AQA English Language B Revision Notes

• Noun- names objects, feelings, attitudes, people or places

Proper e.g. London Abstract e.g. happiness Concrete e.g. table

• Verb- shows actions, event or states of being, feeling or thinking

Dynamic e.g. run Stative e.g. hold Modal Auxilary e.g. would, will, may

• Adjective- modifies nouns

Base e.g. happy Comparative e.g. happier Superlative e.g. Happiest

• Adverb- modifies verbs or other adverbs

e.g. quickly

• Determiner- positioned in front of nouns to add detail/clarity

e.g. the, an

• Conjuction- links phrases/words

e.g. and (coordinating), but, although (subordinating)

• Pronoun- replaces nouns/ refers to nouns

1st Person e.g. I (personal), My (possessive), Our (possessive), Myself (reflexive)

2nd Person e.g. You (personal), Your (possessive), Yourself (reflexive)

3rd Person e.g. He (personal), Its (possessive), Theirs (possessive), Themselves (reflexive)

EFFECT: 2nd Person= direct address, 1st Person Plural= inclusive

• Preposition- indicate how something is related to something else

e.g. at, on, into, oppostive, before, during

Lexical Cohesion

• Lexical Field- lexical items that are similar in a range of meaning and properties
• Repitition
• Collocations

Grammatical Cohesion

• Conjuctions

 e.g. also (addition), in conclusion (summative), similarly (comparative)

• Anaphoric/ Cataphoric Referencing- referencing to an already stated/ not yet stated lexical item

e.g. 'The cat was hot, it had been outside all day' (Anaphoric) 'I believed it. It was the truth' (Cataphoric)

• Ellipsis- the missing out of a word or words in a sentence

e.g. A: 'Where did you go on holiday?' B: 'Portugal'

• Synonyms-words with very similar semantic value

e.g. pretty, beautiful, stunning, hot

• Antonym- words with opposite semantic value

e.g. ugly, unattractive (euphemism), butters, hideous (dysphemism)

They have differeing degrees of formality/ dialect/ sociolect

• Connotations- an associated, symbolic meaning relying on culturally shared conventions

e.g. Bachelor --> handsome, rich, desirable

• Figurative language

e.g. Similie, metaphor --> extended metaphor, idioms 'face the music' 

• Collocations- pairs of words commonly found together (broken for effect)

e.g. ***** and span, long day

• Noun Phrases

e.g. A noisy party

• Verb Phrases

e.g.  Coursework becomes history, I may see him

Modal auxilary verbs e.g. may, could, will

• Adjectival Phrases

e.g. He is very clever

• Adverbial Phrases 

e.g. It ran quickly

• Active Voice- actor stated

• Passive Voice- actor omitted 

Sentence Types

• Minor- sentence which doesn't contain a verb

• Simple- sentence containing only one clause

• Compound- sentence containing two or more clauses (connencted by coordinating conjunction)

• Complex- sentence containing a main clause with one or more subordinate clause
• Staccato- a succession of short (typically minor) sentences used for dramatic effect 

Sentence Function

• Declarative

• Imperitive

• Exclammatory 

• Interrogative

• Onomatopoeia- items that rely on a similarity between sound and meaning 

e.g. grrrr (non-lexical) crash (lexical)

• Alliteration 

e.g. We walked with want

• Assonance 

e.g. Do you like blue?

• Phonological manipulation- ways in which text producers play with sounds and their effects

e.g. homophones

• Prosodic features- non-verbal aspects of speech

e.g. tone, intonation, stress

• Rhyme & Rhythm

Relies on shared understanding between the text producer and receiver to convey an underlying meaning 

• Co-operative Principle (Grice)- suggests that all communication is a cooperative act

 e.g. Flouting maxims to emphasise a point or convey an underlying meaning  

• Diexis- lexical items that point to something (relies on context)

e.g. I am here now

Images

• Iconic?- direct picture of the thing being represented- straight forward and simplified
• Symbolic?- draws on connotations and existing cultural models
• Photographs? Illustrations?
• Captions influence a readers response to the image

Typography

• Font size/ style/ colour- depend on text's purpose and implied readership
• e.g. handwriting font seems more personal, calligraphy appears elegeant and formal

