VCE English

English/EAL

Units 1 & 2    2023 – 2027          

Units 3 & 4    2024 - 2027

Scope of Study

VCE English and English as an Additional Language (EAL) focuses on the how English language is used to create meaning in print and digital texts of varying complexity.

Texts selected for study are drawn from the past and present, from Australia and from other cultures, and comprise many text types, including media texts, for analysis of argument.

The study is intended to meet the needs of students with a wide range of expectations and aspirations, including those for whom English is an additional language.

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.

Structure

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.

Entry

There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 and Unit 4 as a sequence. However, it is recommended that prior to enrolment in this study, EAL students have demonstrated achievement at C3 or above on the Victorian Curriculum F–10: EAL. 

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.

Satisfactory Completion

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on the teacher’s decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. Demonstration of achievement of outcomes and satisfactory completion of a unit are determined by evidence gained through the assessment of a range of learning activities and tasks.

Teachers must develop courses that provide appropriate opportunities for students to demonstrate satisfactory achievement of outcomes.

The decision about satisfactory completion of a unit is distinct from the assessment of levels of achievement. Schools will report a student’s result for each unit to the VCAA as S (satisfactory) or N (not satisfactory).

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.

Students’ exploration of texts involves understanding and appreciating the role of vocabulary, text structures and language features in creating story and meaning. They contemplate the ways a text can present and reflect human experiences, and how stories or aspects of stories resonate with their own memories and lives. Students are encouraged to share their experience and understanding of the world, and make connections with key ideas, concerns and tensions presented in a text. 

They also explore the cultural, social and historical values embedded in the text, and can compare these values with their own. It is through these moments of connection that students engage more closely with the reading experience, and draw parallels with their own observations of the world. 

Through participation in discussions about their own experiences and the ways they make connections with a text, students develop their own thinking and engage with the ideas of others to extend their understanding of a text. They draw on personal experience and understanding in developing writing about a text, and work to shape their ideas and knowledge into formal essay structures.

For this outcome, students will read and explore one set text, or extracts from the set text (EAL). This text must be of a different text type from that selected for study in Unit 2. The text selected should reflect the interests of the students and be worthy of close study.

Students are provided with opportunities to practise and extend their writing about texts. They are given time and support to extend their writing through reflection, editing and feedback.

Area of Study 2 – Crafting Texts

In this area of study, students engage with and develop an understanding of effective and cohesive writing. They apply, extend and challenge their understanding and use of imaginative, persuasive and informative text through a growing awareness of situated contexts, stated purposes and audience.

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.

Both individual and shared reading of mentor texts provides students with opportunities for rich discussion about what constitutes effective writing. Students collaborate through classwork to cultivate their understandings of cohesive and successful texts. 

Students employ and experiment with the qualities of effective writing in their own work. 

Considering clear purpose, context (including mode) and audiences for their writing, and through engaging with and expanding on ideas drawn from mentor texts and other reading, they extend their creativity, fluency and range. 

As they craft their texts, students explore text structures and language features, and ideas. They build a varied vocabulary, which can include abstract and technical language, and apply standard and/or non-standard conventions of language, including syntax and spelling, as appropriate. They are also able to explore other forms of non-standard or informal language including colloquial and idiomatic language such as slang or dialects, where appropriate.

The mentor texts can include short stories, speeches or monologues (with transcripts), essays (comment, opinion, reflective, personal), podcasts (with transcripts), poetry/songs, feature articles (including a series of blog or social media postings) and memoirs and biography and can be entire texts or extracts. 

Students explore and revisit the mentor texts as inspiration for developing their own writing processes, for generation of ideas, and as models for effective writing. They demonstrate their understanding of ideas and application of effective writing strategies in their crafted texts, and can articulate their writing processes in their commentaries.

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.

Students read or view a text, engaging with the ideas, concerns and tensions, and recognise ways vocabulary, text structures, language features and conventions of a text work together to create meaning. Through discussions about representations in a text, they examine the ways readers understand text considering its historical context, and social and cultural values. 

They also explore the text through the prism of their own cultural knowledge, experiences and understanding of the world, and extend their observations into analytical and abstracted explorations.

Developing analytical writing about a text provides students with opportunities to build skills to discuss ideas, apply appropriate metalanguage, integrate evidence from a text to support key points, and explore organisational structures such as formal essays.

Students are provided with opportunities to practise and extend their writing about texts. They are given time and support to extend their writing through reflection, editing and feedback.

