Programme of Study & Syllabus
Contents
The Syllabus, Examinations and Assessment
How Your Work is Assessed on the Course
The Transition from AS to the Full A Level - Some Tips
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Welcome to your Wolsey Hall Cambridge AL English Language course. Please take the time to read carefully through this page as it explains how the course is structured, how to get the most out of your studies and how your work will be assessed. At the end of this page, you will find details of the reading you will need to do from your textbook and set texts and also how each module links to the CAIE syllabus and the final examinations.
This course will lead you step-by-step through the syllabus by way of resources, video and audio links, assignments and, of course, the textbook, so that by the end, you will be confident and fully prepared for your final examinations.
Ludwig Wittgenstein famously said, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world”. Language is the vehicle by which we communicate, express our individuality, share ideas, argue our case, sell products, critique the world around us, inspire and entertain one another and lead revolutions. It is constantly evolving to reflect the world in which we live and it both reflects, and shapes, society. It is one of the defining characteristics of being human and, from great novels to text messages, our ability to manipulate it in infinite ways distinguishes us from other species. In this subject, anything and everything you might read or hear is a text.
At AS, you developed a sound knowledge of the building blocks of language, including grammar and syntax, and a critical understanding of a wide variety of texts, both written and spoken. You learnt the key characteristics and conventions of each in order to be able to write your own, and the critical vocabulary needed to dissect them in your analytical essays.
The Cambridge AL in English Language is a little different in approach; it is very much focussed on linguistics – the scientific study of language. The syllabus guides you through four compulsory and varied topic areas: language change, child language acquisition, English in the world and language and the self. In addition to drawing on the knowledge you gained at AS, you will learn how to read and analyse transcripts of spontaneous conversation and how to interpret a range of sources of linguistic data, including n-grams and word tables derived from corpus data in order to support your points. You will read widely around the key topic areas, researching key theories and studies in these areas, exploring a range of technical, scientific and philosophical issues. Your work will become more evaluative and considered as you weigh up the strengths and weakness of different theories, studies and ideas in discursive essays, as well as making reference to your own wider reading and research.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Write analytically about a wide variety of texts, both written and spoken, in a range of forms, styles and contexts;
- Explain how speakers use language to ineract in spontaneous exchanges, using appropriate linguistic terminology to support your answers;
- Outline how and why language changes over time and whether we have any control over this process;
- Distinguish between standard and non-standard forms of English and explain why these differences exist;
- Identify the key stages in the acquisition of language in babies and young children;
- Explain the different theories about how and why we acquire language and speech skills from birth and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these theories;
- Explain how English has become a global language, the impact of this on other languages and cultures, and its implications for the future;
- Understand how we use language, both as individuals and as a society and how it can be shaped to include and exclude others;
- Outline the key contextual factors that influence the way we use language, including gender, age, occupation and social class;
- Explain the links between language, culture and identity, showing how language can underpin group identity and behaviour.
The Syllabus, Examinations and Assessment
This Wolsey Hall course is designed to prepare you for the Cambridge AS English Language examinations which you will sit at a Cambridge exam centre. It is vitally important that you become familiar with the syllabus which can be found below:
READ - Syllabus 2024-26 (CAIE) Download READ - Syllabus 2024-26 (CAIE)
READ - Syllabus 2027-28 (CAIE) Download READ - Syllabus 2027-28 (CAIE)
The examination code for AS and A Level English Language is: 9093
In addition to the two AS papers, which you may have taken in an earlier exam sitting, for the AL in English Language, you will sit two papers:
- Paper 3: Language Analysis – This paper is worth 25% of your overall A Level grade. Length: 2 hours and 15 minutes.
This paper carries 50 marks in total and candidates answer two compulsory questions: Question 1 in Section A and Question 2 in Section B.
- Paper 4: Language Topics – This paper is worth 25% of your overall A Level grade. Length: 2 hours and 15 minutes.
This paper carries 50 marks in total and candidates answer two compulsory questions each on a separate topic area: Question 1 in Section A, and Question 2 in Section B.
All components are externally assessed.
The syllabus is examined in the June and November examination series. This syllabus is also available for examination in March for students in India only.
Assessment Objectives
The assessment objectives (AOs) for AS and A Level English Language are as follows:
- AO1: Understanding
Read and demonstrate understanding of a wide variety of texts.
- AO2: Writing
Write effectively, creatively, accurately and appropriately for a range of audiences and purposes.
- AO3: Analysis
Analyse the ways in which writers’ and speakers’ choices of form, structure and language produce meaning and style.
