English
English Units 1/2
Prerequisites:
The study of a subject from the English group in Units 1 and 2 is compulsory. In Year 12, students must undertake Unit 3 English prior to undertaking Unit 4.
English is the mainstream choice of subject for most students studying VCE. The study of English contributes to the development of literate individuals capable of critical and creative thinking, aesthetic appreciation and creativity. This study also develops students’ ability to create and analyse texts, moving from interpretation to reflection and critical analysis. Through engagement with texts from the contemporary world and from the past, and using texts from Australia and other cultures, students studying English become confident, articulate and critically aware communicators and further develop a sense of themselves, their world and their place within it.
Unit 1: Semester 1
In Unit 1, 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.
In this unit, students also 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.
ASSESSMENT
- Reading and exploring texts: Responding to a literary text (40%)
- Crafting Texts: A written text constructed in consideration of purpose, audience and context (20%)
- Crafting Texts: A written text constructed in consideration of purpose, audience and context (20%)
- Crafting Texts: A commentary reflecting on writing processes (20%)
Unit 2: Semester 2
In Unit 2, 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.
In this unit, students also 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.
- Reading and exploring texts: Responding to a literary text (40%)
- Analysing Argument: Analytical response to argument in written form (40%)
- Analysing Argument: A point of view oral presentation
Curriculum Guide – English Units 3/4
Unit 3: Semester 1
In Unit 3, 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.
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.
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.
In this unit, students also 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.
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 comment on their decisions made through writing processes.
ASSESSMENT
- Reading and exploring texts: Analytical response to a text in written form (40%)
- Crafting Texts: A written text constructed in consideration of purpose, audience and context (20%)
- Crafting Texts: A written text constructed in consideration of purpose, audience and context (20%)
- Crafting Texts: A commentary reflecting on writing processes (20%)
Unit 4: Semester 2
In Unit 4, 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.
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.
On completion of this unit the student should be able to discuss ideas, concerns and values presented in a text, informed by selected vocabulary, text structures and language features and how they make meaning.
In this unit, students also analyse the use of argument and language, and visuals in texts that debate a contemporary and significant national or international issue. 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 apply their understanding of the use of argument and language to create a point of view text for oral presentation.
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.
ASSESSMENT
- Reading and exploring texts: An analytical response to a text in written form (40%)
- Analysing Argument: An analytical response to argument in written form (40%)
- Analysing Argument: A point of view oral presentation (20%)
English as an Additional Language
Curriculum Guide – Units 1/2
Eligibility Requirements
Eligibility Requirements for EAL exist at Units 3&4. Students will ordinarily be permitted to enrol in Units 1&2 EAL only if they are likely to meet these requirements in Units 3&4.
Unit 1: Semester 1
In Unit 1, 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. For this outcome, students will read and explore one set text, or extracts from the set text (EAL).
In this unit, students also 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.
ASSESSMENT
- Reading and exploring texts: Responding to a literary text (40%)
- Crafting Texts: A written text constructed in consideration of purpose, audience and context (20%)
- Crafting Texts: A written text constructed in consideration of purpose, audience and context (20%)
- Crafting Texts: A set of annotations reflecting on writing processes (20%)
Unit 2: Semester 2
In Unit 2, 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. 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.
In this unit, students also 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.
- Reading and exploring texts: Responding to a literary text (40%)
- Analysing Argument: Analytical response to argument in written form (40%)
- Analysing Argument: A point of view oral presentation (20%)
Curriculum Guide – English as an Additional Language (EAL) Units 3/4
Eligibility Criteria:
Please refer to the EAL Eligibility Criteria on the VCAA website.
| Criteria no. | Criteria for EAL status |
| 1 | A student: – will not have resided in Australia or another predominantly English-speaking country for a total period of more than seven years prior to 1 January in the year the student will be undertaking Units 3 and 4 EAL* and – has been enrolled in schools where English has been the student’s major language of instruction for a total period of seven years or less over the period of their education^ |
| 2 | A student is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person whose first language is not English |
| 3 | A student is deaf or hard of hearing and meets the eligibility requirements |
Unit 3: Semester 1
In Unit 3, 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.
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.
On completion of this unit the student should be able to listen to and discuss ideas, concerns and values presented in a text, informed by selected vocabulary, text structures and language features and how they make meaning.
In this unit, students also 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.
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.
ASSESSMENT
- Reading and exploring texts: Analytical response to a text in written form (40%)
- Reading and exploring texts: Comprehension of an audio/audiovisual text focused on historical, cultural or social values in the set text (20%)
- Crafting Texts: A written text constructed in consideration of purpose, audience and context (20%)
- Crafting Texts: A written text constructed in consideration of purpose, audience and context (20%)
- Crafting Texts: A commentary reflecting on writing processes (10%)
Unit 4: Semester 2
In Unit 4, 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.
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.
On completion of this unit the student should be able to discuss ideas, concerns and values presented in a text, informed by selected vocabulary, text structures and language features and how they make meaning.
