English Language Exam Revision

Morpheme

The smallest unit of meaning within a word. These units of meaning are spelled consistently even though their pronunciation may change within words

Root word

Contains primary meaning

Prefix

Attach at the start of a root word

Suffix

Attach at the end of a root word

MR PEPC

Metalinguistic (talks about the language itself)

Referential (conveys information to people)

Poetic (brings an aesthetic)

Emotive (interprets feeling)

Phatic (establishes a social connection)

Conative (directions and commands)

The six factors to consider when exploring a function

Context, message, addresser, addressee, form of contact, way of talking

Lexicology

Lexicology relates to the study of the words themselves and these words fall into various categories known as word classes (or more traditionally, parts of speech).

Nouns

They name people, places, animals, things, ideas, feelings and qualities.

Pronouns

Replace nouns

Verbs

Verbs are sometimes referred to as “doing” as they communicate what a subject (i.e. person or thing) is doing.

They also include “being” and “having” words. Being verbs can also tell us how something “is”.

Auxilary Verbs

Often known as the helper verbs, used to construct grammatical tenses.

eg. I am going, you have gone

Modal Verbs

Express possibility, intent, ability and obligation.

eg. I might eat, I could eat, I would eat

Adverbs

Adverbs help to describe, modify or qualify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs and whole phrases and sentences. Often has a -ly

Adjectives

Adjectives are describing words that modify nouns and pronouns.

Infixes

Rarely used suffix. Appear in the middle of words.

eg. Mothers-in-laws

Determiners

A determiner is a word that’s placed in front of a noun and helps to clarify the noun, specify quantity or indicate possession, include articles, quantifiers, demonstratives, possessives.

Demonstratives

Indicates specific nouns in a sentence. Helps provide information about the proximity of a noun in relation to the speaker and listener.

eg. this. that. these. those

Quantifiers

Helps to specific the quantity of a noun within a phrase. Quantifiers tend to help to answer questions such as ‘How many?’ or ‘How much?’

eg. All, a lot, many, most, much, some, several, few, a couple, one, none

Conjunctions

Conjunctions link words, phrases, clauses and sentences together.

Coordinating conjunctions

FANBOYS – for, and, nor, but, or , yet and so

Subordinating Conjuctions

Subordinating conjunctions: can only join clauses and sentences to each other in a way that demonstrates a parent-child relationship. The parent sentence is referred to as the independent clause, and the ‘child’ sentence as the dependent clause. Most famous is because.

Prepositions

A preposition expresses a relationship between a noun and another word, phrase or element in a sentence.

Purpose

Refers to the reason the text exists

Answers the question: What is this text trying to do?

Intent

Refers to the specific motivation or goal of the author or speaker when creating the text.

Answers the question: What does the author or speaker want the audience to think, feel, or do?

Purpose vs Intent

Purpose is about the text’s role, while (authorial) intent focuses on the creator's goals. Purpose tends to be more objective, whereas (authorial) intent can involve subtle persuasive or emotional aims depending on the context.

Writing an analysis of a function

PMQC

Point: respond to the question

Metalanguage: provide a language feature to support your claim

Quote: quote an example of it from the passage (include line number)

Comment: analyse/explain how it supports your point.

Syntax

Syntax refers to the ways in which words are put together in sentences to make meaning. 

Sentences are created by combining phrases (groups of words with a grammatical relationship) into clauses and then joining clauses to create sentences.

Subject

The subject is the person or thing they will act out the verb. Subjects are typically noun phrases

Object

The object is what the subject and verb are acting upon. While a sentence will always have a subject and a verb, they will not always have an object.

Predicates

All sentences have a predicate and they are very easy to spot – the predicate is what is left of the sentence after you have removed the subject. The predicate must also contain a verb.

Interjection

Expresses a sudden feeling or emotion. eg. hey! oh my!

Sentence Structures

Include sentence fragments, simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, compound-complex sentences.