- AO4: Conceptualisation*
Demonstrate understanding of linguistic issues, concepts, methods and approaches.
- AO5: Data handling*
Analyse and synthesise language data from a variety of sources.
*AO4 and AO5 are only assessed at AL.
Wolsey Hall offers a unique model of offline and online resources to our homeschooling students – a model which we have developed based on our many years’ experience of providing homeschooling courses to students.
Textbooks
Each subject specialist team carefully selects the best textbook for you to use as you study. The core textbook for your AL English Language course is as follows:
English Language for Cambridge International AS & A Level Coursebook by Mike Gould and Marilyn Rankin (2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2019); ISBN: 9781108455824
You will also be using a second text for A Level English Language, to supplement your wider reading and research:
Mother Tongue: The Story of the English Language, by Bill Bryson, (Penguin, 2009); ISBN: 9780141040080
Resources
In addition to your textbook and set texts, we have sourced a range of additional resources to support your learning. The resources are clearly marked out in the module pages and you should make use of these alongside your textbook to ensure that you get the very best out of your course.
You will also find a range of key resources in the General Resources section of the course. These are items which relate to the course as a whole, rather than to specific modules, and as such, you should make regular use of them. For AL English Language these are:
- English Language Learner Guide (CAIE)
- English Language Glossary of Terminology (CAIE)
- Useful Materials from AS
- AL Language Frameworks
- Overview of Paper 3: Language Analysis
- Overview of Paper 4: Language Topics
- Generic Mark Scheme for Paper 3: Language Analysis
- Generic Mark Scheme for Paper 4: Language Topics
- Specimen Papers and Mark Schemes for 2021 onwards
- Optional Further Reading List
You should also make use of the extensive exam preparation material at the end of the course to help you to prepare for your final examination.
All the files required for your course are uploaded onto our Learning Management System, Canvas. Once you have read through this page and downloaded the Programme of Study (POS) then you are ready to begin the course.
The key course content is covered in ten core modules, each of which has an assignment at the end of it. These modules will help you to get the most out of your textbook and set texts.
Module Eleven, at the end of the course, is focussed on revision and exam practice. It contains tips and tasks for you to work on once you have completed the course.
Each module is subdivided into topics so that you can study the course in manageable chunks. The topics contain the following elements, as appropriate:
- Read and Make Notes – these sections include the page references for reading and note-making from your textbook.
- Tasks – these sections identify activities and exercises that build up your core knowledge and understanding as you learn new material.
- Links – throughout the course there are links to a range of resources that will enhance your understanding of key concepts and your set texts.
- Consolidate – these sections identify tasks which draw together key skills you have learnt.
- Top Tips – these sections include advice to help you make the most of what you have learnt and to help you approach your assignments and exams in the most effective way.
- Wider Reading and Research – tasks in these sections relate to additional research and/or reading you will carry out to expand your knowledge of important linguistic issues. This work will ensure you have plenty of examples to bring into your essays beyond those included in the textbook and will help to make your work stand out in the real exams.
- Terminology – you will keep track of key linguistic terminology by making flashcards for revision as you progress through the course.
How Your Work is Assessed on the Course
Your progress will be assessed by completing an assignment at the end of each of the ten core modules. We recommend that you do NOT look at the assignments until you've studied all the topics in the module. This will ensure that you focus on everything you need to know for the exam. If you focus only on what you need to know to do well in the assignment, you will miss important elements in each module that you need to know and understand.
The assignments have been designed to help you prepare for your final examination. Aside from Assignment One, which is designed to introduce you to transcript-reading skills and basic concepts covered in Module One, all of the assignment questions are designed to reflect real exam questions. In cases where you have not yet learnt enough to complete all parts of a full exam task, this will be indicated in the assignment and taken into account by your tutor when your work is marked. Answering exam-style questions is crucial in developing your exam technique, understanding exactly what the examiner is looking for in each case and ensuring you are confident when you tackle the real exams. In English Language, we do not expect you to complete your assignments without referring to your notes. However, we encourage you to rely less on these as you progress through the course.
There are several different types of question that you will encounter in the two AL English Language exam papers and different combinations of skills are tested in each; some questions are analytical and require you to read transcripts and/or interpret linguistic data, such as n-grams and word tables and some involve discussing and evaluating attitudes to linguistic issues, using different source texts as a stimulus. All of the questions require you to draw on wider reading and research you have done in the four key topic areas, bringing in examples to support your points. This course is structured in such a way that you will tackle each type of question at least twice. It’s therefore very important to reflect on the feedback you receive and how you can improve your marks generally, but especially so before tackling the next version of the same kind of question. Use any advice and tips provided about the assignments in the course and the generic mark schemes to make sure you know exactly what is being tested in each task.
