English Language and Literature

AQA

A-Level

Specification: 7707

The AQA A-Level English Language and Literature specification covers 14 topics with 197 learning objectives (7707). Use the topic browser below to explore subtopics, exam tips, common mistakes, and key terminology for each area of the course.

Starting AQA A-Level English Language and Literature this term? The whole specification is below, unit by unit.

This subject will help you develop key knowledge and skills required for exam success.

Topics

197

Objectives

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About AQA A-Level English Language and Literature

The AQA A-Level English Language and Literature course invites you to explore the intricate relationship between how language works and how it creates meaning in literary and non-literary texts. You will study a diverse range of texts, from classic novels and poetry to everyday conversations and digital communication, developing a critical understanding of linguistic methods and literary analysis. The specification is structured to build on your GCSE knowledge, with a clear focus on integrating language and literature study through thematic and analytical approaches.

Central to the course is the concept of 'voice' and how writers and speakers craft perspectives, as well as the study of 'conflict' in various forms. You will engage with a core set of texts, including a poetry anthology, a novel, and a play, alongside a wide range of non-fiction and spoken language data. The course encourages you to become an independent researcher, culminating in a non-exam assessment where you investigate a topic of your choice, blending linguistic and literary analysis.

Assessment Structure

This qualification is assessed through two written exams and one non-exam assessment (coursework). Paper 1: Telling Stories (40% of A-Level) includes a written exam of 2 hours 30 minutes, worth 80 marks, covering literary and linguistic analysis of prose and poetry. Paper 2: Exploring Conflict (40% of A-Level) is a written exam of 2 hours 30 minutes, worth 80 marks, focusing on drama and non-literary texts. The non-exam assessment: Making Connections (20% of A-Level) is a coursework portfolio of 2500-3000 words, worth 40 marks, where you independently investigate a chosen theme, analysing both literary and non-literary texts.

Why Choose AQA?

AQA offers a seamless transition from GCSE, with a clear progression in skills and a familiar assessment style, making it ideal for students who have studied AQA at GCSE.
The specification provides a rich and diverse range of set texts and a strong emphasis on independent research, allowing you to tailor your coursework to your own interests.
AQA's support materials, including past papers, mark schemes, and exemplar responses, are extensive and easily accessible, helping you to prepare effectively for exams.

Frequently Asked Questions

Specification Topics

14 topics

Subject content

In summary, our A-level English Language and Literature specification offers a common core of analytical methods, topics and skills which have proven value, set within a flexible programme which allows schools and colleges to shape learning and teaching in ways appropriate to their particular contexts and constituencies., This specification differs from those focused primarily on literature by extending its coverage beyond literature to explore differences and similarities between literary texts and others; it differs from those primarily focused on language by bringing the nature of literary discourse into sharper view. The specification offers unique opportunities to consider issues of 'literariness' and 'literalness' that tend to remain unquestioned in the other Englishes., Our A-level English Language and Literature specification draws on the academic field of Stylistics in order to create an integrated English Language and Literature course which brings together literary and non-literary discourses. This specification integrates literary and linguistic fields via shared concepts about the way language choices create representations, both in literary and non- literary texts: words create worlds, both in literature and elsewhere. +5 more

8 objectives8 subtopics

Telling stories

What ingredients do stories need to have?, poetry that constructs a strong sense of personal perspective., Students learn about the ways in which writers and speakers present stories, beginning with a general focus on broad questions such as: +8 more

11 objectives11 subtopics

Telling stories - 3.1.1 Methods of language analysis

discourse – for example, the way different text types use particular features or routines, including aspects of visual design and layout., phonetics, phonology and prosodics – for example, the sounds of real speech and the patterns of sound symbolism (rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia) that some writers employ, The following list is a guide to the areas of language analysis students are expected to be familiar with: +4 more

