Paper 1 Question 5: Mark Scheme (AQA GCSE English Language)

AO5 (24 marks) - content and organisation

Communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, selecting and adapting tone, style and register for different forms, purposes and audiences

Organise information and ideas, using structural and grammatical features to support coherence and cohesion of texts

Level

Skills Descriptor: Content  

Skills Descriptor: Organisation

Level 4

19-24 marks

Content is convincing and crafted

Organisation is structured, developed, complex

Upper Level 4 - 22-24 marks:

• Communication is convincing and compelling
• Tone, style and register are assuredly matched to purpose and audience
• Extensive and ambitious vocabulary with sustained crafting of linguistic devices

Upper Level 4 - 22-24 marks:

• Varied and inventive use of structural features
• Writing is compelling, incorporating a range of convincing and complex ideas
• Fluently linked paragraphs with seamlessly integrated discourse markers

Lower Level 4 - 19-21 marks:

• Communication is convincing
• Tone, style and register are convincingly matched to purpose and audience
• Extensive vocabulary with conscious crafting of linguistic devices

Lower Level 4 - 19-21 marks:

• Varied and effective structural features
• Writing is highly engaging with a range of developed complex ideas
• Consistently coherent use of paragraphs with integrated discourse markers

Level 3

13-18 marks

Content is clear and chosen for effect

Organisation is engaging, connected

Upper Level 3 - 16-18 marks:

• Communication is consistently clear
• Tone, style and register are consistently matched to purpose and audience
• Increasingly sophisticated vocabulary and phrasing, chosen for effect with a range of successful linguistic devices

Upper Level 3 - 16-18 marks:

• Effective use of structural features
• Writing is engaging, using a range of clear connected ideas
• Coherent paragraphs with integrated discourse markers

Lower Level 3 - 13-15 marks:

• Communication is generally clear
• Tone, style and register are generally matched to purpose and audience
• Vocabulary clearly chosen for effect and appropriate use of linguistic devices

Lower Level 3 - 13-15 marks:

• Usually effective use of structural features
• Writing is engaging, with a range of connected ideas
• Usually coherent paragraphs with range of discourse markers

Level 2

7-12 marks

Content is successful and controlled

Organisation is linked/relevant and paragraphed

Upper Level 2 - 10-12 marks:

• Communicates with some sustained success
• Some sustained attempt to match tone, style and register to purpose and audience
• Conscious use of vocabulary with some use of linguistic devices

Upper Level 2 - 10-12 marks:

• Some use of structural features
• Increasing variety of linked and relevant ideas
• Some use of paragraphs and some use of discourse markers

Lower Level 2 - 7-9 marks:

• Communicates with some success
• Attempts to match tone, style and register to purpose and audience
• Begins to vary vocabulary with some use of linguistic devices

Lower Level 2 - 7-9 marks:

• Attempts to use structural features
• Some linked and relevant ideas
• Attempt to write in paragraphs with some discourse markers, not always appropriate

Level 1

1-6 marks

Content is simple 

Organisation is simple

Upper Level 1 - 4-6 marks:

• Communicates simply
• Simple awareness of matching tone, style and register to purpose and audience
• Simple vocabulary; simple linguistic devices

Upper Level 1 - 4-6 marks:

• Evidence of simple structural features
• One or two relevant ideas, simply linked
• Random paragraph structure

Lower Level 1 - 1-3 marks:

• Limited communication
• Occasional sense of matching tone, style and register to purpose and audience
• Simple vocabulary

Lower Level 1 - 1-3 marks:

• Limited or no evidence of structural features
• One or two unlinked ideas
• No paragraphs

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

At Level 1 there will be reference to the task and evidence of a relevant idea/s, with little evidence of using linguistic techniques 

At Level 2 there will be consistent reference to the task and appropriate use of relevant linguistic techniques in paragraphs, as well as evidence of the conventions of form

At Level 3 the writing will clearly and consistently respond to task (that is, a clear fluency of ideas) with clear construction of tone and successful use of linguistic techniques in well-developed paragraphs

At Level 4 the response will be convincing and interesting, engaging, , with a carefully constructed tone and successful integration of complex ideas