In this unit, students also analyse the use of argument and language, and visuals in texts that debate a contemporary and significant national or international issue. 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 apply their understanding of the use of argument and language to create a point of view text for oral presentation.
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.
ASSESSMENT
- Reading and exploring texts: An analytical response to a text in written form (40%)
- Analysing Argument: An analytical response to argument in written form (40%)
- Analysing Argument: A point of view oral presentation (20%)
Literature
Please note: choosing a specialist English subject may limit access to other subject choices across the VCE.
Literature Units 1/2
Prerequisites
The study of a subject from the English group in Units 1 and 2 is compulsory. In Year 12, students must undertake Unit 3 English prior to undertaking Unit 4.
GGS offers Literature alongside the mainstream English subject, EAL and English Language. Refer to the overall English Pathways information in the Curriculum Guide to determine if Literature is a relevant subject choice for you. Students are expected to read widely, reflect deliberately and analyse deeply.
VCE Literature provides opportunities for students to develop their awareness of people, places and cultures and explore the way texts represent the complexity of human experience. Students examine the evolving and dialogic nature of texts, the changing contexts in which they were produced and notions of value. The study of Literature enables students to consider the power and complexity of language, the ways literary features and techniques contribute to meaning and the significance of form and structure. They develop their capacity to read and interpret texts and reflect on their interpretations and those of others to cultivate an awareness that there are multiple readings of texts and that the nature of language and text is dynamic. They are encouraged to be independent, innovative and creative, developing the ability to read deeply and widely and to establish and articulate their views through creative and analytical responses.
Unit 1: Semester 1
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. Students closely examine the literary forms, features and language of texts. They begin to identify and explore textual details, including language and features, to develop a close analysis response to a text.
In this unit, students also 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.
ASSESSMENT
- Reading practices: Close analysis (40%)
- Exploration of literary movements and genres: Comparative response (30%)
- Exploration of literary movements and genres: Creative response (30%)
Unit 2: Semester 2
In Unit 2, 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.
Students study an additional text, focusing on 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.
ASSESSMENT
- Voices of Country: Close analysis (40%)
- The text in its context: Viva voce (20%)
- The text in its context: Close analysis (40%)
Curriculum Guide – Literature Units 3/4
Unit 3: Semester 1
In this unit, 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.
Students also 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. 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.
ASSESSMENT
- Adaptations and transformations: Close analysis (20%)
- Adaptations and transformations: Comparative response (30%)
- Developing interpretations: Part A: Initial response, and Part B Subsequent interpretation (50%)
Unit 4: Semester 2
In Unit 4, 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.
Furthermore, students engage in the close analysis of texts, engaging in 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
- Creative responses to texts: Creative response (40%)
- Creative responses to texts: Close analysis and reflection (20%)
- Close analysis of texts: Close analysis (40%)
English Language
Please note: choosing a specialist English subject may limit access to other subject choices across the VCE.
English Language Units 1/2
Prerequisites:
The study of a subject from the English group in Units 1 and 2 is compulsory. In Year 12, students must undertake Unit 3 English prior to undertaking Unit 4.
GGS offers English Language for the first time in 2024. Refer to the overall English Pathways information in the Curriculum Guide to determine if English Language is a relevant subject choice for you. Students are expected to read widely, reflect deliberately and analyse deeply.
English Language is an interdisciplinary subject that explores the ways in which language is used by individuals and groups and reflects our thinking and values. Learning about language helps us to understand ourselves, the groups with which we identify and the society we inhabit. English Language builds on students’ previous learning about the conventions and codes used by speakers and writers of English. Informed by the discipline of linguistics, it provides students with metalinguistic tools to understand and analyse language use, variation and change. Knowledge of how language functions provides a useful basis for further study or employment in numerous fields such as arts, sciences, law, politics, trades, education and language and communication related fields.
Unit 1: Semester 1
Unit 1 is focused on 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.
On completion of this unit the student should be able to identify and describe primary aspects of the nature and functions of human language. They should be able to identify and describe types of language acquisition, and to discuss and investigate language acquisition in the context of linguistic theories.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment in Units 1/2 is a school-based decision. Students will be assessed in a variety of formats, including:
- a folio of annotated texts
- an essay
- an investigative report
- an analytical commentary
- short-answer questions.
At least one assessment in Unit 1 must be in an oral presentation format
Unit 2: Semester 2
Unit 2 is focused on Language and 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.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment in Units 1/2 is a school-based decision. Students will be assessed in a variety of formats, including:
- a folio of annotated texts
- an essay
- an investigative report
- an analytical commentary
- short-answer questions.
At least one assessment in Unit 2 must be in an oral presentation format
Subject to review, English Language Units 3/4 will be offered in 2025
In Units 3/4, the following weightings apply to school assessed coursework and examination components
- Unit 3 school-assessed coursework 25%
- Unit 4 school-assessed coursework 25%
- End-of-year examination 50%