Course Summary
What is English Language & Literature?
This course explores both literature and language, focusing on linguistics and discourse analysis. You’ll study how language evolves and how different forms of communication are used and understood.
Why Study English Language & Literature?
This course provides a comprehensive understanding of both literature and language. You’ll learn about language changes, regional dialects, and personal text styles. It’s ideal for those who enjoy storytelling, creative writing, and linguistic analysis.
Course Details
AQA English Language and Literature includes the opportunity to analyse and scrutinise a diverse range of engaging texts. We will explore both linguistic and literary methods; we look at language theories and apply them to fiction, non-fiction, literary and non-literary texts.
Paper 1: Telling Stories – we explore dystopian literature with focused excerpts from Orwell’s 1984, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Our full set text is The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood with its shocking and challenging iconic message.
We consider key features of dystopian literature and try to incorporate some in short examples of students’ original creative writing.
We also analyse and investigate the meanings and techniques of the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy in a selection from her anthology Mean Time with its striking insights on contemporary society
Paper 2: Exploring Conflict – we investigate the role of crime and the Victorian detective in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and the nature of conflict and relationship in Drama.
NEA: In your final year you also complete an extended essay (NEA) where you choose a theme and two texts for analysis, one literary and one non-literary– recent successful topics have included the language of sport in broadcasting and literature, representations of Northern Dialect comparing
Wuthering Heights with The Road to Wigan Pier, the psychopath in fact and fiction and comparing ‘authentic’ representations of Autism in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida.
If you love reading both fiction and non-fiction texts, enjoy linguistic analysis at the granular level and would relish the opportunity to develop your own critical and creative skills, then English Language and Literature would be a superb choice.
As a student of English Language and Literature, you might want to get involved in some of the activities on offer at Chapeltown Academy, such as the Creative Writing club or the Debating Society. We also run theatre visits and take advantage of our proximity to many excellent cultural opportunities.
How will it be delivered and assessed?
Please click on the following link for this information.
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/as-and-a-level/english-language-and-literature-7706-7707/specification-at-a-glance
Entry requirements
The Academy’s general entry criteria of a minimum of five 4s at GCSE apply. A minimum of 5 in English Language and 4 in English Literature are needed to study English Literature and Literature at A Level.
Your next steps...
Universities and colleges in the UK are offering courses in the following subject areas:
English
English literature
English and creative writing
Comparative literary studies
Linguistics
English graduates are employed in a wide range of sectors, and are well placed to gain highly sought after jobs requiring excellent communication skills, writing, or undertaking research. Key areas of employment include:
teaching
journalism and publishing
marketing communications
public relations
advertising
digital media
arts administration
business management
film and television
Related careers
Examples of related careers include the following jobs :
Magazine journalist
Editorial assistant
Academic librarian
Proofreader
Creative marketing assistant
Administrative assistant
Writer
Web content manager
Public relations officer
Publishing assistant
Editor
For more courses like this, check our courses page.
