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A-Level · English Language

AE.T7 Language: Language and Power

AQA AQA 7702 (A-Level English Language) - Language Discourses (Paper 1 Section B); framework style-compatible with Paper 2 · Calculators not allowed · about 190 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Show all your working.

Power at Work and in Print: Four Original Texts on Language and Power

Source written for Revision Library (original, copyright-free). All four texts below (Texts A to D) were written specifically for this worksheet and have not been previously published. Whitmore Logistics Ltd, The National Ledger, Hugo Asquith-Meyer, and all named individuals and social media handles are entirely fictional. These texts are not extracted from, paraphrased from, or based on any published or in-copyright work; free for educational reproduction and study, not for commercial redistribution.

TEXT A: Formal letter (written, formal, institutional) - 'Final Written Warning'

WHITMORE LOGISTICS LTD

Unit 4, Meridian Trading Estate, Wrexham LL13 9RF

Private and Confidential

03/06/2026

Mr C. Byrne

[address withheld]

Dear Mr Byrne,

RE: OUTCOME OF DISCIPLINARY HEARING - FINAL WRITTEN WARNING

I am writing to confirm the outcome of the disciplinary hearing held on 27/05/2026, at which you were accompanied by your trade union representative, Ms Fiona Doyle.

1. Findings

Following consideration of the evidence presented, including clocking-in records for the period 01/03/2026 to 30/04/2026, it was found that you had been late for your shift on eleven separate occasions without prior authorisation, in breach of section 4.2 of the Company's Attendance Policy.

2. Decision

It has been decided that a final written warning will be issued. This warning will remain active on your personnel file for a period of twelve months from the date of this letter.

3. Requirements going forward

You are required to:

- attend all rostered shifts punctually;

- notify your line manager no later than one hour before the start of any shift you are unable to attend; and

- engage fully with the Company's flexible working request procedure should your personal circumstances require a change to your rostered hours.

4. Consequences of further breach

Should any further breach of the Attendance Policy occur within the period this warning remains active, you may be subject to further disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.

5. Right of appeal

You have the right to appeal against this decision. Any appeal must be submitted in writing to the Head of Human Resources within five working days of receipt of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

Priya Deol

HR Business Partner

Whitmore Logistics Ltd

TEXT B: Transcript of the disciplinary hearing (spoken, formal but interactive, institutional)

Transcript of a disciplinary hearing held under the Company's Attendance Policy, recorded with the consent of all parties, 27 May 2026. Priya Deol, HR Business Partner (P); Callum Byrne, Warehouse Operative (C); Fiona Doyle, trade union representative (F).

Key: (.) = micro-pause (under one second) (2) = timed pause in seconds [square brackets] = overlapping speech CAPITALS = increased volume

P: right (.) so as I said at the start this is a formal disciplinary hearing under the Company's attendance policy (.) Callum can you talk me through the lateness on the fourth of March

C: yeah (.) so that day my daughter's um (.) her nursery rang me at like six in the morning saying she'd been sick

P: mm (.) [and did you]

C: [i tried] to ring my supervisor but nobody picked up

P: ok (.) but you understand the policy requires notification at least one hour before the shift starts

C: i know (.) i did try though

P: sure (.) but trying isn't quite the same as notifying is it

F: can i just come in there (.) Callum did leave a voicemail that morning

P: he did (.) yes (.) that's noted (.) but voicemail isn't listed as an approved method under section four point two

C: (2) nobody's ever told me that before

P: it's in the handbook Callum

C: [i mean] i've not really

P: [let's] move on (.) there were ten further occasions between March and April

C: some of them were only like five minutes

P: the policy doesn't distinguish between five minutes and fifty (.) lateness is lateness

C: (.) right

P: so moving to outcome (.) given the pattern here we'll be issuing a final written warning

C: (2) can i say something

P: go on

C: it just feels like (.) i don't know (.) like none of this matters (.) like childcare and that

P: i do hear that Callum (.) and there is a flexible working procedure you can apply through

C: nobody mentioned that either

P: it's available on request (.) i'll make sure you're sent the form

TEXT C: Newspaper opinion column (written, persuasive, ideological)

THE NATIONAL LEDGER, Comment and Opinion, 14 May 2026

WHY WON'T GENERATION RENT JUST SAVE?

by Hugo Asquith-Meyer

There is a story we are told so often that most of us have simply stopped questioning it: that an entire generation has been priced out of a fair start in life through no fault of its own. It is a comforting story. It is also, if we are honest with ourselves, only half the picture.

