Description
This study of the English Language is based on the field of Linguistics. In EL you will explore language as a complex system which evolves based on how we humans use it. You will consider the ways that context shapes language choice, and in turn, how this contributes to the evolution of language. In these units you will not be involved in the close reading of imaginative texts such as novels, but you will undertake close readings of a variety of non-fiction texts to determine the way in which the subsystems of language contribute to meaning. This course has a significant focus on the ‘building blocks’ of language (what we might typically refer to under the umbrella of ‘grammar’) and you will use these to analyse a range of spoken and written texts. In this class you will examine how the rules of language apply to the creation of new words, and how the meaning and usage of language changes over time.
Skill Development
Students will learn to read and evaluate written and spoken texts using their knowledge of the requirements of an Analytical Commentary. Students will develop a deep knowledge of the five subsystems of linguistics and be able to apply this knowledge to an analysis of written and spoken texts. They will acquire the ability to understand words in terms of their sound, shape, history and cultural significance.
Students will learn how to write an Investigative Report and an English Language essay. They will learn the process of reading widely and keep up with an English Language Journal.
Possible Assessment Tasks
- Short Answer Response
- Case Study research project
- Analytical Commentaries; where you subject a piece of text to analysis using the metalanguage of the subsystems
- Investigative Reports
- English Language Essays
- Creating transcripts of written and spoken texts
- Language Journal exercises
- Grammatical exercises and application of grammatical knowledge
Career Options
Journalist, lawyer, public relations, editor, medicine, politics, trades, psychology, speech and sciences.
Year 10