Help! Doing really badly in AQA English Language GCSE

[filchards]

7 weeks to put things right. Son is doing badly and is overwhelmed / discouraged / bewildered. Repeatedly failed by school. We now have a private tutor which I hope can make a difference but need to look at other ways for him to learn and practice skills. Paper 2 is particularly difficult - he's never learned how to do Question 5. He can't do any of it within the time limits. He has ADHD and has trouble focussing. The more stressed he is, the worse his focus. (He gets 25% extra time but it's not enough)

I have some official AQA books but could do with some short exercises to practice the necessary skills, so that he can do daily short bursts alongside the longer exercises. I feel this is the only way he can build up the skills he's missing.

Ask the tutor to set homework questions to practice this area. Speak to the SENCO to see if he has the maximum time aloud and is sitting the exams is a quieter room with less distractions.

Hi OP, I would expect if you are paying a tutor they would be able to set the questions you want?

If not, what are they doing? But there are lots of past papers to practise on the AQA website and also sample questions online (Teachit is a good resource, I find, and a good deal of stuff on there is free)

He should read some opinion articles and watch debates like Question Time or even the ones they do on daytime TV. The topic will have to be something pretty mainstream (environment, fairness, animal rights etc) so if he has decent general knowledge of the world, and opinions of his own, this will help him.

He basically just needs to form a firm opinion and then argue it, giving a range of reasons as to why he has taken that view. Youtube videos about Ethos Logos and Pathos will help with this.

His writing needs to use creative devices such as rhetorical questions, similies and repetition. It also needs to be technically accurate, so at the very least, decent spelling, full stops and capital letters. Even better if he can spell some complex words and use a range of punctuation.

Impressive vocabulary is very important on this question. He shouldn't be 'angry' about XYZ; he needs to be 'incandescent with rage' for example.

IME (English teacher for a helluva long time) the biggest issue with P2Q5 is that students don't write enough. They can form an opinion and provide some reasonable persuasive points but think a side and a bit is plenty. It isn't - and most of the time each sentence they write should be the topic/initial sentence for an entire parag of their letter/article/whatever.

I teach my group:-

1. Take a point of view. It doesn't have to be yours; adopt a persona and take that POV.

1. Write a paragraph full of rhetorical questions. How would you feel if? Do you think it is right that....? And what about this aspect? Etc.

1. Write a parag in which you tell a heart-rending anecdote (totally made-up obv). Use loads of emotive language. Put yourself in Leo's shoes. He would have loved to.. but... etc.

1. Wrote a parag or two where you appeal to logic. This is the bit they would normally do anyway - a side or so of their own ideas.

1. Do a concluding sentence or two on which you make it clear you get which form you are supposed to be writing in - ie thank you for reading, yours sincerely if a letter: thanks for listening if a speech etc

But pp are spot on; you are paying a tutor so ask them!

I examine paper 2.

Make sure he knows his timings for each question and stick to them. So he might have to change questions before he's "finished" it but it's better to do that and attempt them all.

Get him to learn and use some sophisticated vocabulary - but make sure that it's correct in context. There's a growing trend for students to write a list of vocabulary to use at the start and then to bash it in regardless of the fact that it doesn't work. These lists are all practically identical and whilst the words might technically be "sophisticated", they don't gain more marks if the argument doesn't make sense.

Ds1 is severely dyspraxic and suspected adhd. Verbally he can give answers that would score 7, 8 or 9 (both teacher and tutor say so) but is getting 3s. We've tried multiple approaches without success. Now down to him memorising essays to repeat in exam and tweak if possible. He has excellent memory but freezes in exam situations with extended writing so needs to be able to get past the blank page paralysis.

No advice, but a bit of hope from our situation - ds also has ADHD, can’t focus and never finishes exam papers even with extra time. Unfortunately his strengths and interests lie in humanities and social sciences so he needed (last year) a 6 in English Language or Lit to do the A Levels he wanted. He got a 2 in Lit in his end of year 10 (done in Sept of year 11) exams. Didn’t do a Lang mock until Dec, when he just managed a 5.

His teacher was very dubious about his chances of getting a 6 in either but in the end he got 6s in both Englishes! All I know is he used Seneca…

Does your ds have rest breaks in exams in addition to extra time? They’ve really helped my ds too.

The AQA books I found to be confusing and not very helpful, I bought them for DS but he didn't use them at all, the cgp books aren't as good for Eng lang as they are for most other subjects either IMO.

I would recommend Mr Salles on youtube, he's a teacher, his vids are free (lots of Eng lit too). We got his books on persuasive writing and story writing. The persuasive writing one has lots of high grade written answers to hypothetical questions, ds found it really useful for phrases, layout, ideas etc. He used a lot from it as his question was similar to one Mr Salles had answered in the book.

