English

English

• English
• EALD - English as an Additional Language or Dialect
• English Language
• Literature

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When selecting your English study for VCE, please consider the following points: 

1. VCE English studies continue and build on the work you have done in the previous years of schooling. 
2. Students who have had difficulty with Year 10 English will most likely find Literature and English Language even more difficult. Such students may find it more appropriate to take English as their requirement. 
3. All students selecting Literature could consider studying another English subject as a part of their study pathway.
4. An English subject (English, English Language or Literature) is compulsory at VCE and a minimum Study Score of 25 or above is the general prerequisite for most undergraduate courses at university. 
5. English studies are counted in the primary four subjects when calculating the atar in year 12, therefore this subject is important in the overall attainment success of VCE and future pathways. 
6. English as an Additional Language is only available to students who meet the required eligibility criteria. 

The English Requirement

Taking an English study is compulsory and students must satisfactorily complete a minimum 3 units of study from the core group of English studies (see table below).  Two of these studies must be Units 3 and 4 level.

NB: Unit 3 & 4 subjects must be taken as a sequence.  

English/English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EALD)

Description

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.

Unit 1: Outcome 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.

Unit 1: Outcome 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.

Unit 2: Outcome 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.

Unit 2: Outcome 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.

Unit 3: Outcome 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.

Unit 3: Outcome 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.

Unit 4: Outcome 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.

Unit 4: Outcome 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.

Assessment:

Units 3 and 4 - Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE English for Units 3 and 4 are as follows: 

• Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework:  25%
• Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework:  25%
• End-of-year examination:  50%

English Language

Bianca Horvath - I chose English Language as I am not required to analyse themes”. It seemed more pragmatic, and it matched my logical approach to learning.  English Language has a lot to offer when it comes to really diving into “words”, what they mean, how they originate and change over time, and how they can alter a sentence as a whole.  There is honestly so much metalanguage in EL, there are literally 100s of new words to add to your vocabulary, not only understanding their definition, but then how they actually work in terms of a particular scenario you’re given.  

I understand more now what teachers mean by saying “EL is better for Science/Math oriented students”, however not in the direct sense. More like, if you’re good at analysing, memorising terminology and how it’s used, and, if you’re really able to apply it to a random scenario, then yes, this subject may seem better for you. 

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Description

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.

Unit 1: Language and Communication

Outcome 1 - 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. Students are introduced to the theory that language is a system of signs and conventions, and that while the relationship between words and meanings may be arbitrary, our use of language is governed by conventions and informed by accepted systems.

Outcome 2 - 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.

Unit 2: Language Change

Outcome 1 - 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.

Outcome 2 - 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

Unit 3: Language Variation and Purpose

Outcome 1 - Informality

In this area of study students consider the way speakers and writers choose from a repertoire of language to vary the style of their language to suit particular purposes. They identify the function and consider and analyse the features of informal language in written, spoken and electronic interactions, understanding that the situational and cultural contexts of an exchange influence the language used.

Outcome 2 - Formality

In this area of study students consider the way speakers and writers choose from a repertoire of language to suit particular purposes. As with informal language, the situational and cultural contexts determine whether people use formal language and in which language mode they choose to communicate.

Unit 4: Language Variation and Identity

Outcome 1 - Language variation in Australian society

This area of study enables students to examine the range of language varieties that exist in contemporary Australian society and the role of those varieties in contributing to an increasingly contested national identity. Standard Australian English has much in common with Englishes from other continents, but the language has also developed features across all subsystems of language that distinguish it from other Englishes.

Outcome 2 - Individual and group identities

In this area of study students focus on the role of language in reflecting, imposing, negotiating and conveying individual and group identities. They examine how language users play different roles within speech communities and are able to construct their identities through subconscious and conscious language variation. In this work, students engage with social variables including age, gender, sexuality, occupation, interests, aspiration and education. While individual identity can be derived from the character traits that make us unique, our social identities are drawn from our membership of particular groups. Students investigate how, as individuals, we make language choices that draw on our understanding of social expectations and community attitudes.

Assessment:

Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE English Language for Units 3 and 4 are as follows: 

• Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework:  25%
• Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework:  25%
• End-of-year examination:  50%

Literature

Sienna Bolano - 

I was strong in English and love reading, and this subject scales up.  I enjoy annotating passages.  Writing essays within the time limit.  If you love reading and analysing ext to understand the theme meaning this is the subject for you.

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Description

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.

Unit 1: Outcome 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.

Unit 1: Outcome 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: Outcome 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.

Unit 2: Outcome 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.

Unit 3: Outcome 1 - Adaptations 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.

Unit 3: Outcome 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. Informed by the supplementary reading, students develop a second interpretation of the same text, reflecting an enhanced appreciation and understanding of the text. 

Unit 4: Outcome 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.

Unit 4: Outcome 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.

Assessment

Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE Literature for Units 3 and 4 are as follows: 

• Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework:  25%
• Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework:  25%
• End-of-year examination:  50%