Nobody denies that renting has become more expensive. But is it really the case that today's twenty-somethings are powerless victims of a broken system, with no choices of their own left to make? Common sense suggests otherwise.

Consider the ordinary weekly habits of a young professional in any city centre: the takeaway coffee bought without a second thought, the subscription services quietly renewing themselves in the background, the two foreign holidays that have somehow become non-negotiable rather than optional. None of these things is wrong in itself. But add them up over a year, and the sacrifices that once built a deposit start to look rather more available than the doom-mongers would have us believe.

My own parents' generation understood something we seem to have forgotten: that a first home is earned through years of quiet, unglamorous belt-tightening, not handed over as an entitlement. They did not expect a flat with a balcony and a home office in their mid-twenties. They rented a single room above a shop, and they saved.

Of course, the system is not perfect, and nobody sensible would claim otherwise. But before we rush to blame builders, banks and Whitehall for every closed door, it might be worth asking a harder question closer to home: are we, collectively, actually willing to make the same choices our parents made? Or would we simply rather someone else made the problem go away for us?

TEXT D: Social media reply thread (written, digital mode, informal register)

Replies to a post linking Text C, 15 May 2026.

@keeley_fairweather replying to @NationalLedger

this take is WILD when the average deposit takes 9+ years to save on a graduate salary but sure it's the oat milk lattes

@DeshawnOkafor_ replying to @NationalLedger

my parents bought their first house for eleven thousand pounds in 1986. rent alone eats half my payslip before i've bought a single coffee. maths doesnt maths hugo

@ManonPryce replying to @NationalLedger

genuinely tired of columnists with a housing portfolio explaining thrift to people who cant get a mortgage no matter how many subscriptions they cancel #generationrent

Read Texts A, B and C before answering this question.

(a)State the mode (speech or writing) of each of Texts A, B and C.(3)

(b)State the primary purpose of each of Texts A, B and C (for example, to inform, to instruct, to persuade, to negotiate).(3)

(c)Give one piece of contextual information about Text C that helps to explain its linguistic choices.(2)

(Total for Question 1 is 8 marks)

Quickfire terminology for Language and Power. For each item, choose the option that best completes the definition.

(a)'Instrumental power' (Fairclough's term) is best defined as:(1)

A) The power of a text to entertain its readers regardless of its content
B) Power held by those with institutionally sanctioned authority, exercised directly over others through rules, sanctions or legal frameworks
C) The power of an individual speaker to change their own personality through language
D) A synonym for 'physical force' used instead of language

(b)'Influential power' (Fairclough's term) is best defined as:(1)

A) Power exercised only by elected politicians
B) The capacity to shape people's opinions, values or beliefs gradually over time, typically without direct enforcement, for example through media
C) The legal authority to issue fines or sanctions
D) A term describing only spoken, not written, persuasion

(c)'Presupposition' in language analysis refers to:(1)

A) An assumption built into an utterance and treated as already known or true, rather than stated and argued for directly
B) A grammatical error
C) A direct command
D) A type of punctuation mark

(d)In Fairclough's framework, 'discourse' refers most precisely to:(1)

A) Any single conversation between two people, regardless of context
B) Language use that is bound up with, and helps to constitute, particular social practices, identities and ideologies
C) A synonym for 'accent'
D) Only formal, written academic language

(e)'Naturalisation' of ideology refers to:(1)

A) The process by which a particular viewpoint comes to be accepted and presented as common sense or self-evident, rather than as one perspective among others
B) The process of translating a text into another language
C) A feature only found in scientific writing
D) The use of nature imagery in poetry

(Total for Question 2 is 5 marks)

Re-read Text A.

