Tips and ideas for using the word analysis quadrant
What on earth is it?
Our word analysis quadrant is (despite the technical name) a beautifully simple
continuum template. It can be used across all key stages and is ideal for getting
students to focus closely on particular types of vocabulary.
How could I use it?
Either use it with one text/extract (changing the definitions in the quadrant according
to what you want students to focus on) or use it with two (or more!) different types of
texts/extracts as a way of highlighting differences in vocabulary, style or tone.
When focusing on a persuasive text, for example, students could be asked to decide
whether sets of words are particularly emotive or neutral. A charity leaflet or letter
might provide an ideal starting point for this. The beauty of the quadrant is that it
allows higher ability students to have a kind of ‘double focus’ and identify, perhaps,
that particular words might be both highly emotive and informal. Lower ability students
can be given certain types of words and/or a narrower focus. The quadrant is also ideal
for group work, jigsaw activities, peer teaching or any other kind of team task you can
think of!
Other ways to populate the word analysis quadrant (when focusing on persuasive
writing):
wordy / concise
shocking / amusing
forceful / weak
memorable / unmemorable
friendly / unfriendly
simple / complex
personal / impersonal
informal / formal
positive / negative
Can I adapt it?
Yes, yes and, er, yes! The openness of the quadrant means that you can adapt it to suit
whichever fiction, non-fiction, play, poem or prose text you happen to be teaching at
any given time! Give your students some support by supplying a word bank or up the
ante and get them to fill in the quadrant unaided. It also has bags of interactive
potential (see our Magnet whizzy activity)! Alternatively, if you’re keen to warm your
students up to the serious work of vocabulary analysis, you could use our interactive
word games Anagram or Scramble to provide some snappy starter activities.
A multi-modal focus …
If, say, you’d prefer to get your students watching short clips of persuasive speeches as
opposed to scrutinizing the text, the quadrant still allows for this. Want to compare
Barack Obama and George Bush’s rhetoric? Or watch an Oxfam plea in action? Students
can scribble away on their quadrants at the same time.
Quadrant conclusions
To summarise, the word analysis quadrant is a great example of an English teaching
staple! We hope you enjoy using it with your students and adapting it as and when
necessary …
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Tips and ideas for using the word analysis quadrant
Sample resource
Using the word analysis quadrant to focus on persuasive language
Teacher instructions:
1) Hand out the background information sheet to students and read it through with
them. Ask them if they can remember the riots and what parents, relatives and
friends were saying about the situation in England at the time.
2) You might also want to look at the accompanying PowerPoint of images or get
students to access the internet and watch footage of the riots on YouTube. This
could feed into talk about how some people responded to them (either by joining in
– looting stores etc., or by standing up for their local communities like the Hackney
heroine, Pauline Pearce).
3) This is a good opportunity to think about why the riots might have happened too.
There are plenty of theories – poor race relations, a culture of entitlement,
economic decline, gang culture and even the impact of social media in allowing
rioters and looters to organize themselves and incite violence. Get students to think
about why they think the riots occurred and whether they could occur again in
today’s society.
4) Read the ‘Father’s plea for restraint’ excerpt and discuss how it was received at the
time. Students could be asked to consider the impact of it upon a) the local
community and b) the nation.
5) Using the word analysis quadrant – either the paper version, or the Magnet activity,
depending on your preference – get students to select and place words from the
speech onto the quadrant. It’s worth pointing out that the Magnet activity gives
students existing words to drag and drop, so is ideal for lower ability students,
whereas the paper version requires students to select their own words from the
speech. Students should be encouraged to have discussions with one another about
the words and where they should feature so this activity would work well as a paired
task. If using the paper version, you might like to get students to add other or
alternative categories to the quadrant, such as ‘religious’ and ‘secular’.
6) Get students to form conclusions about the vocabulary used by Tariq Jahan, based
on their finished quadrants. At this point, if they haven’t already done so, they
should be encouraged to think about whether or not they consider his speech to be
effective in its persuasiveness, or not, and come up with some reasons to accompany
their viewpoints.
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Tips and ideas for using the word analysis quadrant
Background information –
England riots, 2011
Between 6th and 10th August 2011,
thousands of people rioted in
London boroughs and towns across
England. The resulting chaos
generated looting, arson and mass
deployment of police.
Disturbances began on 6th August after a protest in Tottenham
following the death of Mark Duggan, a local who was shot dead by
police. Protesters became angry after police turned on a sixteen year
old girl who was alleged to have provoked them. Violent clashes with
police, along with the destruction of police vehicles, a magistrates’
court, a double-decker bus, civilian homes and businesses brought
national media attention. Rioting then began to occur in other parts of
London and spread to other cities such as Birmingham, Bristol and
Manchester.
On 10th August in Birmingham, three men – Haroon Jahan 21, and
brothers Shahzad Ali and Abdul Musavir were killed in a hit and run
accident while trying to protect their neighbourhood from looters and
rioters. The ensuing appeal for peace (made by Haroon Jahan’s father,
Tariq Jahan), was credited with helping to ease tensions in Birmingham
and he was acknowledged by politicians and the national press.
In total, there were five fatalities and 16 injuries as a result of violent
acts related to the riots. An estimated £200 million worth of property
damage was incurred and local economies were compromised.
(Taken from Wikipedia entry: 2011 England riots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_England_riots)
Caption:
Riots and looting continues across London. Copyright notice: Copyright Getty Images. Credit: Dan Istitene
/ Getty Images News / Getty Images / Universal Images Group.
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Tips and ideas for using the word analysis quadrant
Father’s plea for restraint (an excerpt) - Tariq Jahan
I don’t blame the Government, I don’t blame the police, I
don’t blame anybody. I’m a Muslim. I believe in divine
fate and destiny, and it was his destiny and his fate, and
now he’s gone. And may Allah forgive him and bless him.
Tensions are already high in the area. It’s already bad
enough what we are seeing on the streets without other
people taking the law into their own hands. My family
wants time to grieve for my son. People should let the
law deal with this.
Today we stand here to plead with all the youth to
remain calm, for our communities to stand united. This is
not a race issue. The family has received messages of
sympathy and support from all parts of society.
I lost my son. Blacks, Asians, Whites – we all live in the
same community. Why do we have to kill one another?
Why are we doing this? Step forward if you want to lose
your sons. Otherwise, calm down and go home – please.
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Tips and ideas for using the word analysis quadrant
Place each word in the appropriate quarter of the quadrant.
personal
forceful or
emotive
neutral
weak
impersonal
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2011 riots
Look at the following images and …
1. Jot down your immediate reactions e.g. shock.
2. Talk to a partner about what you think might be
happening in each slide.
3. Start to think about what motivates the people in
each slide to do what they’re doing.
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© Il Fatto Quotidiano www.flickr.com/photos/ilfattoquotidiano/6025876272/
© Nicobobinus 2011 www.flickr.com/photos/nicohogg/6018692165/
© Emma LB 2011 www.flickr.com/photos/emmalb/6025238956/
© Beacon Radio 2011 www.flickr.com/photos/beaconradio/6018588619/