Students read and explore one set text, or extracts from a set text (EAL). The set text for this area of study must be of a different text type from that studied in Unit 1. Students’ understandings and experiences of the world, as well as supplementary texts, can enrich discussions about key ideas presented in the text. For this reason, the text selected should reflect the interest of the students and be worthy of close study.

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.

Suitable texts for study should reflect a variety of persuasive texts. Appropriate texts could be drawn from print, digital, audio and audio visual sources. These texts may include speeches, digitally presented texts, opinion and comment pieces, and other texts designed to position audiences in relation to an issue.

In selecting these texts, teachers should reflect on what students choose to read, view and listen to. Consideration and time should be given to the explicit teaching of contextual information and cultural knowledge required to support an understanding of the selected issue and texts.

Students practise analysing persuasive texts using note taking, summaries and short-answer questions, and through formal, analytical writing. When working with audio or audio visual texts, they explore elements of spoken language including intonation, volume, pace, pausing and stress, and develop analysis of the ways these elements contribute to argument and the effect on the audience. 

Students craft their writing using evidence from the texts to support their analysis. They draft and revise their writing and invite feedback from their teacher and other students to refine their ideas and expression. They aim for coherence, logic and accuracy in their writing.

Students employ their understanding of argument to create their own point of view text. They construct this text for oral presentation, and learn about the conventions of oral presentation for persuasive purposes. 

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. 

Sustained analytical writing about a text provides students with opportunities to further develop skills to engage with and challenge ideas, to refine their application of appropriate metalanguage, to integrate evidence from a text to support key points, and to improve their use of organisational structures such as formal essays. Through participation in discussion, students test their thinking, clarify ideas and form views about a text that can be further developed in their writing. 

All students are provided with opportunities to practise and extend their writing about texts, and EAL students are provided with a contextual framing of the text through a listening task that explores historical, cultural and/or social values relevant to the text (such as an interview, episode of a podcast, lecture or presentation). Prior to summative assessment, they are given time and support to extend their writing through reflection, editing and feedback.

Students study one text selected from the annual VCAA VCE English and EAL Text List. This text must be of a different text type from that which is selected for study in Unit 4.

Area of Study 2 – Creating 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.

Students work with mentor texts to inspire their own creative processes, to generate ideas for their writing, and as models for effective writing. They experiment with adaptation and individual creation, and demonstrate insight into ideas and effective writing strategies in their texts. They reflect on the deliberate choices they have made through their writing processes in their commentaries. 

Students participate in collaborative class work and discuss the ways that vocabulary, text structures and language features can enliven ideas. They read, explore and revisit examples of text, including extracts, to stimulate structural innovation and to inspire ideas when developing individual writing. They also make connections with experiences and events in their own lives, observing and recording to enrich their writing, and to extend their ideas. 

Students use and experiment with vocabulary, text structures, language features, and standard and non-standard conventions of language, including the use of colloquial and idiomatic language such as slang or dialect where appropriate. Through this engagement they deepen their understanding of how writing can move, provoke and/or inspire when constructed in consideration of a specific and situated audience, purpose and context (including mode). They play with language as they explore ideas and aim for aesthetic appeal, to expand their writing into the possibilities of emotion, imagination, explanation and perspective.

Unit 4

Area of Study 1 – Reading & 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.

Students apply reading and viewing strategies to engage with a text, and discuss and analyse the ways authors construct meaning in a text through the presentation of ideas, concerns and conflicts, and the use of vocabulary, text structures and language features. 

They engage with the dynamics of a text and explore the explicit and implicit ideas and values presented in a text. They recognise and explain the ways the historical context, and social and cultural values can affect a reader, and analyse how these social and cultural values are presented. They establish how these values can influence the way a text is read or viewed, can be understood by different audiences, and can position readers in different ways.

Sustained analytical writing about a text provides students with opportunities to refine skills to engage with and challenge ideas, to confidently apply appropriate metalanguage, to deftly integrate evidence from a text to support key points, and to enhance their use of organisational structures such as formal essays. Through participation in discussion, students test their thinking, clarify ideas and form views about a text that are clearly developed in their writing. 

Students are provided with opportunities to practise and extend their writing about texts. Prior to summative assessment, they are given time and support to extend their writing through reflection, editing and feedback.

Students study one text selected from the annual VCE English and EAL Text List. The text selected for study must be of a different text type from that which is selected for study in Unit 3.

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.

