Semantics a level English language

• Learn the framework.
• Do all the practice exam papers you can to help with timing
• Do the groupings answer after you have done the Power/Gender/Technology question
• Go through each text, noting which possible groups the text will fit in to and what linguistic features related to the groups are present.

Plan your answer in a table

Use the following three recommended groups and sub groups

Purpose - inform, persuade, entertain/audience

Spoken - planned/unplanned speech

Levels of formality - formal and informal

Use graphology and/or semantic fields as a final group once you have fully analysed the above three in detail

Use the following key phrases:

My first grouping will be purpose. Text A and B can be grouped because they both aim to persuade. They can be grouped because they both…

STATE HOW THEY SEEK TO PERSUADE – WHAT FEATURES OF PERSUASION ARE EVIDENT IN THE TEXTS E.G... HYPERBOLE, REPETITION, LISTING, REPORTED SPEECH, HUMOUR, INCLUSIVE PRONOUNS, FRIENDLY IMPERATIVES, COLLOQUIALISMS, ALLITERATION, INTERROGATIVES, EMOTIVE LANGUAGE, ADJECTIVES ETC. QUOTE FROM THE TEXT TO ILLUSTRATE YOUR POINTS. WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF THIS LANGUAGE? THE TEXTS MIGHT BE DIFFERENT IN TERMS OF CONTEXT AND AUDIENCE.

However, the texts are different because .

Text E, F and D can be grouped because they both aim to inform. They can be grouped because they both…

STATE HOW THEY INFORM E.G... DECLARATIVES, FACT AND OPINION, VARIETY OF SENTENCE TYPES, USE OF EXPERT OPINION, IMPERATIVES, METAPHOR, SIMILE, PRESENT TENSE, PROPER NOUNS, ABSTRACT NOUNS, REPORTED SPEECH, LISTING, PARENTHESIS ETC. QUOTE FROM THE TEXT TO ILLUSTRATE YOUR POINTS. STATE THE EFFECT OF THE LINGUISTIC CHOICES. THE TEXTS MIGHT BE DIFFERENT IN TERMS OF CONTEXT AND AUDIENCE.

However, the texts are different because…

My second grouping will be Speech. Texts C and D can be grouped because they both contain features of spontaneous speech. However, text D is different to text C because it is a dialogue as opposed to a monologue and as such contains many structural and interactional features associated with conversations…

Features of speech to include:

FILLERS, UNINTENTIONAL REPETITION, FALSE STARTS, PAUSES, DIGRESSION, DEICTIC EXPRESSIONS, ELLIPSIS, ELISION

QUOTE FROM THE TEXT TO ILLUSTRATE YOUR POINTS AND EXPLAIN THE EFFECT OF SUCH LANGUAGE AND WHY IT IS USED.

Text J is different from Texts B and H because it is a conversation (OPENING SEQUENCE, TURN-TAKING, ADJACENCY PAIRS, TOPICS, TOPIC SHIFTS, TOPIC LOOPS, REPAIRS, FEEDBACK, CLOSING SEQUENCE, POLITENESS STRATEGIES

My final grouping will be levels of formality.

Texts C and E can be grouped as they are informal. They contain many informal linguistic features…

FORMAL, POLYSYLLABIC LEXIS, LATINATE / FRENCH LEXIS, JARGON, FIELD SPECIFIC LEXIS, COMPLETE, COMPLEX SENTENCES, IMPERSONAL LEXIS, NON-COLLOQUIAL LEXIS, COMPLETE SENTENCES, COMPLEX, DECLARATIVE SENTENCES. (QUOTE FROM THE TEXT TO ILLUSTRATE YOUR POINTS) STATE WHY THEY ARE FORMAL – IS IT RELATED TO THE CONTEXT, AUDIENCE, PURPOSE. STATE THE EFFECT OF THE FORMALITY.