Why is HL English A1 hard?

[IOwnAndPwnU]

Hello,

So, lately, I've been thinking about why HL English A1 is difficult. A lot of people don't get 7s (which is true for all IB courses in general), but I want to know. Even 6s are difficult. In other courses, I know what to do to get a level 7 (i.e. in math, do practice questions forever), but in English, I'm pretty lost in what I need to do. I've only begin IB English, but coming from the MYP program, I have a relative idea about where I am right now. At this point in time, since it's the beginning of the course, I have a lot of time to improve. And thus, I am willing to try anything to improve my mark.

How do you get a level 7 (or 6) in IB HL English A1?

I understand that this topic may have been asked several times, and I still cannot find a definite answer. I have found a few things from my findings on the Internet (and by talking with my peers):

• read books (it improves vocabulary and structure of language, and generally good overall)
  
• the difference between a 6 and 7 might be luck, which is why I am fine with a 6 in this course
  
• buying textbooks (i.e. IBID: On Course with English A1 & Commentary Writing)
  
• read the IB books multiple times
  
• make a list of themes and remember key quotations in books which might help on your exam essay
  
• buy an English grammar book
  
• memorize literary features (this one seems easy actually)
  
• do past papers (common IB revision method)
  

Can anyone further validate these claims and offer additional tips. Like I said, I am willing to do anything to improve my mark, and I would prefer to start while I am still in Year One as opposed to next year. If you can point me to any relevant sites, it would be much appreciated. Feel free to mention the basics, clearly I am missing them.

Also, since some people must be getting level 7s around the world, does that mean they have superior teachers or they are studying differently? Would you recommend me to get an English tutor?

And about the reading books suggestion, what type of books would you guys recommend? IB books? Different time periods, author backgrounds, etc? Or just a wide variety in general? Specific titles would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. Currently, I'm probably at a level 4 or 5, probably a 5 if I put some more effort into it, if that helps to answer the question at all.

Thank you

[laryxle]

I can only speak from personal experience, but the only things on that list of yours I did was remembering themes and quotes (probably the only way to study for P2) and reading books, although I read 'easy' reads to offset the stress of IB

I just find that unlike other subjects in the IB, being really technical about English, getting the course companion/study guide etc. doesn't help at all. Firstly, as you've said, there is little distinction between 6 and 7, I mean if I had gotten one less mark on any part of the course I would have gotten a 6. Secondly, as will all IB subjects, to get a 7 you need to be strategic rather than smart. This means targeting areas of the course. For me; I was always good at analysis, thinking on the spot, more unseen things etc. So I targetted that parts of the course I was good at, P1 and the IOC. The IOP is actually probably one of the easier IB IA's IMO because you have so much control over it and it isn't directly moderated. So I worked hard at doing well at these and ended up with 7's in both, compensating for the 6's I got in P2 and WL's.

Identify your strengths, capitalise on them, and do practice commentaries and P2 essays. Look at the marking schemes for them. Know the texts well, and prioritise. Good luck

[adletaY]

I have been having similar problems. Right now I am stuck at about mid-6 level and I don't know how to push myself to the 7 level. A specific problem I have is reaching the upper markbands, like the 5 markband in P1,P2, and WLs and the 9-10 markband for the IOP and IOC.

I spoke to my teacher and he said to get a 9-10 on the IOP criteria a presentation would literally have to make him fall out of his seat in surprise at its sheer excellence. Consequently, in 10 years of teaching he has never given anyone higher than a 24/30 on the IOP i.e. the highest score was 4, 8, 8, 4. He has also never given anyone a 5 on any criteria in P1 or P2, meaning the highest score he has given is a 20/25. This makes me think that I won't be able to get a 7 in English, which kinda sucks.

What's cool is that since he marks harder than the examiners, my class' IOP and IOC scores should be increased upon moderation, but I don't want to rely on that happening.

A specific question I have is regarding Criterion D/E, Use of Language. I asked my teacher what an "excellent and varied vocabulary" means and he said that it would be what a college professor would expect in university-level English. What exactly does that mean? Does it mean I have to use unusual words or that I have to use literary terms? This may be the criteria in all of my assessments where I can score a 5 because my vocabulary can be quite "concise and effective", I just need a little help deciphering what exactly that means.

[ecieee]

HL English A1 is ridiculously hard

well, for me it is the hardest subject of all the IB subjects that I have been doing.

I dropped HL maths and raised my SL english to HL, and now I regret sooooooooo much.

I think I find it extraordinarily hard because I'm an ESL student.