Students consider the purpose, audience and context of each text, the arguments, and the ways written and spoken language, and visuals are employed for effect. They analyse the ways all these elements work together to influence and/or convince an intended audience. Consideration and time should be given to explicit teaching of the contextual and cultural background of the selected issue and the texts explored.

Students must explore and analyse the structures and features of argument presented in audio and/or audio visual texts, and consider the unique structures and features that enhance argument in these contexts. They plan and develop written analyses in response to their explorations. Students practise the skills of revision and editing for clarity and coherence.

Students apply their understanding of the use of argument and language to create a point of view text for oral presentation. Through active listening, reading and viewing, students monitor and evaluate arguments on a topic of their choice, and then plan and develop their own point of view text on that topic. They present their points of view as a discussion, dialogue or debate, or in a presentation mode that best suits their context, purpose and audience.

Assessment

Satisfactory Completion

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on whether the student has demonstrated the set of outcomes specified for the unit. 

The areas of study and key knowledge and key skills listed for the outcomes should be used for course design and the development of learning activities and assessment tasks.

Levels of Achievement 

Units 1 and 2

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on whether the student has demonstrated the set of outcomes specified for the unit

Units 3 and 4

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will supervise the assessment of all students undertaking Units 3 and 4 in School-assessed Coursework and an end of year exam.

Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE English/EAL are as follows:

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 25% 

Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 25% 

End-of-year examination: 50%

The EAL course is the same as English but the EAL assessment tasks are appropriately modified to suit the needs of students for whom English is their second language.

English Language

Unit 1 - 4      2024 - 2028

Scope of Study

VCE English Language explores the ways in which language is used by individuals and groups and how it reflects our thinking and values. By learning about how we shape and can be shaped by our use of language, we can develop deeper understandings about ourselves, those who surround us and the society in which we live. These understandings enhance the skills for effective communication in all contexts.

VCE English Language is informed by the discipline of linguistics and draws on a set of metalinguistic tools to understand and analyse language use, variation and change. It is a study that builds on our experiences of Standard Australian English (SAE) and language varieties across numerous contexts, including in the classroom. 

It connects directly with key concepts embedded in the Victorian Curriculum F–10: English, including the language modes, the roles played by context, purpose and audience in any engagement with text, and the ways in which textual form contributes to creating meaning.

VCE English Language examines how use and interpretations of language are nuanced and complex rather than a series of fixed conventions. The study explores how we use spoken and written English to communicate, to think and innovate, to construct and reveal identities, to build and interrogate attitudes and assumptions, and to create and disrupt social cohesion. 

The study of VCE English Language reveals the structures, features and discourses of written and spoken texts through the systematic and evidence-based construction and deconstruction of language in use.

Rationale

The study of VCE 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 of VCE English Language enables students to further develop and refine their skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening to English. They become proficient in analysing and assessing language use and develop their abilities in effective communication. 

Through the exploration of language use, students gain insight into the experiences of others, develop empathy and compassion, and are better able to engage in active citizenship.

Structure

The study is made up of four units:

Unit 1: Language and communication 

Unit 2: Language change

Unit 3: Language variation and purpose 

Unit 4: Language variation and identity

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.

Entry

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.

Unit 1: Language and Communication

Language is an essential aspect of human behaviour and the means by which individuals relate to the world, to each other and to the communities of which they are members. In this unit, students consider the ways language is organised so that its users have the means to make sense of their experiences and to interact with others. 

Students explore the various functions of language and the nature of language as an elaborate system of signs and conventions. 

The relationship between speech and writing as the dominant language modes and the impact of situational and cultural contexts on language choices are also considered. Students investigate children’s ability to acquire language and the stages of language acquisition across a range of subsystems.

Unit 2: Language Change

In this unit, students focus on language change. Languages are dynamic and language change is an inevitable and continuous process. Students consider factors contributing to change in the English language over time and factors contributing to the spread of English. 

They explore texts from the past and from the present and consider how language change affects each of the subsystems of language – phonetics and phonology, morphology, lexicology, syntax, discourse, and pragmatics and semantics. Students also consider how attitudes to language change can vary markedly.

In addition to developing an understanding of how English has been transformed, they consider how the global spread of English has led to a diversification of the language and to English now being used by more people as an additional or a foreign language than as a first language. 

Students investigate how contact between English and other languages has led to the development of geographical and ethnic varieties but has also hastened the decline of the languages of indigenous peoples. They consider the cultural repercussions of the spread of English.

