Language questions carry more marks than any other single skill on the Level 2 reading paper – ‘identify two language features and give an example of each’ alone is worth four. This free worksheet gives you two contrasting texts, a persuasive article and a formal letter, with eleven questions in exam wording and a mark scheme that shows exactly what earns each mark.
Free to download, print and share for personal or classroom use. Answers included.
What’s in this worksheet
- Text A – persuasive article (14 marks)
- Text B – formal letter, and comparison (10 marks)
- Full answers written as a mark scheme
Common mistakes on this topic
From our tutors’ marking and the most recent examiner reports – check your work against these:
- Giving a feature with no quotation, or a quotation that does not actually show the feature named.
- Describing the effect in words that would fit any text (‘it grabs attention’, ‘it makes it interesting’).
- In comparison questions, writing only about one text, or about both without a comparing word.
How to use it
- Do the basic multiple-choice sheet first, without notes, and mark it. Anything under 80% – reread the Remember box and redo the ones you got wrong.
- Then do the exam-style sheet with a time limit: about a minute per mark.
- Mark it using the mark scheme exactly as written – no half marks for vague answers – and note which question types cost you.
Related free resources
- Language Devices and Techniques – Basic Multiple-Choice Worksheet – Functional Skills English Level 2
- Organisational Features – Basic Multiple-Choice Worksheet – Functional Skills English Level 2
- Functional Skills English Level 2 Language Features Worksheet
- All free Functional Skills English Level 2 resources
Frequently asked questions
How do I answer ‘identify two language features and give an example of each’?
A two-column answer: feature, then a short exact quotation that shows it. Rhetorical question – ‘Sound familiar?’. Two features, two examples, four marks. Choose the two you are surest of.
What counts as a ‘good’ explanation of effect?
One that could only be true of this text: ‘The statistic 68% shows the reader that most commutes are short, so the argument applies to them.’ Name what the reader thinks, feels or does because of the feature.
Why does the mark scheme reject layout features for language questions?
Because language features are about the words the writer chose, while layout features are about how the text is arranged. A rhetorical question is language; a subheading is layout. The exam tests them separately.
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