(a)Analyse how lexical choices in Text A construct institutional authority.(4)

(b)Analyse how grammatical structures (for example modality, passive voice and sentence structure) in Text A construct obligation and power.(6)

(Total for Question 3 is 10 marks)

Re-read Text B.

(a)Identify one example of interruption or overlap and one example of hedged or mitigated language used by Callum in Text B, giving a supporting quotation for each.(2)

(b)Analyse how turn-taking, interruption and face-work construct an unequal power relationship between Priya and Callum in Text B.(7)

(Total for Question 4 is 9 marks)

Compare how instrumental power is constructed differently in the written mode of Text A and the spoken mode of Text B.

(Total for Question 5 is 8 marks)

Re-read Text C.

(a)Identify two linguistic features used in Text C to present the columnist's viewpoint as common sense, giving one example of each.(4)

(b)Analyse how the features you have identified, and any others you notice, work to naturalise the columnist's argument as objective common sense rather than one possible viewpoint.(6)

(Total for Question 6 is 10 marks)

This question asks you to apply Fairclough's framework directly to Texts A, B and C.

(a)Define, in your own words, Fairclough's concepts of 'instrumental power' and 'influential power', each supported by a brief example of your own that is not taken directly from Texts A to D.(4)

(b)Categorise each of Texts A, B and C as an example of instrumental power, influential power, or a combination of both, briefly justifying each judgement with reference to the text.(6)

(c)Evaluate how far Fairclough's further distinction between 'power in discourse' (power enacted within a specific interaction) and 'power behind discourse' (power embedded in the conventions and ideology shaping a whole discourse type) helps to explain the different ways power operates in Text B compared with Text C.(6)

(Total for Question 7 is 16 marks)

Read Text D, a thread of replies responding to Text C.

(a)Identify two digital or graphological features of Text D and explain one effect of each.(4)

(b)Analyse how the replies in Text D challenge or resist the power constructed in Text C.(6)

(Total for Question 8 is 10 marks)

Compare how power is exercised in Text C and challenged in Text D.

(Total for Question 9 is 10 marks)

This is the main extended response question for this topic.

Compare how Texts A, B, C and D construct, exercise or resist power. In your answer you should consider: relevant methods of language analysis (for example lexis, grammar, graphology, discourse and pragmatics as appropriate to mode); Fairclough's concepts of instrumental power, influential power, power in discourse and power behind discourse; the different contextual factors (audience, purpose, genre, mode, occasion of production) relevant to the interpretation of each text.

(Total for Question 10 is 25 marks)

This is a further stretch and challenge question.

'Influential power is ultimately more significant than instrumental power, because it operates without its targets ever being fully aware of it.' Evaluate this view with reference to Texts A to D.

(Total for Question 11 is 16 marks)

This is the final, most demanding question for this topic.

'No language use is ever neutral: every text, spoken or written, either enacts or resists some form of power.' To what extent do you agree with this view? Refer to Texts A, B, C and D, and to your wider knowledge of language and power, in your answer.

(Total for Question 12 is 20 marks)