7 objectives7 subtopics

Remembered places

different generic conventions and different purposes for communicating ideas and viewpoints about travel, people and places, In this part of the subject content, students explore speech and other genres. They study a wide range of linguistic and generic features, as well as related issues around questions of representation and viewpoint in texts taken from a range of time periods. The anthology offers opportunities for detailed exploration of the ubiquitous nature of narrative and systematic study of the representation of place. In studying, thinking, and writing about the anthology, students consider:, how people and their relationships are realised through point of view, attitude, specific registers, physical descriptions, speech and thought. +6 more

9 objectives9 subtopics

Imagined worlds

Mary Shelley Frankenstein (1818), Margaret Atwood The Handmaid’s Tale, narrative structure. +9 more

12 objectives12 subtopics

Poetic voices

the presentation of events through the poet’s selection of material, the use of narrative frames and other poetic techniques., Meeting at Night, John Donne Air and Angels +66 more

69 objectives69 subtopics

Exploring conflict

How do people interact?, study drama that explores conflicts at different levels from the domestic to the societal., How do people express identity? +8 more

11 objectives11 subtopics

Exploring conflict - 3.2.1 Methods of language analysis

The following list is a guide to the areas of language analysis students are expected to be familiar with:, In working on this part of the subject content, students will learn about methods of language analysis. They will be required to adopt a close language focus, identifying salient features of language used in the respective texts., pragmatics – for example, the assumptions made about listeners/readers by the speaker’s/ writer’s language choices +4 more

7 objectives7 subtopics

Writing about society

reveal the speech and thought processes of the characters and narrator(s), how changing point of view, genre, context, purpose, audience or mode can re-shape meanings, These texts must not be annotated and must not contain additional notes or materials. +15 more

18 objectives18 subtopics

Critical commentary

Drawing on their studies in 'Writing about Society', students learn how to write a critical commentary to evaluate their writing. They explain their own language choices and analyse their intentions in reshaping the writer’s original material., Students develop the skills to explain the what, the how and the why of the construction of the new text, focusing on the critical decisions made to achieve it and the adaptation of the base text. The aim is to demonstrate conceptual understanding of the choices made and the effects created, as well as demonstrating an understanding of the original text. This might include an exploration of why the original writers made the choices in order to present characters, scenes and events and how these had to be adapted for the student’s own text.

2 objectives2 subtopics

Dramatic encounters

This section of paper 2 is open book. Students may take a copy of their set text(s) into the exam., William Shakespeare Othello, Arthur Miller All My Sons +9 more

12 objectives12 subtopics

Making connections

The nature of the non-literary material to be collected depends entirely on the focus of the task. A wide range of everyday texts and discourses in different genres and modes is possible. The non- literary material needs to qualify on the basis of forming a good source of data for students to use in their investigations., This part of the subject content focuses on language use in different types of text. It is called 'Making Connections' because it requires students to make active connections between a literary text and some non-literary material. The connections must be based either on a chosen theme or on the idea that particular linguistic strategies and features may occur in the different types of material. This area of the course provides an individualised experience for students, enabling them to demonstrate their ability to initiate and sustain independent enquiry., Texts prescribed for study for the examined units may not be chosen, but further texts by the same authors or from a similar source are acceptable.

3 objectives3 subtopics

Making connections - 3.3.1 Methods of language analysis

The application of these areas will depend on the specific topic chosen. For example, an investigation of how speech is represented may well focus in more detail on phonetics, phonology and prosodics, while an investigation of how storytelling works may focus in more detail on pragmatics and discourse., lexis and semantics, In working on this part of the subject content, students will learn about methods of language analysis. They will be required to adopt a close language focus, identifying salient features of language used in the respective texts. +5 more

8 objectives8 subtopics

Investigation

References (no word count for this section), Appendix (extracts/data: no word count for this section), Students need to show that they have read some secondary sources and that they can offer a cogent discussion about the ideas they have encountered. These ideas may be about the material itself, about ideas for analysis, or a combination of the two. Citations and references must be accurately applied. +17 more

20 objectives20 subtopics

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