Calling English teachers - how to revise for English Language GCSE?

[brusselsproutsforever]

DS currently revising for GCSE mocks.

Hard-working and an all-rounder, but informed there is no point revising for English Language - he says it's just random!

I'm sure this isn't quite right. Can anyone shed some light on the best way to revise for English Language GCSE (I think he has English Lit sorted).

Thank you in advance!

If you know which exam board he is sitting I would get the relevant revision guide - mine liked the CGP books.
He needs to be familiar with the type of questions, and how to structure his answers.
There are a couple of websites/YouTube videos always recommended on here, but they only work if the exam board is the same.

Not an English teacher.

At a minimum he should be able to tell you what each question is looking for, and the outline structure of the answer and the marks
He should be able to identify and name language techniques such as simile or personification.
For creative writing he should be able to tell you punctuation to be included and devices.
For writing for purpose he should be able to tell you devices to be used such as statistics, rule of 3, emotive language.

He should be reading model questions and answers, and previous answers, and looking at how they are marked, and checking he is very clear what marks were for, and where marks were lost.

It's absolutely not random!
Learn the mark scheme for each question, making sure you know what exactly marks are awarded for.

Learn the names of the techniques writers use, and make sure you know what to look for.
Revise writing: how to use language and structure for impact.

Memorise mark scheme for each question- memorise sentence starters- literary techniques and practice questions

You can look up the mark scheme and examiner’s report.

He needs to know how long to spend on each question Section A. Be prepared to write a substantial amount (2-3 sides) for the highest mark questions (… and leave enough time for these).

Section B is very important. You need to write in paragraphs, write accurately, know how to punctuate dialogue, write descriptively, use clever structural techniques (think about beginnings and endings), how to create tension etc.)

Not an English teacher but DS got a 9 last year. I would really recommend he writes a couple of really descriptive stories that could fit almost any wide open title with a few tweaks and has all the structural/punctuation stuff in it. DS did one about sitting in a waiting room waiting to get a diagnosis (which he used) and a fantasy one about a Kelpie. These could then fit into a real or fantasy story, happy/good news story or a sad/bad luck story depending on ending, they could fit into a surprise or an unforgettable experience, etc etc.

There is a really useful list of the sort of possible titles here to think about how the stories he chooses could cover as many bases as possible : www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3046511
this is what I used with ds to think outside the box on how you can make your stories with a bit of tweaking fit all sorts of titles.

The other thing I really recommend is getting Mr Salles (English teacher) book on - is it persuasive writing the other main bit they do? He has lots of top grade written examples which can help give you ideas of what to put in and what might come up, how to write it etc. The one that came up last year was similar to what ds got in his mock and there was a similar one in the book that he was able to base it on.

Mr Salles has a youtube channel that's really good for Eng Lit as well as Lang if he's interested.

Wow, thank you everyone! All your replies are really helpful. Now I can explain why it's not random!😂

I worked with my DS on English Language using the Mr Bruff YouTube clips. They were very helpful.

Teacher of English: do exam practice papers and questions. Ask teacher to mark - most will happily do that. The exams are less about knowing stuff but more about knowing how. Each board have a preferred approach to answering specific styles/types of questions. So practicing that is important.