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• VCELA262

  Understand that verbs represent different processes (doing, thinking, saying, and relating) and that these processes are anchored in time through tense

  Elaborations

  • identifying different types of verbs and the way they add meaning to a sentence
  • exploring action and saying verbs in narrative texts to show how they give information about what characters do and say
  • exploring the use of sensing verbs and how they allow readers to know what characters think and feel
  • exploring the use of relating verbs in constructing definitions and descriptions
  • learning how time is represented through the tense of a verb and other structural, language and visual features

  VCELA262 | Curriculum content | English | Level 3 | Writing | Language

• VCELA263

  Understand how to use letter–sound relationships and less common letter combinations to spell words

  Elaborations

  • using spelling strategies such as: phonological knowledge (for example diphthongs and other ambiguous vowel sounds in more complex words); three-letter clusters (for example 'thr', 'shr', 'squ'); visual knowledge (for example more complex single-syllable homophones such as 'break/brake', 'ate/eight'); morphemic knowledge (for example inflectional endings in single-syllable words, plural and past tense); generalisations (for example to make a word plural when it ends in 's', 'sh', 'ch', or 'z' add 'es'); and using knowledge of how different letters and combinations of letters represent different sounds, including less common combinations, for example, 'dge' after a short vowel as in 'badge', to write words in independent writing

  VCELA263 | Curriculum content | English | Level 3 | Writing | Language

• VCELA280

  Understand how adverb groups/phrases and prepositional phrases work in different ways to provide circumstantial details about an activity

  Elaborations

  • investigating in texts how adverb group/phrases and prepositional phrases can provide details of the circumstances surrounding a happening or state (for example, ‘At midnight (time) he rose slowly (manner) from the chair (place) and went upstairs (place)’

  VCELA280 | Curriculum content | English | Level 4 | Reading and Viewing | Language

• VCELA292

  Understand that the meaning of sentences can be enriched through the use of noun groups/phrases and verb groups/phrases and prepositional phrases

  Elaborations

  • creating richer, more specific descriptions through the use of noun groups/phrases (for example, in narrative texts, ‘their very old Siamese cat’; in reports, 'its extremely high mountain ranges')

  VCELA292 | Curriculum content | English | Level 4 | Writing | Language

• VCELA290

  Understand how texts are made cohesive through the use of linking devices including pronoun reference and text connectives

  Elaborations

  • knowing how authors construct texts that are cohesive and coherent by using pronouns that link to something previously mentioned, determiners (for example 'this', 'that', 'these', 'those', 'the'), text connectives that create links between sentences (for example 'however', 'therefore', 'nevertheless', 'in addition', 'by contrast', 'in summary')
  • identifying how participants are tracked through a text by, for example, using pronouns to refer back to noun groups/phrases
  • describing how text connectives link sections of a text providing sequences through time, for example ‘firstly’, ‘then’, ‘next’, and ‘finally’

  VCELA290 | Curriculum content | English | Level 4 | Writing | Language

• VCELA323

  Understand the difference between main and subordinate clauses and that a complex sentence involves at least one subordinate clause

  Elaborations

  • knowing that the function of complex sentences is to make connections between ideas, such as: to provide a reason (for example 'He jumped up because the bell rang.'), to state a purpose (for example 'She raced home in order to confront her brother.'), to express a condition (for example 'It will break if you push it.'), to make a concession (for example 'She went to work even though she was not feeling well.'), to link two ideas in terms of various time relations (for example 'Nero fiddled while Rome burned.')

  VCELA323 | Curriculum content | English | Level 5 | Writing | Language

• VCELA321

  Understand that the starting point of a sentence gives prominence to the message in the text and allows for prediction of how the text will unfold

  Elaborations

  • observing how writers use the beginning of a sentence to signal to the reader how the text is developing (for example 'Snakes are reptiles. They have scales and no legs. Many snakes are poisonous. However, in Australia they are protected')

  VCELA321 | Curriculum content | English | Level 5 | Writing | Language

• VCELA322

  Understand how the grammatical category of possessives is signalled through apostrophes and how to use apostrophes with common and proper nouns

  Elaborations

  • learning that in Standard Australian English regular plural nouns ending in ‘s’ form the possessive by adding just the apostrophe (for example ‘my parents' car’)
  • learning that in Standard Australian English for proper nouns a variant form without the second ‘s’ is sometimes found (for example ‘James’s house’ or ‘James’ house’)

  VCELA322 | Curriculum content | English | Level 5 | Writing | Language

• VCELA325

  Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning, and know that words can have different meanings in different contexts

  Elaborations

  • moving from general, ‘all-purpose’ words, for example ‘cut’ to more specific words, for example ‘slice’, ‘dice’, ‘fillet’, ‘segment’

  VCELA325 | Curriculum content | English | Level 5 | Writing | Language

• VCELA362

  Understand that different social and geographical dialects or accents are used in Australia in addition to Standard Australian English