Mark scheme · AE.T7 Language: Language and Power

Question 1

(a) B1 Text A: writing (oe)
(a) B1 Text B: speech, or a spoken/transcribed spoken text (oe)
(a) B1 Text C: writing (oe)
(a) Answer: Text A is written; Text B is spoken (transcribed speech); Text C is written.
(b) B1 Text A: primarily to inform Mr Byrne of a decision and instruct/oblige future compliance (oe)
(b) B1 Text B: primarily to establish facts and negotiate/manage a formal, unequal workplace encounter (oe)
(b) B1 Text C: primarily to persuade readers to adopt a particular viewpoint on a social issue (oe)
(b) Answer: Text A: to inform and instruct/oblige compliance. Text B: to establish facts and negotiate an unequal workplace encounter. Text C: to persuade readers to accept a particular viewpoint.
(c) B1 Identifies a valid contextual factor, e.g. it is published as a named columnist's opinion piece in a national newspaper's comment section, addressing a broad general readership on a debated social issue (oe)
(c) B1 Links the factor to a linguistic feature, e.g. this explains its use of inclusive pronouns ('we'), rhetorical questions and generalised claims designed to persuade a wide audience rather than present a narrow, specialist argument (oe)
(c) Answer: Text C is a named columnist's opinion piece in a national newspaper's comment section, addressing a broad general readership on a socially and politically debated issue; this explains its use of inclusive 'we', rhetorical questions and broad, generalised claims aimed at persuading a wide audience rather than a specialist one.

Question 2

(a) B1 B
(a) Answer: B
(b) B1 B
(b) Answer: B
(c) B1 A
(c) Answer: A
(d) B1 B
(d) Answer: B
(e) B1 A
(e) Answer: A

Question 3

(a) L1 (1): Identifies a single lexical feature with little or no comment.
(a) L2 (2-3): Identifies relevant lexical features with some accurate use of terminology and a partial explanation of authority/formality.
(a) L3 (4): Identifies well-chosen lexical features and analyses precisely, with accurate terminology, how they construct institutional authority.
(a) Answer: Text A's institutional authority is constructed through nominalisation, formal/quasi-legal lexis, role-based address terms ('Mr Byrne', 'HR Business Partner') and precise, evidenced detail ('eleven separate occasions', 'section 4.2').
(b) L1 (1-2): Identifies a grammatical feature with little accurate terminology or explanation.
(b) L2 (3-4): Identifies relevant grammatical features with reasonably accurate terminology and some explanation of effect.
(b) L3 (5-6): Analyses grammatical features precisely and in detail, using accurate terminology to explain their contribution to obligation and institutional power.
(b) Answer: Text A's authority derives from deontic modal verbs of obligation, agentless passive voice that presents decisions as impersonal and procedural, directive infinitive-led bullet points, and a conditional if-then sentence structure that makes the sanction for non-compliance explicit.

Question 4

(a) B1 Correctly identifies an overlap/interruption with accurate quotation, e.g. Priya's '[and did you]' overlapping with Callum's '[i tried]', or Priya's '[let's] move on' cutting across Callum's '[i mean] i've not really' (oe)
(a) B1 Correctly identifies a hedge or mitigated utterance by Callum with accurate quotation, e.g. 'i don't know', 'it just feels like', or 'i did try though' (oe)
(a) Answer: Overlap: Priya's '[and did you]' overlapping with Callum's '[i tried]'. Hedge: Callum's 'it just feels like (.) i don't know'.
(b) L1 (1-2): Limited reference to turn-taking or interruption with little textual support.
(b) L2 (3-5): Identifies relevant turn-taking and face features with some accurate textual support and terminology.
(b) L3 (6-7): Analyses turn-taking, interruption and face-work in precise, well-evidenced detail, showing how together they construct an unequal power relationship.
(b) Answer: Priya's control of the meeting's agenda, her face-threatening rhetorical questions, and her interruption of Callum's justifications construct clear interactional dominance, while Callum's hedges and minimal responses, and Fiona's only temporary, sanctioned interjection, confirm that power remains firmly with Priya throughout the encounter.

