Welcome to Your Language Investigation (NEA)!
The Non-exam assessment (NEA) is your chance to become a real linguistic detective! This component—often called the 'Language Investigation'—is a fantastic part of the course because you get to choose exactly what aspect of language you study, find your own data, and conduct original analysis.
Don't worry if the idea of a 2,500-word report seems daunting. This guide will break down the process into simple, manageable steps, ensuring you hit all the necessary requirements outlined in the syllabus.
What is the Language Investigation (NEA)?
The NEA is essentially your own small piece of academic research. You are tasked with carrying out a focused investigation into an aspect of English language use. It requires you to apply all the analytical skills you have learned over the course.
Key Requirements of the NEA:
- Student-Led Enquiry: You must devise your own original research question.
- Data Collection: You must collect your own data (e.g., transcripts, advertisements, survey responses).
- Report Format: The findings must be written up as a formal academic report following a specific structure.
- Word Count: Approximately 2,500 words (this limit excludes your raw data, references, and appendices).
Analogy: Think of this as creating a scientific experiment, but for language. Instead of testing chemicals, you're testing how people use grammar, lexis, or discourse in a specific, real-world situation.
The Synoptic Skills Tested (Why the NEA Matters)
The NEA is synoptic, meaning it tests skills and knowledge drawn from the entire A-Level specification. Your report must demonstrate mastery of several key academic abilities:
Core Skills Assessed:
- Analytical Skills: Applying the linguistic levels (Lexis, Grammar, Discourse, etc.) accurately and consistently to your data.
- Knowledge of Linguistic Methods, Concepts, and Issues: Demonstrating understanding of key theories related to your topic (e.g., theories on language and power, language acquisition, or social variation).
- Data-Handling Skills: Selecting, managing, and presenting appropriate data efficiently.
- Critical Thinking: Evaluating why language is used in certain ways and the implications of your findings.
- Planning and Organizational Skills: Designing a viable research methodology and executing it successfully.
- Skills of Academic Argument and Report-Writing: Producing a formal, coherent, and well-structured piece of writing.
Quick Review: The NEA proves you are not just good at *understanding* linguistics, but good at doing linguistics.
Step 1: Choosing Your Topic and Data
The best NEA topics are those you genuinely care about, as this passion will sustain you through the research process. The investigation should focus on language in use.
Suggested Areas for Investigation (Syllabus Examples):
- Language and Identity: Representations of different social groups or nationalities in texts.
- Social Varieties: The language of specific interest groups or communities (e.g., gamers, fan groups, hobbyists).
- Language and Power: Analyzing formal speeches, interviews, or workplace communication to see who holds authority.
- New Communication Technologies: Investigating texting styles, social media language, or online commentary.
- Language in the Environment: Analyzing signage, advertising copy, or shop names.
- Historical Change: Focusing on how a specific language feature (e.g., punctuation or politeness markers) has changed over time.
Developing Your Research Question (RQ)
A good RQ should be narrow enough to be investigated in 2,500 words and measurable using language data. You can frame your question based on these four types of investigation:
- A Genre-based investigation: What are the distinctive grammatical features of political manifestos compared to newspaper editorials? (Focus: Text type)
- A Function/Use-based investigation: How is imperative mood used to persuade customers in financial services advertising? (Focus: What the language is trying to achieve)
- An Attitudes-based investigation: How do elderly people express views about modern internet slang in online forums? (Focus: People’s feelings about language)
- A User-based investigation: How do gender and occupation influence the level of formality used in professional email subject lines? (Focus: Who uses the language)
Selecting Data Types
You must decide what kind of language data you will collect. You are encouraged to use a range (at least two texts or data sets).
- Spoken language: Transcripts of interviews, spontaneous conversations, or formal presentations.
- Written language: Articles, reports, extracts from fiction (literary language).
- Multimodal language: Texts combining writing, images, and layout (e.g., adverts, websites, social media posts).
- Attitudes to language: Responses from surveys or interviews about language use.
Accessibility Tip: Don't choose a huge amount of data! A few high-quality, short texts that allow deep analysis are better than a dozen texts you can only skim.
Step 2: Structuring Your Report – The Mandatory Sections
The structure of your NEA report is fixed and must be followed precisely. This ensures your work meets the academic standards expected. (Syllabus p. 17 lists these sections.)
1. Aim(s)
A clear, brief statement outlining the purpose of your study. This directly sets up your research question.
Example: "The aim of this investigation is to explore the linguistic strategies used by parents in online discussion forums to manage conflict, specifically focusing on pragmatic features such as inferential meaning."
2. Method
This is where you explain *how* you conducted your research. You must justify every choice you made.
- Data Explanation: Describe the nature of your data (e.g., three texts, two hours of transcription).
- Data Selection and Collection: Explain why you chose this data, where it came from, and how you collected it (e.g., ethical consent was obtained for recordings; texts were downloaded from the official website on a specific date).
- Analysis Approach: Detail the specific linguistic levels (grammar, lexis, discourse, etc.) you will apply to the data, and why these levels are appropriate for answering your aim.
COMMON MISTAKE TO AVOID: Simply describing the data. You must justify the choices you made (the why).
3. Analysis
This is the main body of your report where you present your findings. It must be organized, detailed, and directly linked back to your aims.
- Presentation: Use clear subheadings (categorized by linguistic feature, topic, or text) to structure your argument.
- Evidence: Integrate specific examples and quotations from your data (which should be fully presented in the Appendix).
- Exploration: Apply your technical knowledge (metalinguistic vocabulary) to discuss how the language choices contribute to the social or contextual meaning.
- Theories: Reference and apply any relevant academic theories or concepts you researched.
4. Conclusion
Summarize your results and draw conclusions that directly answer your original aim(s). Do not introduce new data here.
- State clearly whether your initial aims were achieved.
- Discuss the implications of your findings (What does this tell us about language use in this context?).
- Mention any limitations of your study (e.g., "The data was heavily gendered," or "The sample size was too small to make widely generalizable claims.").
Memory Aid: Remember the key sections in order (ignoring the supporting material): Aim, Method, Analysis, Conclusion. (A-M-A-C)
5. References
A comprehensive list of every secondary source (books, journals, websites, theories) you cited within the body of your report. Consistency in citation style is essential.
6. Appendix: Data
This section contains the full, raw language material you analyzed (transcripts, images, print-outs). This allows the examiner to check your analysis against the original source material. This section does not count towards your 2,500-word limit.
Key Takeaway: Plan your word count carefully! Allocate the majority of your words (often 60-70%) to the detailed Analysis section.