Students should study a range of examples of language in use and research…

The idea

This guidance tells you how to build a broad evidence base for the diversity and change topic. You should collect and study real examples, not just textbook descriptions. Gather texts that show different sociolects, including those linked to social and occupational groups, gender and ethnicity. Collect dialect material covering regional, national and international varieties of English. Find texts that represent those same groups, so you can analyse how language constructs identities. Include texts from different periods between 1600 and the present day, so you can trace change over time. Use written, spoken and electronic texts on a range of subjects. Draw on items from language data collections and on research findings.

For example: Compare a 17th-century pamphlet, a modern workplace email and a regional radio interview.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Treating the list as a set of definitions to memorise rather than a guide to collecting real examples.

  Put it right: Build a portfolio of actual texts and data extracts, and annotate each with its source, date and context.

• Assuming 'sociolect' and 'dialect' mean the same thing.

  Put it right: Sociolect relates to social groups, occupation, gender and ethnicity; dialect relates to regional, national and international varieties of English. Collect separate examples of each.

• Ignoring the 1600 to present day period boundary and using only contemporary texts.

  Put it right: Deliberately include older texts, such as 17th- or 18th-century writing, alongside modern material so you can discuss change.

• Relying only on written texts and overlooking spoken and electronic modes.

  Put it right: Collect transcripts, recordings or notes from spoken interaction, and electronic texts such as posts, messages or web pages.

• Using research findings as if they were your own primary data.

  Put it right: Cite research findings as secondary evidence and keep your own collected examples separate.

Exam tips

• Create a source log with columns for text type, mode, date, social or regional variety, and the linguistic feature it illustrates; this makes revision and exam planning efficient.
• When you meet a new text, ask which sociolect or dialect it shows, which group it represents, and what period it comes from, then note the evidence.
• Practise writing short analytical paragraphs that link a specific example to a research finding, so you can move between data and theory confidently.