Simple sentences

A sentence consisting of a subject (noun) and a verb. It stands alone as an independent clause and complete sentence.

 e.g. "The cat sleeps."

Compound sentences

Two or more independent clauses joined together by coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS)  like 'and', 'but', 'or'. Each part can stand alone. 

e.g. "The cat sleeps and the dog barks."

Complex Sentences

Contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. They are often joined using a subordinating conjunction, but not always.

e.g. "When the cat sleeps, the dog barks."

Compound-Complex Sentences

Combines elements of both compound and complex sentences. It has two or more independent clauses joined with a coordinating conjunction and at least one dependent clause.

e.g. "While the cat sleeps, the dog barks and the birds chirp."

Sentence Types

There are four main sentence types: declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamative.

Interrogative

Used when framing questions. Designed to elicit responses and always end with a question mark.

Declarative

To provide information, observations or statements. They are the most common sentence type in English.

Imperative

Give a direct order or instruction. This sentence type will often omit the subject of the sentence.

Exclamative

Make exclamations! They indicate high levels of feeling or emotion and emphasise what is being said. Written forms end with an exclamation mark, while spoken term may end with a rising intonation, stress or volume. 

Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in language at a morpheme, word, phrase and sentence level.

Oxymoron

An oxymoron is a type of phrase that combines two apparently contradictory words for special effect.

For example, in the opening scene of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo cries out: ‘O brawling love, o loving hate’.

Irony

Irony occurs when a speaker or writer states one thing but actually intends the audience to understand an opposing or contradictory meaning. For example, in stormy weather, a person who said ‘Nice day for a picnic’ would expect their listeners to understand that the statement was ironic and that it was, in fact, a terrible day for a picnic.

Personification

Personification is a specific type of metaphor that gives non-humans(animals, ideas, objects, places) human qualities or abilities such as emotions, desires, expressions or language.

How are SAQs marked

Marks are tight. We don’t give half-marks, so you either hit the point or you don’t.

Here’s the rough guide:

1 mark → identify a feature (not common in Year 12)

2 marks → feature + effect.

3–4 marks → feature + effect + explanation linked to context.

5 marks → usually a comparison or extended explanation.

What assessors want

Clear and concise answers (1–3 sentences).

Correct metalanguage.

Direct quotes with line numbers.

No waffle — accuracy beats length.

D.I.I.E.

Declaritive.Interrogative.Imperitive.Exclamative.

PALMOFSHIP Semantics

Pun, Animation, Lexical Ambiguity, Metaphor, Oxymoron, Figurative Language, Simile, Hyperbole, Irony, Personfication

Lexical Ambiguity

Lexical ambiguity occurs when a single word or phrase has multiple, distinct meanings, causing confusion or different interpretations of a sentence. This phenomenon often happens when the surrounding context is insufficient to clarify which meaning is intended.

Power

Power is the ability to influence people’s behaviour, choices, or relationships — often through language.

Three main types of Power

1. Institutional Power

2. Social Power

3. Interpersonal Power

Institutional Power

The language is formal, directive and impersonal

Social Power

Shows respect, signals difference and adjusts the tone to suit the person.

Interpersonal Power

Occurs on one-on-one interactions and power can shift through the conversation. The language used manages relationships, builds or reduces distance and negotiates influence. Eg. A teacher correcting a student.

Key Idea to remember

Power is not just about who has authority, but how language is used to manage relationships.

Speakers use language to…

1. Build rapport

2. Promote harmony

3. Reinforce social distance

Building Rapport

When a speaker builds rapport, they use language to gain cooperation voluntarily rather than through authority.  It aims to create a sense of trust, understanding, and mutual respect between individuals, which can lead to smoother interactions and stronger connections. 

Promoting Social Harmony

Promoting social harmony refers to the use of language that avoids conflict, is respectful of others and promotes a shared understanding. Some examples include using inclusive or politically correct language. 