Question 5

Level 1 (1-2): A simple, general or largely descriptive response with minimal reference to one or both texts and no meaningful comparison.
Level 2 (3-4): Some relevant comparative comment with reference to both texts, but analysis is thin and points are often treated separately rather than compared directly.
Level 3 (5-6): A clear comparison with relevant analysis of some methods and appropriate textual support from both texts, though development may be uneven.
Level 4 (7-8): A convincing, sustained comparison with clear analysis of methods across both texts and well-chosen textual support, showing secure understanding of how mode shapes the exercise of power.
Indicative content:
- Both texts draw on the same underlying institutional authority (Whitmore Logistics' Attendance Policy), but Text A constructs this authority through pre-planned, impersonal written structures (passive voice, numbered clauses, formal address) that allow no immediate right of reply once issued.
- Text B shows the same authority being actively negotiated turn by turn in real time, with Callum permitted brief, though ultimately unsuccessful, moments of justification and resistance that Text A's fixed written form does not allow for.
- Text A's authority is largely unchallengeable at the point of receipt (a permanent written record, subject only to a later, formal, delayed appeal process), whereas Text B's authority is performed and reasserted repeatedly, through interruption and topic control, suggesting spoken power must be continually enacted rather than simply stated once.
- Both texts are legitimised by the same power behind discourse (the written Attendance Policy, cited explicitly in Text B as 'section four point two' and referenced in Text A as 'section 4.2'), illustrating how power enacted within a specific spoken interaction (power in discourse) rests on power embedded in prior, written institutional convention.
- A sophisticated response might note that Text A affords a formal, if delayed, right of appeal, while Text B affords no comparable immediate right of reply, since Callum's spoken attempts at justification are repeatedly closed down within the interaction itself rather than deferred to a fair process.

Question 6

(a) B1 Correctly names a first feature, e.g. presupposition (oe)
(a) B1 Gives an accurate supporting quotation, e.g. 'the takeaway coffee bought without a second thought' (oe)
(a) B1 Correctly names a second, different feature, e.g. rhetorical question, inclusive pronoun 'we', or dismissive naming of an opposing group ('the doom-mongers') (oe)
(a) B1 Gives an accurate supporting quotation, e.g. 'is it really the case that today's twenty-somethings are powerless victims...?' or 'we seem to have forgotten' (oe)
(a) Answer: Feature 1: presupposition - 'the takeaway coffee bought without a second thought' presupposes the habit already exists and is wasteful. Feature 2: rhetorical question - 'is it really the case that today's twenty-somethings are powerless victims of a broken system...?', which invites only a dismissive answer.
(b) L1 (1-2): Identifies a feature with limited explanation of how it naturalises the argument.
(b) L2 (3-4): Explains how some features naturalise the argument, with reasonably accurate terminology.
(b) L3 (5-6): Analyses in detail and precisely how multiple features work together to naturalise the argument as common sense, using accurate terminology throughout.
(b) Answer: Presupposition, rhetorical questioning, inclusive 'we' and a brief concessive move combine to present a contestable, ideological claim, that individual thrift rather than structural change explains housing access, as if it were simply common sense, constructing influential power through naturalisation rather than open argument.