Consistent and clear

13-18 marks

Skills Descriptors

Content 

• Communication is consistently clear and effective
• Tone, style and register matched to purpose, form and audience
• Increasingly sophisticated vocabulary and phrasing , chosen for effect with a range of appropriate linguistic devices

Organisation

• Writing is engaging with a range of detailed connected ideas
• Coherent paragraphs with integrated discourse markers
• Effective use of structural features

What this means

• This means a clear story or description has been crafted
• The response uses relevant conventions of format:
• Descriptive writing does not employ dialogue, but a story can
• The response establishes an engaging tone and creates an effective mood
• A range of ideas has been explored using more sophisticated vocabulary
• The answer develops a line of argument using clear paragraphs and integrated discourse markers
• Paragraphs are ordered effectively to allow the reader to go on a “journey”

Compelling and convincing

19-24 marks

Skills Descriptors

Content

• Communication is convincing and compelling throughout
• Tone style and register assuredly matched to purpose, form and audience; manipulative, subtle and increasingly abstract
• Extensive and ambitious vocabulary with sustained crafting of linguistic devices

Organisation

• Highly structured and developed writing, incorporating a range of integrated and complex ideas
• Fluently linked paragraphs with seamlessly integrated discourse markers
• Varied and inventive use of structural features

What this means

• This means the response is fluent and engaging, with a development of ideas
• The response uses linguistic techniques in a subtle yet successful way to achieve reader engagement
• The vocabulary is not complex and difficult to understand, but is sophisticated and articulates complex ideas
• The answer covers a range of complex and original ideas in an engaging and developed way
• The writing has been planned in an effective way and with the reader in mind
• The response uses integrated discourse or time markers to create a “flow”

AO5 Level 4 Response (19-24 marks)

The Market

The market roared with rage, for it now was awake from its peaceful slumber. The shops were stuffed and vendors made the street extremely narrow, forcing people to walk in a singe file like soldiers going to battle.

Shops of all different species stood on either side of the street obediently. None of them had doors, for the shopkeepers knew very well that the doors would not last long against the might, impatience and violence of the customers. Herds of people climbed on top of each other at the counter of each shop yelling wildly like screeching birds in a jungle.

Large tattered wagons decorated with a collage of vegetables were parked beside the street, and their owners stood beside them screaming prices like auctioneers; instead of a hammer, they had a carrot, which they would use to wave off the flies pointlessly dancing around the fresh produce.

Sweaty buyers skilfully wove their way through the throng by locating minute gaps between people and squeezing through. Pickpockets hopped like rabbits in a carrot field, munching the purses out of the many pockets of innocent buyers too busy bargaining. Experienced visitors wore tight trousers for the same reason. And a helpless woman fumbled through the scores of bags she carried and tried to tick off a list with a pen clenched between her teeth.

The sun warmed up the stuffy, stinking air which smelled of sweat and rotting fish. No air freshener could have defeated this sour, rancid stink which ruled over the cramped air here.

The afternoon baked the market. An exhaustion and breathlessness silently encroached on the first-time visitors, but the everyday buyers proudly held on against the torture of the market’s heat and kept shopping. The deafening chaos made ears split as though standing under a giant speaker. Vendors yelled prices and frustrated housewives angrily argued with the annoyed shopkeepers.

It seemed as if all the sounds in the world had come to a reunion.

Typical features of a Level 4 response:

• A compelling and engaging response all the way through
• Subtle linguistic techniques used successfully to achieve effects
• Sophisticated vocabulary used to articulate complex ideas and craft conscious moods

AO5 Level 3 Response (13-18 marks)

Around me all I could see were people pushing, shoving and shouting. The heat was intense, unless you were in the shade. Squeezing myself down the narrow path, I was stuck, surrounded by the smell of hot people, fruit and fish! The aroma of fresh fish fizzed in my nose while the spices and fragrance of apples wafted in the air. 

There were several stalls, all decorated beautifully and in a myriad of colours, with flags and banners dancing above us. Blues and greens, reds and purples everywhere. The market was crowded and noisy with animals, carts, fruit, vegetables and anything else you could imagine. 