The story one has lots of story ideas. In the end ds wrote a couple of very descriptive stories at home that he could tweak to fit a lot of the generic sort of titles that might come up. He did one about waiting in hospital for a diagnosis and one about seeing a sea mythical beast (for a fantasy type story title or one with a beach/sea/river theme). The diagnosis one could be tweaked to be a happy/sad/ lucky/unlucky/scary/good news/bad news story and he was able to use that one in his exam. I found this list of old titles and we talked through how he could tweak his stories to fit the different titles even if it took a bit of lateral thinking,
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3046511

DS hates English and has ASD but this worked for him.

Is he not entitled to a scribe in this situation??

I’m an examiner for this paper. Plan, plan, plan. Students go wrong because they don’t develop an argument and they run out of things to say. You need 5/6 clear paragraphs, developed around Point, example, explain. Plus a short intro and conclusion.

There are marks for cohesion (use connectives), range of punctuation (commas, dashes, colons) and development ( again plan).

Look closely at the mark scheme and you’ll see what’s needed. High level vocabulary is only really important at grades 8 and 9. For the rest, it’s accuracy and making sense.

If your son is struggling with focussing then do ask if he can have rest breaks as well as the extra time. What is his usual way of working? Does he write or does he find it easier to use a laptop or use a scribe? Whichever method he uses to 'write' is the format that he should use for his exams. Also does he find it easier to read questions printed on coloured paper as opposed to white or to use coloured film overlaid on the question paper or even just enlarged print? These are all simple things but they often make it easier for the student to 'read' and understand what is being asked of him.
Definitely get him to practise past papers but sometimes it is easier to do the required number of questions but without a time limit. So answer a paper and take the full amount of time that he needs to complete that paper be that two, three or whatever hours. Repeat the process over a few weeks with different papers, repeating them if needed - gradually he will gain confidence that he can answer the questions and with that in mind be better able to complete the question in the required time frame along with rest breaks and extra time.
Marks are lost for not completing questions so he needs to attempt to answer all the questions. So if each question is allocated 20 minutes then he needs to write the time he starts the question and after 20 minutes - stop and move onto the question even if not completed. He may well find that he has time to spare if other questions are easier for him and can go back to complete them. Better that he pick up the marks for each question than drop them because he didn't answer one which could cost him 25 marks or whatever.
I hope you can find a strategy that works for him - as a SENCO officer for exams it was finding out what worked best for each individual student that helped them the most.

Hi OP, I feel for you and your son. My son sat GCSE's last year and has ADHD and never liked English. Like your son, he would get overwhelmed and just sit paralysed.
He had extra time, a lap top and a prompter to re focus, he still never finished an exam in English Language. In the end we just had to try and get him to answer the questions worth the most and try and be strategic. He got a 4 in the end and a 5 in English Literature.

He also had a tutor and she gave him sentence openers for each question just so he could start writing.

It was really hard work and whilst he passed, he has no confidence in himself in his writing abilities which is very sad.

I also examine for this paper.

YouTube is your friend. There are a few really good YouTubers out there. Mr Bruff is excellent. MrEverythingEnglish was heavily criticised by the exam board last year for creating a video so clear loads of students followed his exact plan. But, it worked. It's worth a look.

I also think @keiratwiceknightly reply above was great.

Good luck.

Wow - thanks everyone. Will read and reply properly from a computer tomorrow. Lots to go on.

Quick q now though about special arrangements. He gets use of computer and 25% extra time and sits in a small room with a small group of other Sen students. No rest breaks though and no prompt - how do those work? How do you qualify and is it too late to organise?

PS he has an ADHD diagnosis but no ECHP

I think the prompt can just be decided by the school. For my son it just meant someone would indicate when it was time to move on to the next question. He has time blindness and there was no way he would be able
to know that, for example, he should move in to the next question after 20 minutes.

All he's been offered is extra time and a laptop. I think the problem is some kind of processing issue in translating written qu in his head and then translating his thoughts onto paper. But the recommendations from the professionals never unpicked this element, just focused on slow processing and his gross motor skills which affected his handwriting- so laptop and extra time was the result. He's got no minds eye either so finds a lot of the imagery discussions hard to comprehend.

When he puts stuff on paper he can get the marks- he only wrote a few lines for each qu in his mocks and got a 3. But it's like an invisible block holding him back.

That is such a shame 😔

@filchards rest breaks seem to be easier to get, as my dd had them (despite no diagnosis of Adhd or extra time), as did my adhd son. They were both in separate rooms and had to signal when they needed a rest break so their clock could be stopped. I think they had to go outside the room. They both used them as extra processing time really (and for ds, to move around a bit). Dd would read the next essay question then put her hand up, turn the paper over and go outside the room to think a bit. It’s now transpired that she also has adhd, although she’s not diagnosed yet. It’s definitely worth asking your school about rest breaks.

