English OR English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Rationale: The study of English empowers students to read, write, speak and listen in different contexts. VCE English and English as an Additional Language (EAL) prepares students to think and act critically and creatively, and to encounter the beauty and challenge of their contemporary world with compassion and understanding. Students work to collaborate and communicate widely, and to connect with our complex and plural society with confidence.

Through engagement with texts drawn from a range of times, cultures, forms and genres, and including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and voices, students develop insight into a varied range of ideas. They extend their skills in responding to the texts they read and view, and their abilities in creating original texts, further expanding their language to reflect accurately the purpose, audience and context of their responses.

By developing broad skills in communication and reflection, the study of English enables students to participate in their diverse, dynamic and multicultural world productively and positively.

This study aims to:

• extend students' English language skills through reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking and viewing to meet the demands of further study, the workplace, and their own needs and interests

• enhance students' understanding, enjoyment and appreciation of the English language through all modes

• discuss, explore and analyse the form, purpose, context, text structures and language of texts from a range of styles and genres 

• discuss, explore and analyse how culture, values and context underpin the construction of texts and how this can affect meaning and understanding

• convey ideas and demonstrate insight convincingly and confidently

• create print, digital and spoken texts

• demonstrate the ability to make informed choices about the construction of texts in relation to purpose, audience and context.

Structure: This study comprises four units.

Unit 1 

Area of Study 1: Reading and Exploring Texts

In this area of study, students engage in reading and viewing texts with a focus on personal connections with the story. They discuss and clarify the ideas and values presented by authors through their evocations of character, setting and plot, and through investigations of the point of view and/or the voice of the text. They develop and strengthen inferential reading and viewing skills, and consider the ways a text’s vocabulary, text structures and language features can create meaning on several levels and in different ways.

Outcome 1 - On completion of this unit the student should be able to make personal connections with, and explore the vocabulary, text structures, language features and ideas in, a text. 

Area of Study 2: Crafting Texts

Students read and engage imaginatively and critically with mentor texts that model effective writing. Through guided reading of mentor texts, students develop an understanding of the diverse ways that vocabulary, text structures, language features and ideas can interweave to craft compelling texts. They consider these texts through knowledge of the ways purpose, context (including mode) and audience influence and shape writing.

Outcome 2 - On completion of this unit the student should be able to demonstrate an understanding of effective and cohesive writing through the crafting of their own texts designed for a specific context and audience to achieve a stated purpose; and to describe individual decisions made about the vocabulary, text structures, language features and conventions used during the writing processes. 

Unit 2 

Area of Study 1: Reading and Exploring Texts

In this area of study, students develop their reading and viewing skills, including deepening their capacity for inferential reading and viewing, to further open possible meanings in a text, and to extend their writing in response to text. Students will develop their skills from Unit 1 through an exploration of a different text type from that studied in Unit 1.

Outcome 1 - On completion of this unit the student should be able to explore and analyse how the vocabulary, text structures, language features and ideas in a text construct meaning. 

Area of Study 2: Exploring Argument

In this area of study, students consider the way arguments are developed and delivered in many forms of media. Through the prism of a contemporary and substantial local and/or national issue, students read, view and listen to a range of texts that attempt to position an intended audience in a particular context. They explore the structure of these texts, including contention, sequence of arguments, use of supporting evidence and persuasive strategies. They closely examine the language and the visuals employed by the author, and offer analysis of the intended effect on the audience. Students apply their knowledge of argument to create a point of view text for oral presentation.

Outcome 2 - On completion of this unit the student should be able to explore and analyse persuasive texts within the context of a contemporary issue, including the ways argument and language can be used to position an audience; and to construct a point of view text for oral presentation. 

Unit 3

Area of Study 1: Reading and Responding to Texts

In this area of study, students apply reading and viewing strategies to critically engage with a text, considering its dynamics and complexities and reflecting on the motivations of its characters. They analyse the ways authors construct meaning through vocabulary, text structures, language features and conventions, and the presentation of ideas. They are provided with opportunities to understand and explore the historical context, and the social and cultural values of a text, and recognise how these elements influence the way a text is read or viewed, is understood by different audiences, and positions its readers in different ways.

Outcome 1 - On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse ideas, concerns and values presented in a text, informed by the vocabulary, text structures and language features and how they make meaning.

Area of Study 2: Crafting Texts 

In this area of study, students build on the knowledge and skills developed through Unit 1. They read and engage imaginatively and critically with mentor texts, and effective and cohesive writing within identified contexts. Through close reading, students expand their understanding of the diverse ways that vocabulary, text structures, language features, conventions and ideas can interweave to create compelling texts. They further consider mentor texts through their understanding of the ways that purpose, context (including mode), and specific and situated audiences influence and shape writing.

Outcome 2 - On completion of this unit the student should be able to demonstrate effective writing skills by producing their own texts, designed to respond to a specific context and audience to achieve a stated purpose; and to explain their decisions made through writing processes.

Unit 4

Area of Study 1: Reading and Responding to Texts 

In this area of study, students further sharpen their skills of reading and viewing texts, developed in the corresponding area of study in Unit 3. Students consolidate their capacity to critically analyse texts and deepen their understanding of the ideas and values a text can convey.

Outcome 1 - On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse explicit and implicit ideas, concerns and values presented in a text, informed by vocabulary, text structures and language features and how they make meaning.

Area of Study 2: Analysing Argument 

In this area of study, students analyse the use of argument and language, and visuals in texts that debate a contemporary and significant national or international issue. The texts must have appeared in the media since 1 September of the previous year and teachers are advised to work with their students to select an issue of relevance to the cohort. Students read, view and/or listen to a variety of texts from the media, including print and digital, and audio and audio visual, and develop their understanding of the ways in which arguments and language complement one another to position an intended audience in relation to a selected issue.

Outcome 2 - On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse the use of argument and language in persuasive texts, including one written text (print or digital) and one text in another mode (audio and/or audio visual); and develop and present a point of view text.

Entry:

Students must receive a 'satisfactory' in either Unit 1 or 2 English, EAL or Literature to move onto Unit 3 and 4. Students must complete Unit 3 prior to undertaking Unit 4.

Students must successfully complete three English units to satisfy the requirements of the VCE. They must include Units 1 or 2 of either English, Literature or English as an Additional Language and Units 3 and 4 of English, Literature or English as an Additional Language. A study score for an English subject must be included in the calculation of an ATAR.

If students plan to complete only one English study in Year 12 it should be the core subject, although it is recommended that students who identify English as an area of strength should complete both English 1-4 and Literature 1-4.

ASSESSMENT:

Units 1 and 2: coursework assessed internally, including end of year exams. Internal assessments comprise of: Personal Response to Text, Student Created Text (inspired by mentor texts), Commentary (of writing process and decisions made), Analytical Response to Text, Set of Annotated Texts (arguments etc), Analysis of Argument, Point-of-View Oral Presentation (4-6 minutes).

Unit 3: School Assessed Coursework: 25% (Analytical Text Response, Crafted Texts and Commentary).

Unit 4: School Assessed Coursework: 25% (Analytical Text Response, Argument Analysis and 4-6 minute Point-of-View Oral Presentation on a current issue)

End of Year exam: 50% (3 hour and 15 minute exam comprising one Analytical Text Response, Response to Framework of Ideas and Argument Analysis).

Contact Time

Lessons per week: 

Year 11: 5

Year 12: 5

Duration:  Year long

Further Information

Head of English:

Kelly Brown