2024 RI Prelim ELL Paper 2

©Raffles Institution 2024 1 Raffles Institution 2024 Year 6 Preliminary Examinations General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Higher 2 English Language and Linguistics Paper 2 9508/2 28 August 2024 3 hours Additional Materials: Answer Booklet IPA Chart (attached) READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST  Write your full name, CT class, subject code (9508/2), and the subject tutor’s name on the answer booklet.  Use the back pages of the booklet for your planning.  Write in dark blue or black ink on both sides of the writing paper.  Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue, or correction fluid/tape. Answer THREE questions: you must answer at least one question from Section A and at least one question from Section B. All questions carry equal marks. You are reminded of the need for good English and clear presentation in your answers. This question paper consists of 10 printed pages, including this page.

©Raffles Institution 2024 2 Section A: Language Variation and Change Answer at least one question from this section. Answers should demonstrate awareness of wider geographical/historical/social perspectives (as appropriate) in relation to English Language. Examples may be drawn from written or spoken English, or from both. Do not repeat material in your answers to different questions on this Paper. 1 Read Texts A(i) and A(ii), and then answer the question below. Discuss in detail some of the concerns with the state of English today. You should include a range of exampl es/ideas from Texts A(i) and A(ii) and your wider studies of English language, with detailed reference to lexis, grammar, syntax and discourse as appropriate. [25] Text A(i) is an extract of an article published by The Guardian online on the impact of English on other languages. Of course, English in particular, supercharged by business, pop culture and the internet after centuries of colonial expansion, is the real empire of our time – far more fluid and influential than any political entity. Many English speakers go their entire lives without encountering anything significant they can’t do or get in their language. Whatever the power dynamics of any given conversation, English is pure linguistic privilege, the reserve currency of communication. The push to learn it is an event of planetary significance, swelling a linguistic community of going on half a billion native English speakers worldwide, plus another 1 or 2 billion who know it as a second language. These numbers are growing every day. Many people think the world, or at least their corner of it, is growing ever more diverse, but monolingu