Selecting appropriate register

    AQA
    GCSE

    Register selection requires the conscious manipulation of vocabulary, syntax, and tone to suit a specific audience, purpose, and form. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to modulate between formal, informal, transactional, and rhetorical modes with precision. In reading assessment, this involves deconstructing how an author establishes authority or rapport; in writing, it demands the sustained maintenance of a consistent voice appropriate to the task, whether persuasive, argumentative, or narrative.

    0
    Objectives
    4
    Exam Tips
    4
    Pitfalls
    4
    Key Terms
    4
    Mark Points

    What You Need to Demonstrate

    Key skills and knowledge for this topic

    • Award marks for a sustained and convincing register that perfectly matches the specified audience (e.g., broadsheet reader vs. peer group).
    • Credit the sophisticated selection of vocabulary that enhances the chosen persona (e.g., authoritative for speeches, evocative for narratives).
    • Assess the manipulation of sentence structures to control pacing and tone, ensuring alignment with the form (AO5).
    • Reward the integration of rhetorical devices that support the register without disrupting the flow of the argument or narrative.

    Marking Points

    Key points examiners look for in your answers

    • Award marks for a sustained and convincing register that perfectly matches the specified audience (e.g., broadsheet reader vs. peer group).
    • Credit the sophisticated selection of vocabulary that enhances the chosen persona (e.g., authoritative for speeches, evocative for narratives).
    • Assess the manipulation of sentence structures to control pacing and tone, ensuring alignment with the form (AO5).
    • Reward the integration of rhetorical devices that support the register without disrupting the flow of the argument or narrative.

    Examiner Tips

    Expert advice for maximising your marks

    • 💡Identify the TAP (Type, Audience, Purpose) in the prompt immediately to determine the required level of formality.
    • 💡Adopt a specific persona (e.g., 'concerned expert' or 'passionate student') to maintain consistency of voice throughout.
    • 💡Use modal verbs (could, might, should) to modulate tone from assertive to speculative depending on the register required.
    • 💡Review the opening and closing paragraphs specifically to ensure the register is established early and sustained to the end.

    Common Mistakes

    Pitfalls to avoid in your exam answers

    • Drifting register, where a formal argument lapses into colloquial slang or conversational filler mid-response.
    • Adopting an overly aggressive or abusive tone in argumentative writing, which alienates the intended audience rather than persuading them.
    • Using archaic or overly complex vocabulary ('thesaurus syndrome') resulting in a robotic, unnatural register.
    • Failing to distinguish between the register required for a letter to a headteacher versus an article for a school magazine.

    Key Terminology

    Essential terms to know

    Likely Command Words

    How questions on this topic are typically asked

    Write a speech
    Write an article
    Write a letter
    Write a story
    Explain
    Argue

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