The loud shouts called out to people to come and buy their products. Under the covers, people gathered and chose from the delicious selections of bright items. 

Aromas filled the air and the vibrant shimmer of gold and silver flashed every now and then like glittering treasures lost at sea. 

Later, though, the market was quieter. In the evening, people slowed down as the sun started to fade, and the crowd thinned. The market sellers began to close their stalls and pack away their goods, ready for the next day when it would all start again.

Typical features of a Level 3 response:

• A clear and consistent response according to task
• Appropriate and consistent use of linguistic techniques to achieve effect
• Increasingly sophisticated vocabulary used to articulate ideas
• Integrated discourse markers to develop the response to resolution

Level

Skills Descriptors 

Level 4

13-16 marks

• Sentence demarcation is consistently secure and consistently accurate
• Wide range of punctuation is used with a high level of accuracy
• Uses a full range of appropriate sentence forms for effect
• Uses Standard English consistently and appropriately with secure control of complex grammatical structures
• High level of accuracy in spelling, including ambitious vocabulary
• Extensive and ambitious use of vocabulary

Level 3

9-12 marks

• Sentence demarcation is mostly secure and mostly accurate
• Range of punctuation is used, mostly with success
• Uses a variety of sentence forms for effect
• Mostly uses Standard English appropriately with mostly controlled grammatical structures
• Generally accurate spelling, including complex and irregular words
• Increasingly sophisticated use of vocabulary

Level 2

5-8 marks

• Sentence demarcation is mostly secure and sometimes accurate
• Some control of a range of punctuation
• Attempts a variety of sentence forms
• Some use of Standard English with some control of agreement
• Some accurate spelling of more complex words
• Varied use of vocabulary

Level 1

1-4 marks

• Occasional use of sentence demarcation
• Some evidence of conscious punctuation
• Simple range of sentence forms
• Occasional use of Standard English with limited control of agreement
• Accurate basic spelling
• Simple use of vocabulary

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

At Level 1 there will be evidence of capital letters and full-stops, and generally accurate spelling of simple words

At Level 2 there will be evidence of varied sentence length or structures, more interesting word choice and generally accurate grammar 

At Level 3 there will be evidence of a tone of voice being constructed, with relevant vocabulary chosen for effect and mostly accurate spelling and grammar 

At Level 4 there will be a consistently accurate use of a variety of sentence structures for impact, as well as a strong grasp of sophisticated vocabulary

Level 3

9-12 marks

Skills Descriptors

• Sentence demarcation is mostly secure and mostly accurate 
• Range of punctuation is used, mostly with success 
• Uses a variety of sentence forms for effect 
• Mostly uses Standard English appropriately with mostly controlled grammatical structures 
• Generally accurate spelling, including complex and irregular words 
• Increasingly sophisticated use of vocabulary

What this means

• Most sentences end with full-stops, question marks or exclamation marks 
• A variety of punctuation has been used, and sometimes a tone of voice has been crafted
• Tenses are mostly consistent 
• Grammatical constructions, like the use of semi-colons, are mostly correct
• Sophisticated words are generally correctly spelled, although a few may have been misspelled

Level 4

13-16 marks

Skills Descriptors

• Sentence demarcation is consistently secure and consistently accurate
• Wide range of punctuation is used with a high level of accuracy 
• Uses a full range of appropriate sentence forms for effect 
• Uses Standard English consistently and appropriately with secure control of complex grammatical structures 
• High level of accuracy in spelling, including ambitious vocabulary
• Extensive and ambitious use of vocabulary

What this means

• This means the writing uses capital letters to start sentences or for proper nouns
• The writing clearly and consistently punctuates a range of sentence types correctly 
• The response shows a skillful construction of tone for effect
• The response spells sophisticated words accurately
• The writing skilfully articulates complex ideas  

Typical features of a Level 4 response:

• Consistently accurate use of a range of punctuation 
• Carefully considered sentence structures to achieve purpose
• A construction of tone to reach audience 
• Accurate use of sophisticated vocabulary to articulate ideas