I wasn't allowed to do my first language as my A1 - which is unfair in a way.

Ughh I have just came back from school and from my mock IOC.

I BSed my IOC. I broke down and was literally on the verge of crying.

I was that terrified, and just like what my head told me yesterday, I screwed it up.

What I find really hard about English is that, you can't really "learn" how to do well.

Like, my English teacher at school doesn't actually "teach". She doesn't go through any exemplar essays

because it's against the IBO rules or something, and when I ask her how to do well in English,

she just tells me that it is hard for ESL students and that I should practice more.

But how do I practice when I don't know where to begin, where I lose marks, where my analysis is weak...etc!!

I would really want to know the answer to your question!!

I heard that some English IB schools only get 6 and 7s......

What am I doing wrong??????

[Sandwich]

I agree with Laryxle, textbooks for English is just wasting your money. It's a skills-based subject rather than a knowledge-based subject and I honestly don't see how a textbook could really help you.

At my school (for HL anyway) we had all 6s and 7s. For that reason (also based on how I found the course), I really don't think that it's a luck-based thing as to whether you get a 6 or a 7. If you really know what you're doing, you can more or less guarantee yourself a 7 (as in any subject). I think that one reason why my school did very well was that we had excellent teachers - and also that English is always a proper analytical subject for people in the UK, whereas elsewhere in the world it seems like more of a soft subject, to me. And by soft I mean stuff like discussing the plot and random facts about the characters (kinda just seeing if you really read it...) rather than proper analysis of language, technique etc. The level required for IB is to be honest the same level required for the exams we sit aged 16 (GCSEs), or at least I found that I didn't have to up my game between the two.

Ultimately I think it's just about your skills of reading comprehension. Which may sound a little dumb, but there's a difference between somebody who can comprehend and extract every nuance from a paragraph and somebody who reads it and all they get from it is the basic plot "man leaves the room". Both people have basic reading comprehension, but one person really gets everything out of it and the other person doesn't. For me, English has always been reading whatever you're given to read and just feeding back what you get out of the text. Extremely simple - so the big thing is: how do you work on getting more out of the text?

I think that reading around certainly does help (although I've been avidly reading since I first could read, so it's hard to say whether just a bit of casual reading during your IB time can = years and years!) - but also training yourself to see things and to think about things. Not in your own reading for pleasure, obviously (that would make it extremely unpleasant...) but when reading stuff for the IB. LOOK for things that make your comprehension and understanding (and what you get out of the text) deeper and more interesting.

I'm pretty sure you can teach yourself to do this to some extent, although it probably helps if it comes naturally. Just think of all the devices which can be used to increase understanding and nuance. Off the top of my head:

• word order
  
• symbolism
  
• word choice
  
• rhythm/metre (poetry)
  
• metaphors
  
• themes (recurrent)
  
• foreshadowing
  
• setting
  

...and so on, but you have to be able to see them on the micro level as well as the macro level. The micro level is in your unseen commentaries - the macro level is in stuff like paper 2 and your WL essays. Just reading things and getting used to picking out tiny little features, spotting recurring themes and so on is basically how to improve your analytical skills. One thing which really made me think more about my analysis of English was that I also took Latin pre-IB and we had to do some literary analysis of Latin too. When you start thinking about word choice, onomatopoeia, basically all lit features but for another language, then it gives you a greater insight into English. You realise that it's very very rich Also really how much of a difference the techniques make to what you get from it. Latin has no grammatical word order (it's got such complex grammar that you don't need any word order - not even noun/verb/object!) so it taught me a hell of a lot about the power of word order.

Anyway, if you learn lots of features and start recognising them in places, you start appreciating what they do - and when it comes to commentaries, texts etc. you can do a much deeper and full analysis because your comprehension is a thousand times better.

The only caveat to all this is that you have to be able to express what you've picked out. You don't need to use lots of unusual words, you just have to be able to express yourself fluently and eloquently. It should read well and not be in simple idiot english. I guess that expressing yourself well in writing isn't everybody's forte, however.

[Guest -Guns of Steel-]

I see that you really are masochistic my friend 4 HLs and all! Well the problem with English HL is that its really a waste its like take physics at all, both these subjects are very tough to score in. English HL has no guiding questions for the critical commentary, you have more texts on the whole and for your IOC hence you really need to be well versed, So ideally besides for being good at mugging up we're not really that much better that SL students.

Oh and if its still early kick one of you HLs mate, us normal folks with 6 subs can't hardly get by, though that's my advice, if you think you can handle it then go ahead and all the best you're gonna need it!