Outline of course and intro

We started the course with a list of terms which the students were invited to tick, question or cross depending on their familiarity of the concept. This is a fairly comprehensive list of all the main concepts needed in the course, and as such, should be treated as a contents page of sorts.

Next, I outlined the course - explaining we would start with the coursework, then move onto the exam after Christmas.

To understand the concept of formality in English Language, we did an exercise where the students ranged ten texts in order of formality. They were asked to agree / disagree with each other about the order. This also highlighted that although we, as speakers of English intuitively know lots about the language, the study of English Language at A-level means understanding this knowledge more fully, and having the vocabulary with which to describe it (see starter).

We agreed that more formal texts were generally more planned, one sided (monologues), permanent, public, and finally not context dependent.

Students then translated my "formal" texts into their North London slang. EG

How do you do? = Wagwon blud, wat you sayin?

I admire your haircut = Your shape ups is lookin fresh fam.

We went over some examples of coursework and exam texts. Again, this showed the students that they could recognise certain texts easily; it's the coordinating of these analyses which need an extended vocabulary and a greater understanding about how people use language depending on context.

Homework was to revise "8 parts of speech" by next Wednesday.

Mr C.