Question 7

(a) B1 Accurate core definition of instrumental power: power exercised by those with institutionally sanctioned authority, enforced directly over others through rules, sanctions or legal frameworks (oe)
(a) B1 Gives a valid original example not drawn from Texts A-D, e.g. a police officer issuing a fixed penalty notice, or a school enforcing its uniform policy (oe)
(a) B1 Accurate core definition of influential power: the capacity to shape people's opinions, values or beliefs gradually over time, typically without direct enforcement (oe)
(a) B1 Gives a valid original example not drawn from Texts A-D, e.g. how television advertising can gradually shift public attitudes to smoking, or how a popular podcast can shift listeners' views on diet over months (oe)
(a) Answer: Instrumental power: power held by institutions with sanctioned authority to enforce compliance directly, e.g. a police officer issuing a fixed penalty notice. Influential power: the capacity to shape opinions or beliefs gradually over time without direct enforcement, e.g. television advertising gradually shifting public attitudes to smoking.
(b) B1 Text A correctly categorised as (primarily) instrumental power (oe)
(b) B1 Valid justification for Text A, e.g. it is an institutionally sanctioned letter that directly enforces compliance through a formal disciplinary procedure and explicit sanction (oe)
(b) B1 Text B correctly categorised as (primarily) instrumental power, enacted interactionally (oe)
(b) B1 Valid justification for Text B, e.g. the same sanctioned disciplinary authority as Text A is being directly enforced in real time within the meeting itself, rather than merely shaping opinion for the future (oe)
(b) B1 Text C correctly categorised as (primarily) influential power (oe)
(b) B1 Valid justification for Text C, e.g. no direct sanction attaches to any reader; the column instead seeks to shape readers' attitudes and beliefs about housing and personal responsibility gradually, through persuasion rather than enforcement (oe)
(b) Answer: Text A: instrumental power (a sanctioned institutional letter directly enforcing compliance through explicit sanction). Text B: instrumental power enacted interactionally (the same disciplinary authority as Text A, enforced in real time). Text C: influential power (no direct sanction; persuasion of readers' attitudes gradually over time).
(c) L1 (1-2): Limited or generalised reference to the distinction with little textual support.
(c) L2 (3-4): Applies the distinction with some accuracy and relevant textual support to explain differences between Text B and Text C.
(c) L3 (5-6): Evaluates the distinction precisely and critically, using well-selected evidence from both texts and reaching a reasoned judgement about how far it explains their differences.
(c) Answer: The distinction explains Text B well, since its power in discourse (Priya's real-time interruption and control) is clearly legitimised by power behind discourse (the written Attendance Policy); it is harder to apply cleanly to Text C, since without a live interlocutor its power in discourse and power behind discourse arguably collapse into a single, ideologically-driven persuasive strategy, though the column's rhetorical questions can be read as simulating interactional moves on the page.

Question 8

(a) B1 Correctly names a first feature, e.g. the '@' reply/mention convention ('replying to @NationalLedger') (oe)
(a) B1 Gives a valid effect, e.g. it directly addresses and holds the columnist publicly accountable, constructing confrontation rather than the one-way, distanced address a newspaper column usually invites (oe)
(a) B1 Correctly names a second, distinct feature, e.g. non-standard spelling or omitted apostrophes ('doesnt', 'cant'), or the hashtag '#generationrent' (oe)
(a) B1 Gives a valid effect, e.g. non-standard spelling signals rapid, informal, unedited composition typical of the platform and iconically enacts urgency or frustration; or the hashtag situates the individual reply within a wider, searchable public campaign of shared grievance (oe)
(a) Answer: Feature 1: the reply convention 'replying to @NationalLedger' directly addresses the columnist, constructing public confrontation rather than the one-way, distanced address a newspaper column usually invites. Feature 2: the hashtag '#generationrent' situates the individual reply within a wider, searchable public community of shared grievance, building collective rather than individual resistance.
(b) L1 (1-2): Limited or generalised comment on resistance with little textual support.
(b) L2 (3-4): Identifies relevant features of resistance in Text D with some accurate textual support and terminology.
(b) L3 (5-6): Analyses in detail and precisely how the replies challenge the power constructed in Text C, using accurate terminology throughout.
(b) Answer: The replies resist Text C's influential power by countering its generalised presupposition with specific personal evidence, mocking its rhetorical techniques directly, building a collective counter-discourse via a shared hashtag, and closing the social distance the column's one-way format usually preserves through direct, informal address to the columnist.

