Continuing our series of posts by the senior examining team for the GCE English 2008 specification, please find a message below from Danuta Reah, Chief Examiner for English Language.

Dear Head of English

I am very pleased and excited to be involved in this new specification for GCE English Language.

In developing the new specification we recognise that this is a very exciting time to study English. New modes of communication are constantly developing, individuals have access to an unprecedented range of styles and registers, and social and technological changes mean that the English language is itself in a state of flux: it is no longer one language belonging to one country or one group, but a world language, the first or second tongue of people in a diverse range of cultures, and a lingua franca that encompasses a large part of the globe. English is probably the most widely used language of the world: there are over 300 million people for whom it is a first language, and there are about 300 million more who speak it regularly as a second language.

All students will begin this course as experienced users of English, with their own unique linguistic profiles that come from their experiences, their cultural and personal backgrounds, their lives and their physical make-up, all of which will affect the way they speak and the way they use language.

Taking as a starting point this expertise of the students themselves , this new specification provides them with a ‘tool kit’ for the study of any language: the sounds of language (phonology), the structure of language (lexis, syntax and discourse), through the meaning and social uses of language (semantics and pragmatics). It also guides the students on an exploration of the current state of English, puts it in its social, cultural and historic contexts, explores the language development of an individual, and of a society.

The systematic study of language is a relatively new field and is constantly developing: language pathology, forensic linguistics, psycholinguistics are all areas in which different disciplines are applying new knowledge about language. This specification allows the students to explore areas of individual interest via independent research. It is a course that will engage the interests of the widest range of students, offer a chance for students to develop and use their skills across an academic and a practical range. It will stretch and challenge the most able, and will reward achievement across all levels.

Danuta Reah