Why study English Language?
English Language is a study of language and its use in communication. English Language requires sustained independent reading and consideration of a variety of spoken and written texts. As such, students who undertake this course should be prepared to consistently read through many challenging texts and write analytically about them. It is strongly recommended that students have completed Units 1 and 2 English Language as a basis for studying Unit 3 and 4 English Language. Students may select English Language because they enjoy the analytical challenge of studying English as a language. Other students may elect to undertake English Language because they have a genuine love of English and seek to complete the course in combination with either Literature or mainstream English. It is suggested that student’s visit the VCAA website and view past papers, the Examiners’ Reports and the Study Design to get an indication of the subject content. The course is informed by the discipline of linguistics and integrates a systematic exploration of the nature of the English Language. Knowledge of how language functions helps develop skills useful in any field in which attention is paid explicitly to language, such as communications, communication disorders, speech and reading therapy, pre-school and primary education, foreign language and English teaching. These skills are also central to areas such as psychology, cognitive science, computer science, and philosophy.
UNIT 1 - Language & Communication
Language is an essential aspect of human behaviour and it is 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 way 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 a highly elaborate system of signs. The relationship between speech and writing as the dominant modes of language 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.
Learning Activities:
Analysing a variety of text types both written, spoken and sign language, studying children’s acquisition of language, reading the International Phonetic Alphabet, understanding additional language learning, linguistic analysis, grammatical exercises, text questions, short answer responses, quizzes, annotations and other relevant tasks.
Key Skills Achieved:
Grammatical knowledge and skills, ability to interpret and analyse both written and spoken texts, use of appropriate metalanguage, inquiry based and essay writing skills.
Assessment:
UNIT 2 - Language Change
In this unit, students focus on language change. Languages are dynamic and change is an inevitable and a continuous process. Students consider factors contributing to change over time in the English language and factors contributing to the spread of English. They explore texts from the past, and contemporary texts, considering how all subsystems of the language system are affected – phonetics and phonology, morphology and lexicology, syntax, discourse and semantics. Attitudes to language change vary considerably and these are also considered. In addition to developing an understanding of how English has been transformed over the centuries, students explore the various possibilities for the future of English. 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. Contact between English and other languages has led to the development of geographical and ethnic varieties, but has also hastened the decline of indigenous languages. Students consider the cultural repercussions of the spread of English.
Learning Activities:
Analysing a variety of text types, examining a range of literature to explore how language has changed (a variety of texts explored including but not limited to the Bible and texts from Chaucer, Shakespeare, AB Paterson and Bruce Dawe), text questions, linguistic analysis, quizzes, grammatical exercises, short response answers, annotations and other relevant tasks.
Key Skills Achieved:
Grammatical, metalanguage and subsystems knowledge and skills from Unit 1, linguistic interpretation and analysis, inquiry based and essay writing skills.
Assessment:
Prerequisites:
It is recommended that students have a 75% Average in Yr 10 Mainstream English.
Recommendations:
N/A
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