Question 9

Level 1 (1-2): A simple, general or largely descriptive response with minimal reference to one or both texts and no meaningful comparison.
Level 2 (3-5): Some relevant comparative comment with reference to both texts, but analysis is thin and points are often treated separately.
Level 3 (6-8): A clear comparison with relevant analysis of some methods and appropriate textual support from both texts, showing reasonable understanding of how power operates and is resisted.
Level 4 (9-10): A sophisticated, sustained comparison analysing a range of methods across both texts with precise textual detail, reaching an evaluative judgement about how far power can be resisted.
Indicative content:
- Text C constructs influential power through a one-way, edited, authoritative format (a named columnist in a national newspaper) that affords no immediate right of reply, while Text D's platform format inherently allows and invites direct, public contestation.
- Text C persuades gradually through naturalised common sense, whereas Text D resists immediately and explicitly, naming techniques and offering counter-statistics and counter-anecdote rather than gradual persuasion.
- Text C's inclusive 'we' attempts to build solidarity with the reader against an implied out-group ('doom-mongers'); Text D's replies build a rival solidarity of their own (via hashtag and shared sarcastic tone) against the columnist.
- A sophisticated response might argue that Text D demonstrates influential power, unlike instrumental power, always remains open to contestation, because it depends on audience acceptance rather than institutional sanction, so it can be resisted purely through counter-discourse.
- Alternatively, a candidate might argue that Text D's resistance still operates within the same digital economy of attention as Text C and may only reach an already sympathetic audience rather than genuinely challenging the column's original newspaper readership, limiting how far power has actually been redistributed.

Question 10

Level 1 (1-5): Makes limited, undeveloped comment on one or two texts. Little or no accurate terminology. Little or no reference to context or Fairclough's framework.
Level 2 (6-10): Identifies some relevant language features across at least two texts with some accurate terminology. Some awareness of context and of instrumental/influential power, though links between language, context and power are asserted rather than explained.
Level 3 (11-15): Analyses relevant features across at least three texts with generally accurate terminology and increasingly secure application of Fairclough's concepts. Explains connections between language choices, contextual factors and the exercise of power with reasonable clarity.
Level 4 (16-20): Analyses confidently and coherently across all four texts, applying a good range of accurately labelled methods and Fairclough's full framework (instrumental/influential power; power in discourse/behind discourse). Explains, with detail, how contextual factors shape and are shaped by the exercise or resistance of power, making secure connections across texts.
Level 5 (21-25): Sustains a sophisticated, well-structured comparison across all four texts, deploying precise terminology and Fairclough's framework with confidence and nuance. Constructs an original, evaluative argument about how mode, genre, audience and purpose interact to shape the construction, exercise or resistance of power, making perceptive and wide-ranging connections across texts, with judicious, well-selected evidence throughout.
Indicative content:
- All four texts are connected by the same underlying cluster of institutional authority and its contestation, though refracted through very different genres and modes.
- Text A and Text B both enact the same instrumental power (Whitmore Logistics' disciplinary authority): Text A through a fixed, unchallengeable written record, Text B through negotiated, real-time interaction that nonetheless reaches the same outcome, illustrating how power in discourse (Text B) is legitimised by power behind discourse (the written policy underlying Text A).
- Text C exercises influential power through naturalised ideology (presupposition, rhetorical questions, inclusive 'we'), persuading gradually rather than enforcing directly, and depends on power behind discourse (widely circulated common-sense narratives about aspiration and thrift) rather than any immediate interactional authority.
- Text D demonstrates that influential power, unlike instrumental power, remains open to direct and immediate contestation, since its platform's reply format invites resistance in a way a newspaper column or an HR letter does not.
- Across all four texts, mode strongly shapes how power is enacted: fixed and largely unchallengeable in the written texts A and C, negotiated or contested in real time in the spoken and digital texts B and D, while genre and purpose (disciplinary letter versus opinion column versus reply thread) determine whether power is enforced, persuaded, or resisted.
- A sophisticated response will use Fairclough's full framework to organise the comparison rather than treating each text in isolation, and will reach an evaluative judgement about which text most successfully naturalises, or conversely exposes, the ideology or authority at stake.

