power, testing concepts applied to evidence.
Markers reward the distinction between power held through a role and power built in the interaction itself.
Discuss instrumental power (authority enforced through institutions, for example a courtroom or workplace) and influential power (persuasion, as in advertising and politics), with features from the data: face-threatening acts, interruptions and turn management, modal verbs of obligation, and synthetic personalisation (Fairclough) that builds a fake rapport.
The best answers analyse how the data's speakers construct or resist power, and judge how far language reflects existing hierarchy versus creating it.
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