Reinforce social distance

Social distance refers to the level of closeness or familiarity between people. It emphasizes authority by maintaining a social hierarchy or formality, which exists along a scale. 

Sociolinguistics

A field of study that examines the relationship between social factors and language

Sociolinguistic Variables

Refer to factors in society that differ from text to text. CART

CART

Context

Audience

Register

Tenor

Context

Setting (Where is the communication taking place?)

Time (When is it happening?)

Addresser & Adressee (Who is communicating?)

Purpose (Why is the communication happening?)

Text Type & Mode (Is it spoken or written? A casual text, a formal speech, an email?)

Context-Situational

Mode

Setting

Field

I

Text Type

Mode

Written, spoken, signed

Field

A group of words that share related meanings, concepts, or subject matter. These words are organized around a specific topic—such as "weather" (rain, storm, sunny)—to create cohesion in text, enhance vocabulary, and establish context.

Text Type

The type of text used to convey the message eg. speech

Audience

Audience refers to the people who are intended to receive or interact with a particular message. 

Tenor

Tenor refers to the relationship between individuals communicating with each other. They can on: The professional roles of the participants, the status between speakers and the relationship between the participants. Eg. Authoritive, Submissive, Respectful

How to explain tenor

-You can refer to the level of consideration one person gives another: respectful, friendly, appreciative

-The amount of social distance between them. It includes terms like: ‘very close’, ‘little social distance’, ‘some social distance’ or ‘quite close’

-Status relates to a person’s social standing or rank, so terms like ‘high’ to ‘low’ are appropriate.

Register

Refers to the formality of the text

Positive Face Threat

Aim to minimise offense by emphasising friendliness and rapport. A common example is the 'feedback sandwich'—where a criticism is cushioned between two positive remarks to soften its impact.

Negative Face Threat

Focus on avoiding offense by expressing deference and respect. When someone uses negative politeness, they are showing respect for their autonomy, trying not to impose on the other person, or acknowledging that their actions or requests might be seen as an intrusion.

Saving Positive Face Techniques

1. Deflection

2. Politeness Strategies

3. Joking and Humour

4. Agreement Strategies

5. Changing the Subject

Saving Negative Face Techniques

1. Apologies

2. Hedging

3. Politeness Strategies

4. Changing the Subject

5. Distancing

Phonetics

The study of the sounds of human speech.

Phonology

The study of the way a particular language organises sounds to convey meaning. Phonology examines the way words sound in different English accents.

Prosodic Features

Volume

Tempo
Intonation
Pitch
Stress

Volume

Volume is the loudness or softness of a voice.

Intonation

Intonation is the pattern of pitch from falling to rising or vice versa across phrases, clauses and sentences

Tempo

Relates to the pace (speed) with which an intonation unit is delivered. It is often linked to the communication of emotion or intent within a conversational exchange.

Pitch

Pitch is the relative height, ranging between high and low, of auditory sound.

Stress

Stress is the intensity that is placed upon a syllable within a word.

Eg. I think that’s my bag. (but you may disagree)

I think that’s my bag. (but I’m not entirely sure)

I think that’s my bag. (not this one)

I think that’s my bag. (not someone else’s)

I think that’s my bag. (not something else)

What

The WHAT is where you identify the linguistic feature or pattern you will analyse.

word class (modal verb, adjective, pronoun)

syntax (imperatives, declaratives, interrogatives)

discourse strategies

politeness strategies

Jakobson’s functions

Register features

(use a quote)

How

The HOW is the analytical core of the paragraph.
Here you explain how the language feature operates and what effect it creates in the interaction.

This often involves discussing:

how the feature softens or strengthens meaning

how it shapes tenor or power relations

how it affects formality

how it constructs solidarity or distance

how it helps the speaker manage face needs

Why

The WHY explains why the speaker or writer uses the feature in this situation.

This connects the analysis to:

Communicative purpose – addressing face needs/building rapport, etc.