The assignments allow you to think critically about what you have learned and will enable your tutor to see how well you are progressing. Your tutor will mark your assignments and provide you with detailed feedback. Once you have had your marked assignment returned, you will be able to access the mark scheme and/or a specimen answer (an A-grade piece of work). You should always reflect carefully on your tutor’s feedback and apply it in your future assignments.
You should read the assignment questions carefully and answer them to the best of your ability, providing relevant examples where necessary. If you don’t do well in your first assignment, don’t worry; your tutor is there to provide advice.
We ask that you do not submit multiple assignments at the same time. For you to see a steady improvement in your marks, it is very important that you reflect on your tutor’s feedback before beginning each new assignment, so that you can incorporate their tips for improvement into each new piece of work.
To get the best out of your course, before submitting each new assignment, you must:
- Complete all the reading, notes and activities in the preceding module;
- Read carefully through all of your tutor’s comments on your last assignment;
- Use the mark scheme and/or any exemplar or specimen answers provided to help you plan for the next assignment.
We cannot guarantee that tutors will be able to mark multiple assignments within the 3-5 working day window and your work may be returned to you to complete again in light of more recent feedback.
All assignments are submitted via Canvas – you should consult the Canvas Guide for more information.
The Transition from AS to the Full A Level - Some Tips
To perform successfully in the second half of your A Level English Language course, it is assumed that you have mastered all of the skills, knowledge and linguistic terminology you acquired in the AS course. You will still be expected to refer to these in your work as the subject is cumulative, but you will now build on these and add to them. If you have not fully mastered any of the AS material, then you should go back over this before beginning the AL course to ensure you have a solid foundation on which to build.
There are several key differences between AS English Language and the full A Level:
- The AL course is very much focussed on material from the study of linguistics – the scientific study of language. You will be learning about all kinds of factors that affect how and why we use language and you will find that this aspect of the course briefly overlaps with various other subject areas, such as Psychology, Sociology and even Biology at times. This is part of what makes this A Level so stimulating and varied, but it means that you need to be prepared to take on board concepts and ideas that you may not traditionally associate with the study of ‘English’.
- At AL, you will study spoken language as well as written language, and for Paper 3, you will need to learn how to read transcriptions of spontaneous speech. These skills are addressed in Module One which acts as preparation for studying child language acquisition in Modules Two and Three. You will find that there is a lot of new terminology to learn relating to the conventions of spoken language. You should try to learn this as you go along, making sure you use the glossaries provided to help you. Print them out and highlight new terminology as it occurs in the modules. B. You should also keep using your AS Glossary of Terminology, as it is expected that you will still use this terminology, as appropriate, in your responses.
- You will be introduced to key theories and concepts proposed by linguists, scientists, psychologists and sociologists along the way. You will need to remember some of their names and the dates of their studies. These will really help you to add vital depth and detail to your answers in the exams. You may it helpful to make yourself flashcards summarising the findings of key studies for revision later on and to learn specific examples to support each of the ideas.
- You will need to show that you can interpret linguistic data from a range of different sources, including the International Phonetic Alphabet, n-grams, graphs and word tables derived from corpus data. The examiner will be looking at how you use the data presented in the question as evidence for your ideas and how you bring your ideas together to form effective analysis. These skills can feel quite mathematical and not what you may expect in an English A Level. It is very important to make sure you understand the different sources of data and how to use them as these come up in the course, so make sure that you cover these topics very carefully and go back over them if necessary.
When you study a Wolsey Hall course, you are never alone. There are lots of people who are willing to help you. Everyone is on your side!
- Tutors: At Wolsey Hall, all our tutors are friendly and knowledgeable. They are subject experts and you should not be shy about asking them questions about your course. You will meet your tutor at the start of your course and you should contact them via Canvas messaging if you have any questions.
- Student Progress Managers: You have already been assigned a Student Progress Manager who can help with your Assignment Schedule.
- Exams Officers: Wolsey Hall’s Exams Officers are here to help students with any queries regarding exam centres.
- Canvas Help Desk: Canvas is a great virtual learning environment, but we understand that sometimes, even the best things can go wrong! If you have any problems with Canvas (e.g. uploading assignments or unable to access resources) you should submit a Canvas Help Ticket.
For information about how to create and submit a Help Ticket, please refer to the Canvas Guide.
We hope you’ll enjoy your course and studying at Wolsey Hall. We wish you the best of luck in your studies and success in your examinations. Please do let us know how you get on when you receive your examination results!
The Wolsey Hall Team