Comprehensive Course Companions for A Level AQA

Thorough and comprehensive

N Van Gordon, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Take a detailed look at how the English language changes and develops both through childhood and over the centuries with these comprehensive packs of notes and theories, engaging student activities and exam-style questions. Flexible format to support your teaching of the 2015 A Level AQA specification.

Topics covered include:

Child Language Development
  • The Caregiver
  • Child-directed Speech (or Motherese)
  • Reading and Writing
  • and more!
Language Change
  • Standardisation
  • Johnson’s Dictionary
  • Modern English
  • and more!
  • Versatile worksheets with regular tasks and discussion points encourage reflective thinking and spark debate
  • Methods of language analysis integrated throughout activities
  • Uses a stimulating and relevant range of unseen written, spoken and electronic sources, with methods of language analysis integrated throughout
  • Varied examples provided and complex theories explained in an accessible way
  • ‘Synoptic Opportunities’ help students recognise how the topics merge with, support or contrast one another

It makes it clear to students what they need to do to achieve certain marks and to meet the assessment objectives...

...Very user-friendly... will be a great asset to students and teachers

M Crook, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Plus Vital Exam Practice!

  • Exam-style questions prep students to achieve top marks across the AOs
  • Indicative content included

What do teachers say about this resource? (10070)

Extremely good... I particularly liked the discussion points and tasks. The Early Modern and Modern periods are covered very well, as are the sections on grammatical, phonological, semantic and lexical change... The glossary is useful, and the exam section with the model answers and detailed pointers is absolutely excellent. I also like the numerous links which enable students or teachers to find more information on certain topics... It makes it clear to students what they need to do to achieve certain marks and to meet the assessment objectives... very user-friendly... will be a great asset to students and teachers.

M Crook, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

A very informative resource, with obvious plans about how the content could be taught to best effect. It gave very detailed accounts of both internal and external factors and how each had an influence on the development of the language... it guided students towards how knowledge could be applied to exam-based material and how essays for this assessment should be structured... helps staff cover the required content and provides students with opportunities to develop their skills in exams... It explains what areas are being tested and what examiners will be looking for in their responses.

R Staley, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Thorough and comprehensive, with a really good overview of Language Change. The level of challenge was appropriate and all relevant concepts were covered. It was good for both in-depth reading and quick reference in class... I liked the synoptic links to indicate connections between other topics on the course. The NEA opportunity boxes are a nice touch... mark schemes are clear and helpful... activities for exam practice and analysing specific parts of an article are a good idea as students find this challenging... It is a comprehensive overview of the course and provides in-depth information to enhance class-based tasks and exam practice. The questions at the end using the mark scheme and reordering essay paragraphs were very useful for preparing students for the exam as well as modelling best practice in essays and article writing.

N Van Gordon, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

The resource is a very good overview for the general topic of language change... it gives a very clear run through of the key areas.... There are some useful activities in the resource. There are some really useful ideas in the 'answers' section... It is especially useful to have an exemplar with a commentary linking to how marks would be awarded for each AO

R Caveney, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

A fantastic resource which enhances teaching and learning.

Covers lots of the course content in great depth.

The pack refers to wider reading options to help students to expand their knowledge, which is excellent.

Links to NEA activities are helpful for students who are perhaps struggling with their focus.

In addition, the pack often links historical events/attitudes to the present which helps students to fully see the nuances of language.

Links to other topic areas are frequent and help to accentuate the synopticity of language study.

Mock exam papers allow students to fulfil requirements from both papers and covers textual analysis points, as well as discursive and creative elements. Exam requirements are clear and relevant links are made throughout.

T Hollins, Head of English Enrichment & Peer Reviewer

The pit stops for NEA are really effective. The glossary of terms is particularly useful, I know a number of my students would benefit from access to this. Structuring the response task is really good, I know a number of students that struggle with this idea so think this would be really beneficial... I like the quotations at the beginning of Origins – it’s a nice way to think about why we study language and would be a good icebreaker... Giving the marking criteria is really effective

C Marshall, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

What do teachers say about this resource? (7553)

An excellent resource... presents complex topics in an interesting format with examples and activities... I liked the way in which this resource covers the Theories of Language Acquisition, such as positive reinforcement, outlined by Skinner. Then it counter argues with Chomsky and picks out key terms. These are then charted for students to learn.The complex is consolidated with illustrations to ensure that students have understood the terms... It enhances learning as the aspects of acquisition are covered in a readable way. Students can compare research carried out in the early years with recent theorists which enables them to understand criticising... to argue in essays. The recent research is informative... Presentation is interesting and easy to understand... The key terms charts are superb as these consolidate learning in each chapter with an activity to peer mark. Bold fonts for key terms is a useful visual learning technique... each aspect of the spec is covered in depth... The Tomasello research in 1950s reinforces learning in an interesting way and criticisms are well explained.

S Fallon, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

This is a very comprehensive guide and is suitable for both AS and A Level. It offers opportunity for stretch and challenge, since there are several research tasks and independent study material... There are questions and tasks that help practise and refine skills in both a fun and more academic manner... There are materials for both within and outside the classroom. It encourages students to select discriminating examples and collect their evidence in such a way that they will be able to evaluate theorists' ideas and form their own opinions on pieces of research. Students can use the hand-outs to produce other revision materials... it encourages learners to take responsibility for their learning to fill in any gaps in knowledge. It would greatly reduce the amount of planning I would need to do and would help consolidate the knowledge of my learners because it tests what they know in several different ways. It would also help my students undertake more structured independent study.

R Budyakova, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

I really liked how easy to follow it was. Ideas and new theories built up gradually and students would be able to return to the bits they didn't understand independently. It covers essential aspects of CLA introduction... I liked the integrated tests, exemplars and student-friendly mark scheme. It lends itself to A Level well because it allows that degree of independent learning. Listing theory and which language level it relates to is very useful for revision purposes - students would like this... It explains key syllabus material in easily digestible chunks. The transcripts are well chosen... It's written with the A Level learner in mind... It could easily be used for other exam boards. The development of speech features on Paper 2 for OCR

S Alsop, English Teacher & Peer Reviewer