English · Year 12

Active learning ideas

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)

Active learning transforms Critical Discourse Analysis from abstract theory into tangible skills. Students need to see, touch, and dissect how language shapes power, not just hear about it. Pair work, station rotations, and debates turn passive observation into active discovery.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• A-Level: English Language - Critical Discourse Analysis
• A-Level: English Language - Language and Power

• 25–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Case Study Analysis
• 30 min · Pairs

Pairs: Speech Deconstruction Partners

Pair students and provide a political speech excerpt. They highlight presuppositions and implications, then note how these build speaker authority. Pairs present one key finding to the class for whole-group feedback.

Analyze how language choices in media texts reflect underlying power imbalances.

Facilitation Tip

During Speech Deconstruction Partners, provide a transcript with pre-highlighted transitivity structures so pairs focus on interpretation rather than initial identification.

What to look for

Provide students with a short advertisement. Ask them to identify one example of presupposition and one example of modality, explaining how each contributes to the ad's persuasive goal.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Case Study Analysis
• 45 min · Small Groups

Small Groups: Ad Analysis Stations

Set up four stations with advertisements from different media. Groups spend 8 minutes per station applying a CDA checklist for power markers like modality and evaluation. Rotate and compile group insights on a shared chart.

Evaluate the role of presupposition and implication in shaping audience perception.

Facilitation Tip

In Ad Analysis Stations, assign each station a different lens (e.g., presupposition, modality, nominalization) so students build depth of understanding across examples.

What to look for

Present students with two contrasting news headlines about the same event. Ask: 'How do the word choices in these headlines reflect different underlying ideologies or power perspectives? Use specific examples from the headlines to support your analysis.'

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Case Study Analysis
• 50 min · Whole Class

Whole Class: Media Debate Arena

Divide the class into two teams with a biased news article. Each team uses CDA to argue dominance of one ideology. Vote on strongest evidence after structured presentations.

Explain how CDA can be used to deconstruct political speeches or advertisements.

Facilitation Tip

For the Media Debate Arena, assign roles (e.g., journalist, politician, citizen) to ensure every student contributes a perspective grounded in their analysis.

What to look for

Students bring in a short text (e.g., a social media post, a product review). They exchange texts and identify one instance of nominalization or obscured agency. They then write one sentence suggesting how the sentence could be rewritten to be more direct and transparent.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Case Study Analysis
• 25 min · Individual

Individual: Presupposition Hunt

Students receive a media text and independently list five presuppositions. They then pair to compare lists and refine with evidence. Share refined examples in a class gallery walk.

Analyze how language choices in media texts reflect underlying power imbalances.

Facilitation Tip

In Presupposition Hunt, give students a short checklist of linguistic triggers to guide their search and avoid vague claims.

What to look for

Provide students with a short advertisement. Ask them to identify one example of presupposition and one example of modality, explaining how each contributes to the ad's persuasive goal.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach CDA by modeling the process first. Demonstrate aloud how you locate and analyze a single linguistic feature to reveal ideology, then gradually release responsibility to students. Avoid overloading them with too many frameworks at once; focus on transitivity and appraisal early, then introduce nominalization and implicature. Research shows students master CDA when they repeatedly apply one tool at a time before synthesizing multiple lenses.

Successful learning looks like students grounding their observations in linguistic evidence rather than opinion. They should confidently point to textual features like passive voice or lexical choices when explaining power structures. Peer discussion and shared checklists help them refine these observations into precise analysis.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Speech Deconstruction Partners, watch for students reducing analysis to 'I think this speech is biased' without pointing to language features.

  Redirect pairs to the transcript and ask them to locate specific passives, modal verbs, or nominalizations, then explain how each feature positions the audience.

• During Ad Analysis Stations, watch for students assuming all power structures are overt or deliberate.

  Have them compare ads with neutral and loaded language, using the station’s checklist to identify subtle implicatures that still shape perception.

• During Media Debate Arena, watch for students conflating power with direct commands or overt aggression.

  Challenge them to find examples of obscured agency or implied expectations in headlines or captions, then discuss why these are more insidious forms of control.

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Methods used in this brief

• Case Study Analysis