Audience Purpose Focus

Overview

Lesson 17 builds on earlier work about how texts communicate ideas in context. Today students analyse how audience and purpose shape language choices and how a text is received, using short excerpts and multimodal examples.

Learning intentions

• WALT analyze how language features shape meaning and vary according to audience and purpose.
• WALT identify how text structures and language features change with the purpose of the text.
• WALT use evaluative and analytical vocabulary to discuss how well a text suits its target audience.

Success criteria

• I can explain how at least two language features change meaning for a specific audience.
• I can describe how structure supports purpose (for example, persuasive, informative, or review).
• I can justify my opinion using evidence from the text (words, phrases, and/or images).
• I can use analytical vocabulary (for example: target audience, purpose, persuasive, emotive, factual, credibility, call to action).

Curriculum links

• English Literacy: AC9E7LY03 analyse the ways in which language features shape meaning and vary according to audience and purpose.
• English Language: AC9E7LA03 identify and describe how texts are structured differently depending on their purpose and how language features vary in texts.
• English Language: AC9E7LA02 recognise language used to evaluate texts and how evaluations can be substantiated by reference to the text and other sources.
• English Literature (thread): AC9E7LE02 form an opinion about settings/events/characters in texts and justify responses (used here as a discussion skill for audience impact).

Lesson structure (70 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Hook (quick read + predict). Teacher displays two short messages on the board: one “Safety Poster” line set and one “Sports Club Promo” line set (no full posters yet). Students choose which message suits which audience (Year 7 students / parents / community) and explain one reason using a sentence starter: “It suits them because…”.

2. 8–18 min · Mini-lesson (audience–purpose lens). Teacher models a “Purpose → Audience → Features → Effect” thinking routine using a sample sentence (e.g., “Book now” vs “Discover our programs”). Students co-construct a class anchor chart showing how language features (imperatives, emotive words, factual details, modality like “must/may”) signal purpose and guide reception.

3. 18–35 min · Guided practice (language features sorting). Teacher provides four short excerpts on a handout (or slides), each with a clear purpose: informative (facts), persuasive (call to action), review (judgement), and social/community (belonging). In small groups, students sort and label excerpts with:

• target audience
• purpose
• two language features
• likely reception (what the audience feels/believes/does). Teacher circulates, prompting with: “Which words make that effect likely?” and “How would this change for a different audience?”

4. 35–52 min · Role play stations (different receivers). Teacher sets up two role-play stations with discussion prompts and a short script cue.

• Station A: “You are a parent” vs “You are a Year 7 student” for the same school announcement. Students act out first impressions, then identify which phrases might sound supportive vs demanding.
• Station B: “You are a community member” vs “You are a club member” for a persuasive flyer excerpt. Students practise rephrasing one persuasive line to better match the new audience. Students record decisions in a simple table: Audience | Purpose | Feature change | Effect change.

5. 52–62 min · Whole-class synthesis (structure + effect). Teacher leads a debrief: Students share one “feature change → effect change” example. Teacher adds one structure reminder: persuasive texts often use a clear hook and call to action; reviews use judgement language and reasons; informational texts prioritise facts and clarity. Students confirm or refine with one piece of evidence from the excerpts.

6. 62–70 min · Exit ticket (individual analysis). Students complete a short exit ticket:

• Choose one excerpt and write two sentences:

1. “The target audience is…”
2. “The purpose is…, shown by…” including one quoted phrase and the effect on reception.

• Optional second sentence challenge: “If the audience changed, I would replace…”

Resources

• Handout with 4 short text excerpts (mixed purposes) plus 1–2 visual examples (e.g., mini-poster screenshots without copyrighted full images)
• Role-play station cards (Audience A/B prompts and one key excerpt each)
• Class anchor chart template: Purpose → Audience → Features → Effect
• Sticky notes or mini recording tables (Audience / Purpose / Feature / Effect)
• Sentence starters sheet
• Dyslexia-friendly reading options: larger font excerpt strips, colour-coded highlighting (purpose cues), and an audio option (teacher-read or device-recorded)

Assessment

• Formative: teacher observation during sorting and role-play; listen for accurate audience–purpose links and evidence use.
• Formative: group table entries checked for language-feature identification and effect prediction.
• Summative (lightweight): exit ticket scored against success criteria (evidence + vocabulary + justification).

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence starters for exit tickets (“The purpose is… because…” “This makes the audience feel/think…”). Offer a word bank of analytical vocabulary and a “feature finder” list (imperatives, factual details, emotive words, credibility markers).
• Support for reading needs: use dyslexia-friendly excerpt strips (larger font, reduced text per page), colour-coded purpose labels, and teacher audio reading for students who need it.
• Extension: ask advanced students to rewrite one line for a new audience and explain how two features would shift (tone, credibility, or call to action), not just the topic.
• EAL: allow oral rehearsal before writing; provide a model paragraph and allow translation support for key terms (purpose, audience, persuasive, informative) in a personal glossary.