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ENGLISH & EAL

Years 9/10

JOURNALISM:

Journalism will focus on the role of the journalistic media in society as well as interviewing and writing techniques that communicate to a specific audience for specific purposes. There will be elements of student choice as you explore a range of styles and forms that interest you whilst as a class you will develop a wholistic Forest Hill College online news site making decisions about content and formats as you go. You will also develop communication skills and will explore Australian and International news publications to inform your own news production. The research, interviewing, writing and formatting skills you learn in this course will be relevant to Business Studies, Media, and English in future.

 

LITERATURE – ADVANCED ENGLISH:

Literature – Advanced English develops a nuanced understanding of literature with a focus on infamous literacy texts, ranging from medieval and gothic literature to texts within the postmodern movement. The course will study literature through a political and social lens, enhancing student capacity to analyse and interpret texts for senior English. A range of authors and genres are explored, and students have autonomy to choose their own novels and films to discuss. Literature aims to provide an advanced understanding of reading and analysis of texts and their function within particular cultures.

ENGLISH – SPORTS EDITION:

English – Sports Edition develops literacy and English skills through a thematic focus on sport. The subject will focus on issues presented in the media related to sport, a novel that focuses on teamwork, resilience and community, as well as sports themed film to analyse and draw creative inspiration. A variety of sports and sportspeople will be covered within this modern and engaging take on English which will solidify and extend key literacy skills and knowledge to prepare students for either a vocational or VCE pathway.

VCE

ENGLISH & EAL UNITS 1-4:

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.

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.

LITERATURE UNITS 1-4:

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.

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.