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Excellent preparation for journalism, PR and communication industries
Excellent preparation for journalism, PR and communication industries
Excellent preparation for journalism, PR and communication industries
A Level English Language requires you to achieve at least the minimum entry requirements for your chosen pathway plus a grade 5 or higher in GCSE English Language. The minimum entry requirements will be discussed at open events and at your college interview.
If you enjoyed exploring the way writers use language in GCSE English Language and want to find out more about how language works, English Language is perfect for you. This is a course which appeals to students who are both analytical and creative in their thinking and writing, and by the end of this two-year course you’ll be writing opinion pieces, travelogues, and reviews that many published journalists would be proud of. By building upon the skills you acquired at GCSE, our experienced team will prepare you for a more scientific approach to the study of language, with content that links directly to university subjects such as Linguistics.
We take a deep dive into the big language issues, seeking the answers to questions like:
Is there such a thing as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ English?
What factors influence our use of language in different situations?
Can we stop language from changing? And should we?
We don’t do fancy gimmicks — we just teach a complex and challenging subject to a very high level. In lessons we use a variety of teaching and learning methods to help you retain and apply the core knowledge, but our aim is quite simple: to reinforce the learning of linguistic knowledge. If you find yourself struggling, we do have additional lunchtime support sessions, and we pride ourselves on the quality of our feedback.
The A Level English Language course is made up of 4 components.
In this component you will analyse how different writers in different times have represented people, places and ideas and how this is affected by mode, topic, genre, audience and purpose. You will also examine how children learn to speak and write and consider the roles their caregivers take in this.
In this component, you will analyse the factors which drive language change and variety, considering occupation, gender, region, nationality and, of course, time! You will look at some of the debates around these changes, and have a go at constructing your own opinion-based articles.
In this non-exam assessed component, you will develop both your analytical and creative skills through two pieces of independent work: a 2000 word investigation into data of your choice and a piece of creative writing plus a commentary analysing your own writing decisions.
Read, read, and read. Collect any written texts you can get your hands on: newspaper articles, magazine problem pages, film/holiday/book reviews, text messages, and even children’s stories! You can learn so much from simply reading interviews in magazines and noticing the language choices. Keep these texts in a file and you can use these during your A Level course to help you to apply all the language terminology. Make your own comprehensive list of all the language terminology (nouns, verb, simple sentences, etc.) you’ve learned at school and bring that in to show us.
Wyke Sixth Form College hold train to teach information events which offer you a great insight into this course. If you are interested in attending one of these events, please complete this form and we will be in contact with the key information.
Please note that the applications for this course can be submitted by following the ‘Apply Now’ button on this page. Applications are made through the University of Huddersfield rather than Wyke Sixth Form College. We look forward to meeting with you.
A Level English Language can assist you progressing on to many specialist undergraduate courses, particularly Law, Psychology and Sociology. As well as providing an excellent route on to English-related undergraduate courses, there are many other pathways our students take. Here are just some of the subjects our students have gone on to specialise in: Linguistics, Journalism, Speech Therapy, Sports Reporting, Creative Writing, Digital Media Studies
At Wyke Start, our 2-day taster event in July, each of your subjects will set you some work to complete to help prepare you for the course. The work is available to download on https://www.wyke.ac.uk/wyke-start-summer-work
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Within the department we offer you the chance to take part in a variety of enrichments including:
• Creative Writing club
• Pre-Linguistics
This is not to mention our trips to prestigious universities and to see eminent linguists such as Professor David Crystal and Professor Deborah Cameron provide stretching and challenging guest lectures.
