Paper 4: how to write a discursive essay, not a language analysis

Paper 4 has two sections, both compulsory. Section A, English in the World, is Question 1. Section B, Language and the Self, is Question 2. Each is worth 25 marks, so the paper totals 50, and you have 2 hours and 15 minutes. Each question gives you a stimulus text of around 400 to 500 words. Your task is to identify the key issues it raises and write a discursive essay that engages with them, drawing on your wider knowledge.

The rule that matters most

This is not a language analysis paper. Do not comment on the writer’s word choices, sentence structures, tone or style. The examiner report states that such analysis is not rewardable, and that in the June 2021 series it weakened the discursive quality of some responses. It does not just waste time. It makes your essay weaker.

Where the marks come from

AO1, understanding, is worth 10 marks. AO2, writing, is worth 5. AO4, conceptualisation, is worth 10. Your grade is decided mainly by AO1 and AO4 together: your understanding of the issues and your ability to connect them to linguistic theory.

AO1: issues, not summary

Understanding here means identifying the issues the text raises and what they mean in a wider linguistic context. Weaker responses paraphrase the text in order, point by point. Stronger responses use the same examples as a starting point and ask bigger questions: why does English change in these places, and what does that tell us about English as a global language?

Keep quotations short, five words or fewer, and work them into your own sentences. Skip the sweeping opening about the global spread of English; the examiner report notes such openings are rarely linked to the issues in the text.

AO2: accurate and developed

AO2 rewards both accurate expression and the development of your ideas. Accurate but underdeveloped essays limit themselves. Keep a formal register from first sentence to last, since lapses into informality lower AO2 marks. Avoid rhetorical questions you do not go on to answer. A strong conclusion confirms your linguistic standpoint instead of repeating your points.

AO4: named, attributed, applied

Every theory you use should be named, attributed to its author and applied to a specific point. Phrases such as “some linguists believe” earn no AO4 credit.

For Section A, English in the World, useful frameworks include Kachru’s Three Circles model (inner, outer and expanding circles), Crystal’s work on English as a global language and the effect of digital communication on change, and concepts such as hybridisation, borrowing, coinage and language death.

For Section B, Language and the Self, the foundation is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Know the difference between its strong form, linguistic determinism (language determines thought), and its weak form, linguistic relativity (language influences thought). Giles’ Communication Accommodation Theory explains how speakers converge towards or diverge from each other. Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual metaphor theory argues that metaphors structure how we understand the world, not just decorate it.

The three-move method

1. Identify the issue the text raises.
2. Embed a short quotation that captures it.
3. Launch your own discussion: bring in a named theorist, a wider example and the implications.

Compare these two sentences built on the same quotation:

Wrong: The writer uses the phrase “forever in flux”, which suggests that English is constantly changing.

Right: The text raises the issue of constant linguistic flux, and Crystal argues this acceleration is driven by digital communication.

The first analyses the writer’s language and earns nothing. The second uses the text as a springboard for a discursive point.

Structure and timing

Your introduction briefly sets the context and signals the issues you will discuss. Write three or four body paragraphs, each following the same pattern: one issue, a short quotation, a named and applied theory, then development with a wider example. Your conclusion pulls the argument together into a clear standpoint.

Give each question about 60 minutes, including 5 minutes of planning. A plan is a map, not a draft: three or four issues as brief phrases, one theorist beside each and one wider example. Examiners have seen elaborate plans that left too little time for the essay itself.

A quick checklist

1. I will identify issues, not paraphrase the text in order.
2. I will name and attribute every theorist.
3. I will apply each theory to a specific point.
4. I will use short embedded quotations of five words or fewer.
5. I will not analyse the writer’s language, style or technique.
6. I will keep a formal register throughout.
7. I will give each question no more than 60 minutes.