Its pretty standard with ADHD to get a break - have they given him a rest break? I did the GCSE english as a mature student for fun - I also have ADHD and would use my rest break to work out question 5 in my head - I would do a draft of the structure and then write the copy on my head during my break (as I walked around) - I would actually say it out loud so the exam person following me to check I was not cheating used to get a bit stressed out. But it did give me some extra time and helped me gather my thoughts.

Do you know what I recommend? Instead of writing - get him to describe photos to you using his 5 senses. Get him to forget about writing and getting his writing right and get him to focus on developing his imagination and the writing will come. What does he see, hear, smell, taste and touch. If the photo is scenery I create personification where the natural elements become people - for example a scene of a storm the wind and the sea started competing as if in battle - the wind roared - the sea reared up to touch the sky as if angered etc etc. Make this question fun for him - but do it verbally and tease ideas out of him and then he can practise writing the best one's down.

Encourage him to be creative as possible - the photo is to spark imagination it does not matter what that imagination is. Tell him to write about the first thing that enters his head - a photo of an elderly man? Write about his relationship and feelings for an elderly relative. A photo of a field? Write a story about a lovely time he had in a field.

Also, pick a couple of english techniques and get him to use them regularly in these pieces...there lots of techniques but just get him to focus on 5 to start.

I like to use these:

1. personification - using words for objects that would normally be used for humans to make that object seem like a person.
2. creating a semantic field of something - which is making sure he uses 3-4 words that represent the same thing - for example if he wants his piece to sound scary he would use 3-4 words that could imply a semantic field of 'scary' ie the sky 'blackened', he was 'frightened', he could hear a 'shrill scream'.
3. Zooming in - there is a technique in writing where the writer zooms in on something and describes it in detail. In a photo, he can pretend he sees something - for me when writing about a stormy sea I 'pretended' to see a stick bobbing about. I was able to describe in detail the stick and imagine where it came from. It gives you a chance to use his 5 senses to describe something.
4. And another easy and powerful technique to use is called a circular structure - whatever scene he sets in his first paragraph he repeats in his final paragraph with some changes - this allows the reader to compare how things were in the beginning to how they were in the end and example would be in the first para the husband and wife walked happily down the path hand in hand...and then in the last para the husband and wife walked solemnly down the path deep in their own thoughts.
5. Sentence structure - tell him if he wants to create pace in a story use short sentence structure, if he wants a story to be leisurely use long sentences. It helps to imagine the sounds he wants his sentences to be like - think of a machine gun spitting out bullets - short sentences sound like this.
6. I also like to use alliteration where you use two words which start with the same sound. Can be easy to do and the effect is it highlights these two words and draws attention to them to give the story a focus which gives it more interesting. The 'wind whistled' through the trees. The 'clouds cowered' in fear. that sort of thing.

Some great ideas here for Paper I which is fiction, but Paper 2 ( which I think is the one OP is asking about) is non fiction. So a different set of skills - making an argument in a factual way, linking connected ideas and using examples. Story writing is something done in primary school but this Paper tests something different. And is tougher for struggling students I think (as a teacher and marker).

Nearly a month since my first post. I thought things were getting better. Tutor had given him some confidence (school still utterly awful - they've just given up). Now on exam leave. Luckily it's 3 weeks still to go before the English Lang paper 1 (and a week after that for the paper 2).

Awful couple of days though. He sat down to do a Q5 today (I think it was paper 1 this time) as homework for his tutor. Sat there for the required 45 minutes and wrote not a single word.

Said he was having a bad day and just can't focus. WTaF.

We had a row because I said he just has to push through it and write something. Which is probably stupid and unfair of me but he's so convinced that he can't do anything about it because of his ADHD. He's so defeatist.

So, my question is: is there some kind of emergency measure he could take in such a situation to just get something down on paper. I think often he is so overloaded with all the advice about structure and do this / do that / don't do the other that - on a bad day - he's completely paralysed. If such a thing happens on the day, he should - I think - not give a damn about structure and style and just write down some goddam sentences. I think he generally finds the other questions more doable so I'd hope that he could make up the marks on the shorter questions.

I attach

• photo of the question he was doing
• a prompt sheet from his tutor which obviously he won't have in his exam but she advised him to use it for the homework. It looks unnecessarily complicated to me though. That would stress me out.

(be kind in replies please. I'm at the end of my tether, as is he)

No help I'm afraid, just a ton of sympathy from someone in the same boat. DS1 did a practice question for Eng Lit and wrote the sum total of 3 lines. He gets total blank page paralysis. I have also done the begging just to put something down on the page, even some bullet points or a random quote but it's like his mind gets stuck.

He's more than capable of doing it- both tutor and teacher say so but none of us can find the way to unlock that capability.

oh god I feel for you. This was my sons problem with English Language (and is still a problem at college) just now knowing where to start and becoming completely paralysed with the possibilities.
at this point we had sentence starters just to try and get him going.