For more information contact: Simone Tynan or Zoe Worland
The study of English Language enables students to consider their understanding and application of English using a set of metalinguistic tools informed by the discipline of linguistics. This focus provides students with fresh insights into their language choices, the values and assumptions constructed when considering the language use of others, and the power of language to control, shape and disrupt our lives.
Throughout their learning, students engage with the ways in which language is structured, the history of English and its variations both geographically and temporally, theories of language acquisition, variations of language created by social and cultural difference, the nexus between language and power, and the ways in which language can be used to construct and deconstruct identity. Students consider their own language use and the language use immediately surrounding them, as well as examples of language use locally, nationally and internationally. They explore the ways in which language use is adapted in consideration of formality, situational and cultural contexts, purpose and function.
In this study students read widely to further develop their analytical skills and to build their understanding of linguistics. Students are expected to read and study a range of historical and contemporary texts, drawn from a variety of contexts and forms, including academic texts and publications.
The study is made up of four units. Each unit deals with specific content contained in areas of study and is designed to enable students to achieve a set of outcomes for that unit. Each outcome is described in terms of key knowledge and key skills.
There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 prior to undertaking Unit 4. Units 1 to 4 are designed to a standard equivalent to the final two years of secondary education. All VCE studies are benchmarked against comparable national and international curriculum.
The nature and functions of language
In this area of study students explore the nature of language and the various functions that language performs in a range of Australian and other contexts. They consider the properties that distinguish human communication as unique, the differences between the modes of spoken and written language, and the relationship between meaning and conventions that govern language use.
Language acquisition
This area of study focuses on the developmental stages of language acquisition, both first- and additional-language learning. Students explore how, in addition to words and their meanings, people learn to use the phonological and grammatical conventions of the language, as well as the appropriate use of these conventions in different situational contexts.
English across time
This area of study examines the changes that have occurred in English over time. Students investigate the factors that bring about language change, including those that come from contact with other languages, from social and technological transformation, and from within the language itself. They explore language change across some subsystems of language as represented in texts.
Englishes in contact
In this area of study students consider the effects of the global spread of English by learning about both the development and decline of languages as a result of English contact, the elevation of English as a global lingua franca and the cultural consequences of language contact. Students explore the many ways English is used as an expression of identity and culture in written and spoken texts
To read the study design in full click here.