013102 Introducing Knowledge about Language

Spring 2021

Assessment Task 1

Length:                                                  1500 words                        

Task description

This task is for you to demonstrate your knowledge of language features and how they construct meaning in texts.

You will be presented with two spoken texts and two written texts, with particular language choices numbered and highlighted in bold in each text. 

Choose one of the spoken texts and one of the written texts. 

• Analyse the form of each of numbered and highlighted language choices in both texts.
• Analyse the meaning/use of each numbered and highlighted language choice

Assessment criteria

Guidelines

• This assessment task is exclusively language analysis, not an essay, so there should be no introduction or conclusion.
• Organise your work under headings to identify which text and which language choice in it you are analysing. For example, if you have chosen to analyse Spoken text 2 (rather than Spoken text 1) and Written text 1 (rather than Written text 2), you would set out your work like this:

Spoken text 2

Written text 1

Be generous with spacing and use tables where appropriate to help the marker see and follow the different sections of your analysis.  

• The language choices are a mixture of sentences (here, also including questions), single nouns and noun phrases.

• For a sentence, follow these steps:

1. Classify it as either a simple sentence (one independent clause), a complex sentence, a compound sentence or a compound-complex sentence.
2. Note that there may be ellipsis (words dropped). Reinsert the ellipsed words.
3. For a complex sentence, identify the independent clause and the dependent clause.
4. For a compound sentence, identify the independent clauses.
5. For a compound-complex sentence, identify the independent and dependent clauses.
6. Identify the verb form (tense) in each clause.
7. Analyse the verb form of each clause for teaching purposes, by showing the constants and variables. Think about what the students need to generate accurate sentences using this form in other contexts and with different subjects.
8. Identify the concept represented by the choice of verb form (tense). For a complex or a compound sentence, state the relationship between the clauses in terms of meaning.

• For a single noun, follow these steps:

1. Identify the noun type (eg. proper, concrete common noun, abstract common noun, count noun, non-count noun).
2. Identify and analyse the use/non-use of an article.
3. Discuss the meaning.

• For a noun phrase, follow these steps:

1. Identify it as a noun phrase.
2. Identify the head noun.
3. Analyse pre-modification and post-modification of the head noun..
4. Discuss the meaning.

The texts for analysis

The spoken texts

• Spoken text 1

                        Context: Two friends, Fran and Anna, run into each other on the street one afternoon. 

Spoken text 2

                        Context: Interaction between a teacher and students in a classroom

The written texts

• Written text 1
• Since March 2020, many people have been working from home. In ² a recent survey about COVID-related life changes, around 40% of the respondents reported that they are happy working this way. ³ Although they sometimes miss the social aspects of office life, they like the flexibility of ‘the new normal’. They also commented that they feel they are actually more productive at ⁴ home. ⁵ Many had not expected this.

⁶ Although most of the respondents have had previous experience of videoconferencing, the frequency of Zoom meetings has forced them to learn new communication skills. ⁷ Many are experiencing ‘Zoom fatigue’. In the words of one respondent, “ ⁸ It’s only going to get worse. ⁹ We should brace ourselves. Some respondents reported that they had attended ¹⁰ an employer-sponsored workshop on managing Zoom fatigue.  

• Written text 2
• The teaching of grammar is viewed in different ways. ² For many years, grammar was seen as the main focus of the language syllabus. ³ Although in many language teaching classrooms it remains dominant, there has been a major shift in thinking. ⁴ Language teachers are now expected to have a good working knowledge of more than just grammar. It is now more common to see ⁵ course books that feature an equal focus on vocabulary and pronunciation and the development of language skills.  

Approaches to the teaching of grammar have also changed. ⁶ In the past grammar was commonly taught exclusively through translation. Now it is more common to establish meaning through context.  This presents teachers with many challenges. ⁷ They must provide a clear context and present learners with sufficient examples of the grammar point. ⁸ Long texts that only have a couple of examples of the target form can be timewasting. It is often better for the teacher to use ⁹ a short text that they have written themselves. ¹⁰ The text should feature natural language.