  Elaborations

  • recognising that there are more than 150 Aboriginal languages and two Torres Strait Islander languages and that they relate to geographic areas in Australia
  • recognising that all languages and dialects are of equal value, although we use different ones in different contexts, for example the use of Standard Australian English, Aboriginal English and forms of Creole used by some Torres Strait Islander groups and some of Australia’s near neighbours

  VCELA362 | Curriculum content | English | Level 6 | Speaking and Listening | Language

• VCELA335

  Understand how to move beyond making bare assertions and take account of differing perspectives and points of view

  Elaborations

  • recognising that a bare assertion (for example 'It's the best film this year') often needs to be tempered by: using the 'impersonal it' to distance oneself (for example 'It could be that it is the best film this year'); recruiting anonymous support (for example 'It is generally agreed that it is the best film this year.'); indicating a general source of the opinion (for example 'Most critics agree that it is the best film this year.'); specifying the source of the opinion (for example 'David and Margaret both agree that it is the best film this year') and reflecting on the effect of these different choices

  VCELA335 | Curriculum content | English | Level 5 | Speaking and Listening | Language

• VCELA334

  Understand that patterns of language interaction vary across social contexts and types of texts and that they help to signal social roles and relationships

  Elaborations

  • identifying ways in which cultures differ in making and responding to common requests, for example periods of silence, degrees of formality

  VCELA334 | Curriculum content | English | Level 5 | Speaking and Listening | Language

• VCELA351

  Understand how ideas can be expanded and sharpened through careful choice of verbs, elaborated tenses and a range of adverb groups/phrases

  Elaborations

  • knowing that verbs often represent actions and that the choice of more expressive verbs makes an action more vivid (for example 'She ate her lunch' compared to 'She gobbled up her lunch')
  • knowing that adverb groups/phrases and prepositional phrases can provide important details about a happening(for example, ‘At nine o'clock the buzzer rang loudly throughout the school’) or state (for example, ‘The tiger is a member of the cat family’)
  • knowing the difference between the simple present tense (for example 'Pandas eat bamboo.') and the simple past tense (for example 'She replied.')
  • knowing that the simple present tense is typically used to talk about either present states (for example, ‘He lives in Darwin’) or actions that happen regularly in the present (for example, ‘He watches television every night’) or that represent ‘timeless’ happenings, as in information reports (for example, ‘Bears hibernate in winter’)
  • knowing that there are various ways in English to refer to future time (for example 'She will call you tomorrow'; 'I am going to the movies tomorrow'; 'Tomorrow I leave for Hobart')

  VCELA351 | Curriculum content | English | Level 6 | Writing | Language

• VCELA363

  Understand that strategies for interaction become more complex and demanding as levels of formality and social distance increase

  Elaborations

  • identify and appreciate differences in language used in diverse family settings

  VCELA363 | Curriculum content | English | Level 6 | Speaking and Listening | Language

• VCELA383

  Understand how modality is achieved through discriminating choices in modal verbs, adverbs, adjectives and nouns

  Elaborations

  • observing and discussing how a sense of certainty, probability and obligation is created in texts

  VCELA383 | Curriculum content | English | Level 7 | Writing | Language

• VCELA381

  Understand the use of punctuation to support meaning in complex sentences with prepositional phrases and embedded clauses

  Elaborations

  • discussing how qualifying statements add meaning to opinions and views in spoken texts

  VCELA381 | Curriculum content | English | Level 7 | Writing | Language

• VCELA391

  Understand the way language evolves to reflect a changing world, particularly in response to the use of new technology for presenting texts and communicating

  Elaborations

  • exploring languages and dialects through building webcam relationships with schools across Australia and Asia
  • investigating changes in word use and meaning over time and some of the reasons for these changes, for example the influence on spelling and vocabulary of new forms of communication like texting, emoticons and email

  VCELA391 | Curriculum content | English | Level 7 | Speaking and Listening | Language

• VCELA423

  Understand the influence and impact that the English language has had on other languages or dialects and how English has been influenced in return

  Elaborations

  • exploring examples of Singlish (Singapore English) from a Singlish dictionary
  • investigating borrowings from a range of languages into English, for example from French and Italian

  VCELA423 | Curriculum content | English | Level 8 | Speaking and Listening | Language

• VCELA384

  Understand how to use spelling rules and word origins to learn new words and how to spell them

  Elaborations

  • using Greek and Latin roots, base words, suffixes, prefixes, spelling patterns and generalisations

  VCELA384 | Curriculum content | English | Level 7 | Writing | Language

• VCELA368

  Understand how language is used to evaluate texts and how evaluations about a text can be substantiated by reference to the text and other sources

  Elaborations

  • defending points of view in reading circle discussions
  • responding to points of view by developing and elaborating on others’ responses
  • building a knowledge base about words of evaluation, including words to express emotional responses to texts, judgment of characters and their actions, and appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of text

  VCELA368 | Curriculum content | English | Level 7 | Reading and Viewing | Language