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A Level English Lang - Paper 2, Question 3 - Comparison
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This comparison essay compares two texts and refers to the similarities and differences of each, touching upon lexis, grammar, and graphology.
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Molly WhiteA Level English Language – Paper 2 Question 3
Text A is an extract from an online article published by the Canadian newspaper in 2013.
Embodying a prescriptivist tone the informative text discusses the evolution and growing
popularity of elocution lessons in the UK. This text demands for a pragmatic understanding
from a British audience due to cultural features being embedded in the article, thus
representing an anglocentric piece. The credibility of this text may be questionable due to the
writer obtaining an outsider view to British society, as this article was published by a
Canadian newspaper. Text A portrays opinion in a subjective way, though does this
successfully while incorporating specialists and experts in the field of prosodics in speech.
Similarly, Text B is an article taken from a website; TheTutorPages.com. Though this text is
less informative it certainly tries to persuade their audience into understanding the importance
of elocution and the disadvantages of obtaining a regional accent. Taking a slightly more
archaic approach with their persuasion; the text targets a macro-level audience, perhaps those
with regional accents who wish to ‘change their life’ per se. Through the analysis of lexis and
semantics, grammar and graphology, the similarities and differences between Text A and
Text B will be fully analysed and discussed.
Lexically, Text A uses many linguistic devices in order to appeal to their audience. Firstly,
the concept of being ‘posh’ and the crucial importance of this attribution is often personified
throughout the text. This highlights the significance of this characteristic, suggesting its
importance within British society. Furthermore, the lexeme ‘posh’ is frequently placed
between quotation marks, this indicates a slight undertone of sarcasm throughout the text,
perhaps mocking the idea of elocution as a practice. Through the analysis of the alliteration
used, ‘nice neutral accents’, signifies a subjective argument within the text, though this is
done discreetly it is certainly notable, while also undermining regional accents
simultaneously. The writer of Text A generates a form of stereotyping, while stating, ‘they
feared being ridiculed’, referring to the ‘wealthy immigrant families’. By doing so, the writer
is seen to be supressing diversity while also dangerously stereotyping a community of
individuals. Lastly, Text A uses statistics to support the subjective undertones embedded in
the text. ‘$90 an hour’, by doing this, the writer uses logos in order to gain trust from the
reader, establishing a knowledgeable persona, which in turn, is likely to appeal to the
audience. Similarly, Text B does this to establish an ethos of trust between the writer and the
audience. By using a set of niche lexemes such as ‘patois’, the writer gains trust from the
reader through their knowledge in the topic. However, Text B is most certainly more
language deterministic – the writer of Text B suggests that without the ability to articulate in
Received Pronunciation, individuals are not capable of obtaining a high status occupation.
Suggesting, ‘speech will move us from the shop floor to the boardroom’. Furthermore, Text
B states that ‘the way we speak can change our life’, similar to Text A, both extracts use
collective pronouns to create a sense of unity between the audience. This declarative
statement, however, underpins a descriptivist attitude – differing from Text A. While also
embodying a hyperbolic statement – indicating the dramatic desire to eradicate regional
accents, by also using the deontic modal verb ‘can’ to confirm this.
In terms of grammar, Text A includes many complex sentence structures within the article,
perhaps this may reflect the advanced and ‘proper’ nature of elocution and the English
Language, considering this article displays a prescriptive attitude. Moreover, through the
analysis of the repeated adverb ‘properly’, this text expresses a sense of urgency and
correctness in language. This is similarly portrayed in Text B as the writer describes the
abstract noun ‘life’ as ‘miraculously!’, this adverb of degree is seen to exaggerate the urgency
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