Unit 3: Language Variation and Social Purpose

In this unit students investigate English language in contemporary Australian settings. They consider language as a means of interaction, exploring how through written and spoken texts we communicate information, ideas, attitudes, prejudices and ideological stances.

Students examine the features of formal and informal language in both spoken and written language modes; the grammatical and discourse structure of language; the choice and meanings of words within texts; how words are combined to convey a message; the role played by the functions of language when conveying a message; and the particular context in which a message is conveyed. 

Students learn how to describe the interrelationship between words, sentences and text and explore how texts present message and meaning.

Students learn that language choices are always influenced by the function, register and tenor, and the situational and cultural contexts in which they occur. They learn that the situational elements of a language exchange, such as the field, language mode, setting and text type, influence language choice, as do the values, attitudes and beliefs held by participants and the wider community. 

Students learn how speakers and writers select language features and how this in turn establishes the degree of formality within a discourse. 

They learn how language can be indicative of relationships, power structures and purpose through the choice of a particular variety of language and through the ways in which language varieties are used in processes of inclusion and exclusion.

Unit 4: Language Variation and Identity

In this unit students focus on the role of language in establishing and challenging different identities. There are many varieties of English used in contemporary Australian society, influenced by the intersection of geographical, cultural and social factors. Standard Australian English is the variety that is granted prestige in contemporary Australian society and, as such, has a central role in the complex construct of a national identity. 

However, the use of language varieties can play important roles in constructing users’ social and cultural identities. Students examine texts to explore the ways different identities are imposed, negotiated and conveyed. 

Students explore how our sense of identity evolves in response to situations and experiences, and is influenced by how we see ourselves and how others see us. Through our language we express ourselves as individuals and signal our membership of particular groups. Students explore how language can distinguish between ‘us’ and ‘them’, creating solidarity and reinforcing social distance.

Assessment Satisfactory Completion

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on the teacher’s decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. Demonstration of achievement of outcomes and satisfactory completion of a unit are determined by evidence gained through the assessment of a range of learning activities and tasks.

Levels of Achievement 

Units 1 and 2

Procedures for the assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision.

Units 3 and 4

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will supervise the assessment of all students undertaking Units 3 and 4 in School-assessed Coursework and an end of year exam.

Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE English Language are as follows:

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 25 % 

Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 25 % 

End-of-year examination: 50 %

Literature

Units 1 - 4    2023 - 2027

Scope of Study

VCE Literature focuses on the meanings derived from texts, the relationships between texts, the contexts in which texts are produced, and how readers’ experiences shape their responses to texts.

In VCE Literature students develop and refine four key abilities through their engagement with texts. 

These are: 

• an ability to offer an interpretation of a whole text (or a collection of texts) 
• an ability to demonstrate a close analysis of passages or extracts from a text, in consideration of the whole text
• an ability to understand and explore multiple interpretations of a text 
• an ability to respond creatively to a text.

Students are provided with opportunities to read deeply, widely and critically; to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of texts; and to write creatively and analytically.

VCE Literature enables students to examine the historical, social and cultural contexts within which both readers and texts are situated. Accordingly, the texts selected for study should be drawn from a wide range of eras, a variety of forms and diverse social and cultural contexts. 

Rationale

The study of VCE Literature fosters students’ enjoyment and appreciation of the artistic and aesthetic merits of stories and storytelling and enables students to participate more fully in the cultural conversations that take place around them. By reading and exploring a diverse range of established and emerging literary works, students become increasingly empowered to discuss texts. As both readers and writers, students extend their creativity and high-order thinking to express and develop their critical and creative voices. 

Throughout this study, students deepen their awareness of the historical, social and cultural influences that shape texts and their understanding of themselves as readers. Students expand their frameworks for exploring literature by considering literary forms and features, engaging with language, and refining their insight into authorial choices. Students immerse themselves in challenging fiction and non-fiction texts, discovering and experimenting with a variety of interpretations in order to develop their own responses. 

Structure

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.

Unit 1 

Area of Study 1 – Reading Practices

In this area of study students consider how language, structure and stylistic choices are used in different literary forms and types of text. They consider both print and non-print texts, reflecting on the contribution of form and style to meaning. Students reflect on the degree to which points of view, experiences and contexts shape their own and others’ interpretations of text.