Question 11

Level 1 (1-4): Asserts a position with little or no textual support and little distinction between instrumental and influential power.
Level 2 (5-8): Identifies some relevant evidence for and/or against the view, with some accurate use of terminology, though evaluation remains largely one-sided or undeveloped.
Level 3 (9-12): Constructs a reasonably well-supported evaluation, considering evidence for and against the view, using accurate terminology and evidence from at least three texts to reach a supported conclusion.
Level 4 (13-16): Constructs a sophisticated, evaluative argument, using precise terminology and well-selected evidence from across all four texts to weigh the significance of influential against instrumental power, reaching a nuanced, independently reasoned conclusion.
Indicative content:
- Evidence for the view: Text C's readers are never directly confronted or coerced, yet the column's naturalising techniques may shift attitudes without readers consciously registering that they are being persuaded, arguably making influential power harder to resist precisely because it is harder to detect.
- Evidence for the view (continued): instrumental power (Texts A and B), by contrast, is highly visible and its target (Callum) is acutely aware of it throughout, arguably making it easier to name, resist or appeal against, as Text A's own right-of-appeal clause shows.
- Evidence against the view: Text D demonstrates that influential power can, in fact, be readily identified and directly resisted once it is named (the replies explicitly diagnose and mock Text C's rhetorical techniques), suggesting its 'invisibility' is not guaranteed and depends on audience awareness or media literacy.
- Evidence against the view (continued): instrumental power may be more significant in its immediate, material consequences for an individual, since Callum's job and income are directly at stake in a way no single reader's material circumstances are directly threatened by Text C alone.
- A sophisticated evaluation might argue the two forms of power are not really in competition, since instrumental power in institutions like Whitmore Logistics is itself sustained over time by influential power, that is, the wider ideological normalisation of employer authority and 'acceptable' employee conduct, meaning influential power might be judged more foundational even where instrumental power has more immediate, visible consequences for a given individual.
- A top-band response will reach an explicit, independently reasoned judgement, for example that influential power is more foundational but instrumental power is more immediately consequential, rather than simply listing points for and against without a final position.

Question 12

Level 1 (1-5): Asserts a position with little or no textual support and little reference to the specific claim about neutrality and power.
Level 2 (6-10): Identifies some relevant evidence for and/or against the claim, with some accurate use of terminology, but discussion of the four texts remains largely separate rather than integrated into a single argument.
Level 3 (11-15): Constructs a reasonably well-supported argument that engages directly with the totalising nature of the claim, using accurate terminology and evidence from at least three of the four texts to reach a supported conclusion.
Level 4 (16-20): Constructs a sophisticated, evaluative argument, using precise terminology, wider linguistic knowledge (for example named theorists or concepts beyond Fairclough) and well-selected evidence from across all four texts to weigh the claim, reaching a nuanced, independently reasoned conclusion that recognises where the view is persuasive and where it may overreach.
Indicative content:
- Candidates should engage directly with the absolute claim ('no language use is ever neutral') rather than simply describing the four texts in turn.
- Strong responses might argue that even apparently minor linguistic choices carry ideological weight, supporting the view: for example, Text A's choice of the formal address 'Mr Byrne' over the first name 'Callum' enacts formal distance and institutional authority even in a text that might appear merely procedural.
- A counter-argument might note that some features, for example purely orthographic conventions or certain non-fluency features in Text B (filled pauses, false starts), may be better explained by mode or genre convention than by any deliberate exercise or resistance of power, suggesting the claim as stated is too totalising.
- Candidates might draw on wider knowledge beyond Fairclough, for example Foucault's broader concept of power and knowledge, or Bourdieu's idea of linguistic capital, to evaluate whether 'power' is really the most useful single lens for describing all four texts, or whether some variation is better explained by other factors (mode, register, audience design) that only sometimes intersect with power.
- A sophisticated conclusion might argue that while power is a productive and frequently applicable lens, as the pack's four texts all demonstrate to varying degrees, treating it as the explanation for literally all linguistic variation risks overstating Fairclough's framework beyond its most useful scope, so the view is broadly persuasive but should not be accepted unconditionally.
- The strongest answers will use specific, well-chosen evidence from all four texts (the address terms and modality of Text A, the turn-taking of Text B, the presupposition of Text C, and the resistant register of Text D) to support a genuinely independent, judiciously qualified final position.

Language: Language and Power - Worksheets, Questions and Revision