Audience

Tenor - relationship

Context

Jakobson’s function

This step shows that you understand the broader meaning of the linguistic choice.

Sample What-How-Why

The text maintains a formal public register typical of a government press conference, positioning the Prime Minister as an authority addressing the Australian public during a national crisis. This authority is reinforced through the use of imperative clauses such as “Stop hoarding” (l.2) and “Stop it” (l.4), which function as direct behavioural directives to the audience. The speaker also uses negative declarative clauses including “It’s not sensible” and “it’s not helpful” (l.5), as well as the repeated structure “It is not…” (l.7–9), creating syntactic parallelism that emphasises condemnation of this very behaviour. This is balanced with some informal features such as the inclusive first-person plural pronoun “we” in the clause “That is not who we are as a people” (l.7) which constructs a collective national identity while positioning the audience as responsible members of that group. Through the combination of imperatives, negative declaratives, and collective pronoun use, the Prime Minister establishes an authoritative register that reinforces his institutional power while urging Australians to cease panic buying.

Discourse

Discourse refers to both the written and spoken modes of language, and it covers a wide range of different text types. Discourse analysis involves looking at whole texts or excerpts from texts and analysing their register, structure, context, function, purpose and other linguistic features (i.e. CART elements)

Paralinguistics

facial expressions, body gestures, body language, and eye gaze. It can also include vocal effects such as a creaky voice, whispering, tone of voice, laughing, sighs, and intakes of breath.

Discourse Features-Openings

We open with salutations: ‘Hi’, ‘Hey’, ‘Good morning’ and

Vocatives: ‘Sally’, ‘Ladies and gentlemen’, ‘Mum’, ‘Darling’ to greet people, and

often some kind of phatic question or comment: ‘How are you?’ ‘Great to see you!’ ‘Nice day, isn’t it?’.

Discourse Features-Closings

Formulaic utterances — they are typical, oft-repeated phrases that form part of our conversational rituals and help give our conversations a framework or structure.

For example:

‘Well, I'd better get going ...’

‘It’s been lovely talking to you ...’

‘Okay, well thanks for that’

‘See ya!’

Adjacent Pairs

Adjacency pairs are sequentially linked utterances or turns in a conversation where one speech act (e.g. a question) is followed by its expected response (e.g. an answer).

These sequences are normally adjacent to each other – one after the other – in a cooperative conversation.

Most adjacency pair sequences have what is referred to as preferred or dispreferred responses.

Eg. How are you, I am good

Overlapping Features

We sometimes overlap one another inadvertently, when we think the other person has finished speaking, or because we are excited or encouraging the other person to continue; often we overlap someone when we are agreeing with them, or echoing their thoughts. However, we can also overlap deliberately, in an attempt to contradict, interject or take the floor.

Discourse particles

Discourse particles (or ‘discourse markers’) are the little ‘fillers’ we insert in our speech for a particular purpose.

Examples include: ‘well’, ‘yeah-no’, ‘okay’, ‘like’, ‘anyhow’, ‘OMG’, ‘guess what’, ‘I mean’, ‘I guess’, ‘kind of’, ‘sort of’, ‘you know’ and ‘I think’.

Pauses

Pauses may occur when we’re breathing, or when we reach some sort of grammatical boundary in our speech (‘He was so happy(.) and it was wonderful to see.’).

Filled Pauses

Filled pauses or voiced hesitations are words such as ‘um’, ‘ah’ and ‘er’, and these are very common indicators of hesitation or thinking.

A false start

A false start might involve one of these filled pauses(‘I ah, don’t know’) or possibly repetition (‘I I don’t know’) or a repair, where the speaker corrects themselves(‘She (...) I don’t know’ or ‘I (.) I’ll go if you like’). Stumbling on a word, or stuttering, is also a common non-fluency feature(‘I d- don’t want to go tonight’).

morphology

the internal structure of words

morpheme

the smallest unit of meaning in a word including root words, prefixes, suffixes, infixes and affixes