Area of Study 2 – Exploration of Literary Movements and Genres

In this area of study students explore the concerns, ideas, style and conventions common to a distinctive type of literature seen in literary movements or genres. Examples of these groupings include literary movements and/or genres such as modernism, epic, tragedy and magic realism, as well as more popular, or mainstream, genres and subgenres such as crime, romance and science fiction. 

Students explore texts from the selected movement or genre, identifying and examining attributes, patterns and similarities that locate each text within that grouping. Students engage with the ideas and concerns shared by the texts through language, settings, narrative structures and characterisation, and they experiment with the assumptions and representations embedded in the texts.

Unit 2

Area of Study 1 – Voices of Country

In this area of study students explore the voices, perspectives and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and creators. They consider the interconnectedness of place, culture and identity through the experiences, texts and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including connections to Country, the impact of colonisation and its ongoing consequences, and issues of reconciliation and reclamation. 

Students examine representations of culture and identity in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ texts and the ways in which these texts present voices and perspectives that explore and challenge assumptions and stereotypes arising from colonisation. 

Students acknowledge and reflect on a range of Australian views and values (including their own) through a text(s). Within that exploration, students consider stories about the Australian landscape and culture.

Area of Study 2 – The Text in its Context

In this area of study students focus on the text and its historical, social and cultural context. Students reflect on representations of a specific time period and/or culture within a text.

Students explore the text to understand its point of view and what it reflects or comments on. They identify the language and the representations in the text that reflect the specific time period and/or culture, its ideas and concepts. Students develop an understanding that contextual meaning is already implicitly or explicitly inscribed in a text and that textual details and structures can be scrutinised to illustrate its significance.

Students develop the ability to analyse language closely, recognising that words have historical and cultural import. 

Unit 3

Area of Study 1 – Adaptions and Transformations

In this area of study students focus on how the form of a text contributes to its meaning. Students explore the form of a set text by constructing a close analysis of that text. They then reflect on the extent to which adapting the text to a different form, and often in a new or reimagined context, affects its meaning, comparing the original with the adaptation. 

By exploring an adaptation, students also consider how creators of adaptations may emphasise or minimise viewpoints, assumptions and ideas present in the original text.

Area of Study 2 – Developing Interpretations

In this area of study students explore the different ways we can read and understand a text by developing, considering and comparing interpretations of a set text. 

Students first develop their own interpretations of a set text, analysing how ideas, views and values are presented in a text, and the ways these are endorsed, challenged and/or marginalised through literary forms, features and language. These student interpretations should consider the historical, social and cultural context in which a text is written and set. Students also consider their own views and values as readers. 

Students then explore a supplementary reading that can enrich, challenge and/or contest the ideas and the views, values and assumptions of the set text to further enhance the students’ understanding. Examples of a supplementary reading can include writing by a teacher, a scholarly article or an explication of a literary theory. A supplementary reading that provides only opinion or evaluation of the relative merits of the text is not considered appropriate for this task. 

Informed by the supplementary reading, students develop a second interpretation of the same text, reflecting an enhanced appreciation and understanding of the text. They then apply this understanding to key moments from the text, supporting their work with considered textual evidence.

Unit 4

Area of Study 1 – Creative Responses to Texts

In this area of study students focus on the imaginative techniques used for creating and recreating a literary work. Students use their knowledge of how the meaning of texts can change as context and form change to construct their own creative transformations of texts. 

They learn how authors develop representations of people and places, and they develop an understanding of language, voice, form and structure. Students draw inferences from the original text in order to create their own writing. In their adaptation of the tone and the style of the original text, students develop an understanding of the views and values explored. 

Students develop an understanding of the various ways in which authors craft texts. They reflect critically on the literary form, features and language of a text, and discuss their own responses as they relate to the text, including the purpose and context of their creations. 

Area of Study 2 – Close Analysis of Texts

In this area of study students focus on a detailed scrutiny of the language, style, concerns and construction of texts. Students attend closely to textual details to examine the ways specific passages in a text contribute to their overall understanding of the whole text. 

Students consider literary forms, features and language, and the views and values of the text. They write expressively to develop a close analysis, using detailed references to the text. 

Satisfactory Completion 

The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on a decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. This decision will be based on the teacher’s assessment of the student’s performance on assessment tasks designated for the unit.

Levels of achievement

Units 1 and 2 

Procedures for the assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision.

Units 3 and 4

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will supervise the assessment of all students undertaking Units 3 and 4 in School-assessed Coursework and an end of year exam.

Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE Literature are as follows:

Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 25 %

Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 25 %

End-of-year examination: 50 %