Layout/Space

• Is the text dense or broken up e.g. with boxes/ bullets/ bubbles?
• Which part of the text catches the readers eye?
• Use of juxtapositioning?
• does the text adopt layout conventions of another genre e.g. letter/ recipe/ comic *****

Conversation Features:

• Adjacency Pairs
• Initiation-response-feedback
• Topic management- typically set by powerful participant
• Back chanelling
• Discourse marker- signals a shift in conversation e.g 'ok' 'right then'
• Non fluency features- due to spontaneuous nature e.g. fillers, false starts, pauses, repitition
• Hedging- avoids directness and minimise face threatening act
• Ellipsis- omission of words, informal/avoid (unecessary) repitition
• Vague/Fixed Expressions e.g. something, at the end of the day
• Tag questions- speaker support, uncertainty or request of clarification
• Deixis-  e.g. 'you' 'now' 'that' 

• Dialect- form of language with distinct features of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation

e.g. English --> Yorkshire, Cockney, Welsh

• Sociolect- a variety of language associated with a particular social group 

Socio-economic status- higher social classes commonly use Standard English, Lower class commonly use regional features

Age- teenagers commonly use slang/ colloquial to strengthen their identity in a group

Occupation- jargon/ slang used for economical or informal reasons

• Idiolect- speech style unique to an individual

e.g. volume, tone, expressions, grammatical constructions

• Standard English- most prestigious dialect

• Recieved Pronunciation- most prestigious accent

Functions of spoken language

• Referential- utterances that provide information
• Expressive- utterances that expresses the speakers feelings
• Transactional- utterances with the main emphasis on getting something done
• Interactional- utterances with the main emphasis on maintaining social realtionships
• Phatic (small talk)- utterances that establish and maintain social relationships e.g. Hello

Influences on spoken language

• Speaker identity- age, gender, group membership, regional orignin, socio-economic status...
• Context- audience (power relationship, social distance...), setting (private, domestic, formal...), topic, purpose

Structure of Conversation

• Opening sequence- phatic speech act? Topic marker?
• Turn taking- interruptions? Adjacency pairs? Holding the floor? Verbal/ non verbal cues?
• Initiation-response-feedback
• Back-channel behaviour
• Closing sequence- pre-closing signals? Phatic speech act?

Conversation Theories

• Accomodation- convergence/ divergence/ over- accomodation
• Grice's Maxims (co-operative principle)
• Face theory- positive/ negative politeness
• Gender theories...

Public Speeches

• Grammar- rhetorical devices, sentence length, first/second person, repitition (cohesion)
• Lexis- simple (monosyllabic), emotive, hyperbole, figurative
• Phonology (they are intended to be heard)- rhythmic, stress, alliteration, intonation

Scripted Dialogue

• Supposed to mimic natural speech
• Lacks non-fluency features, incorrect grammatical construction, interuptions and feedback
• More coherent than natural speech (prepared)
• Deliberate purpose
• Distinctive idiolect
• Narrative discription (novels)

Newspapers

• Graphology- banner headline, strap line, byline, standfirst, caption
• Headlines- purpose (convey info, create drama, persuade, humour) features (compression, informal, familiar phrases, pun, phonology, present tense)
• Tabliod- colourful, typographical variation, large photos, dramatic, sensationalised, humorous, bias, simple lexis and sentences, informal, lighthearted
• Broadsheet- restrained graphology, dense text, factual information, formal, polysyllabic words, complex sentences

Advertisements

• Graphology- layout, typographical features, logos, colour
• Form and structure- voice of narrator? style of writing e.g. letter? order in which text appears
• Attitudes- direct address, interactive features e.g. questions/ forms tone e.g. informal/ familiar/ flattering
• Grammer- short sentences, mimic speech, imperitives, punctuation e.g. !!
• Phonology
• Content- stereotypes, humour, intertexuality (reference to another text)

Hidden agenda? Ideology? Pragmatics?

• Purpose- entertain, arouse emotion, influence views, humour, explore character/ setting
• Author's attitude
• Narrative voice- informal? conversational language? distinct voice? intimate relationship with reader? subtle?
• Characters
• Rhetorical Teachniques
• Vocabulary
• Grammar
• Dialogue- mimics natural speech?