At a glance
A course where students read, view and listen to a wide range of texts, and learn to write and speak clearly. Students learn how texts work, how they shape meaning, and how to create their own texts for different audiences.
This course is a good choice for students who:
- enjoy reading, discussing ideas and thinking about texts
- want strong writing, speaking and communication skills
- like analysing how language choices shape meaning
About this course
English builds skills in reading, viewing, listening, speaking and writing. Students study a range of texts (including media and digital texts) and learn how purpose, audience and context (time, place and situation) shape meaning. Assessment usually includes responding tasks (analysis) and creating tasks (writing, speaking or multimodal texts).
Pathways
This course can support pathways into areas such as:
- university study that requires strong reading and writing skills
- journalism, communications and media
- law, education, humanities and social sciences
- any pathway that values clear communication and critical thinking
Units in this course
Students complete 2 units for a Minor or 4 units for a Major.
Unit 1: Communication of Meaning
This unit is about how texts communicate meaning for different purposes, audiences and contexts.
Students will:
- explore how language, structure and visuals create meaning
- create texts for different purposes and audiences
Unit 2: Representations Through Texts
This unit is about how texts represent ideas and viewpoints, and how they shape perspectives.
Students will:
- analyse how language and structure position audiences
- create texts that represent ideas for a purpose and audience
Unit 3: Comparative Texts
This unit is about comparing how different texts explore similar ideas and how context and mode affect meaning.
Students will:
- compare texts within or across genres and modes
- explain similarities, differences and effects using evidence
Unit 4: Perspectives
This unit is about exploring different viewpoints and building a well-supported response.
Students will:
- examine how voice, values and context shape perspectives
- develop and test interpretations through discussion and writing