Secrets of GCSE Language Paper

When you go into the exam it is important that you have a strategy.

That way you know exactly what you are going to do. You get straight down to it.

Not a minute is wasted.

Everything you do is earning you marks.

Today I am going to show you how to tackle the language question. Lots of students become frightened by this. They think it will be about grammar. It isn't.

It's easy once you have a strategy.

I'm going to teach you that now.


You get this in Paper One section A. Normally it comes towards the end of the section. Sometimes it is joined with a question about presentation. I will post about that another day.

You are asked to write about the use of language in the text.

Here’s what to do.

1. Decide on the purpose of this writing from the minute you begin to read it. WHAT does the writer want you to do, think, feel? In other words, WHY was it written?

2. How has the writer used words/phrase to do this? Use the following handy mnemonic so you know what to look for. Mark your paper as you go along.

Now you are going to use the mnemonic


Q FOR PRAISE

You can see a PowerPoint to help you learn it here: Slideshare




It stands for

Quotes: Writers use quotes, often from authorities or celebrities to make the reader feel that they are reading something that can be trusted, that is true. If a doctor says that taking more exercise is good for you it is more believable than just a nagging PE teacher!.
If David Beckham says these are the best football boots on the market then they 'must' be good.

Facts: You can’t argue with these. They back up what the text says. This makes it more convincing.

Opinions: Matter if the person who is giving the opinion is an authority. Watch out for opinions that are disguised as facts. E.g. ‘Everybody knows that teenagers just want to laze around all day,’ is an opinion made to sound like a fact because of the words ‘Everybody knows’.

Repetition: Used to emphasize words, But the important thing is that you tell the examiner WHY these words are repeated. How do they help achieve the purpose of the article?

Pronouns: Usually I and You. ‘You’ talks directly to the reader, involving them. If they are trying to raise money for a charity it is better to say how YOU could help the poor rather than just saying that if they had money the poor could be helped. If the author uses I it often shows that they can be trusted because they know what they are talking about. E.g. 'I have seen the poverty and suffering with my own eyes.'

Rhetorical Questions: Create questions that a talk directly to the reader and create some curiosity in their mind that they can only satisfy by reading the rest if the article.

Alliteration: Like repetition, draws attention to the important words.

Imagery: Helps the reader to see in their imagination what is being described. In the slide show, his skin is like rubber.

Statistics: Like facts, give authority to what is being said. In the slide show 24% of Americans believe in alien abduction.

Emotive Language: Words and phrases designed to affect the emotions of the reader. E.g. In a leaflet campaigning against animal experiments, compare 'the animals experience pain' to'the animals are tortured.'

Next Post:

Two Most Important words for answering a language question…