The English curriculum is organised under 3 interrelated strands: Language, Literature and Literacy. While each strand articulates the essential skills of English, they should be seen as interlinked and interconnected...
The English curriculum is organised under 3 interrelated strands: Language, Literature and Literacy. While each strand articulates the essential skills of English, they should be seen as interlinked and interconnected. Together, the 3 strands focus on developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, speaking, reading, viewing and writing. The English curriculum is underpinned by the selection of texts appropriate for the level.
The achievement standards explicitly link together skills drawn from the 3 strands, and map directly into the sub-strands. Unlike the strands, the achievement standards are organised through the language modes of Speaking and Listening, Reading and Viewing, and Writing. Further information about the connections between the content descriptions and the achievement standards can be found in the ‘Learning in English’ section.
At Level 10, students distinguish between inclusive and exclusive language, and communicate effectively in familiar and unfamiliar contexts including local or global communities and vocational contexts.
Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment and for learning. They analyse, interpret, evaluate, discuss, create and perform a wide range of texts. Texts may include various types of media texts such as film, digital and online texts, novels, non-fiction, poetry, dramatic performances and multimodal texts. Themes and issues may involve levels of abstraction, higher-order reasoning and intertextual references. Students develop a critical understanding of how texts, language, and visual and audio features are influenced by context.
The range of literary texts comprises the oral narrative traditions and literature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and classic and contemporary literature from a wide range of Australian and world authors, including texts from and about Asia.
Literary texts that support and extend students in Level 10 as independent readers may be drawn from a range of literary genres. They may involve complex, challenging plot sequences and hybrid structures that may serve multiple purposes. These texts may explore themes of human experience and cultural significance, interpersonal relationships, and ethical and global dilemmas in real-world and fictional settings. They may represent a variety of perspectives. Informative texts may represent a synthesis of technical and abstract information (from credible or verifiable sources) about specialised topics and concepts. Language features may include successive complex sentences with embedded clauses, a high proportion of unfamiliar and technical vocabulary, figurative and rhetorical language, and/or dense information supported by various types of images and graphics.
Students create a range of texts whose purposes may be aesthetic, narrative, reflective, informative, persuasive, analytical and/or critical, for example stories, arguments that include analytical expositions and discussions, analysis and responses that include personal reflections, reviews and critical responses for a range of audiences.
By the end of Level 10, students demonstrate the following skills in English.
When interacting with others, students use an expanded vocabulary and distinguish inclusive and exclusive language.
They discuss and present opinions about texts. They explore language that reveals views and values.
When speaking to an audience, students deliver structured spoken texts, selecting text types appropriate for purpose and audience, including multimodal or digital elements. They experiment with formality in their language and use appropriate features of voice.
When reading and viewing, students engage with a range of different types of texts for meaning.
They engage with vocabulary and grammatical knowledge, and the ways that sentence structures, syntax and punctuation express ideas.
When demonstrating understanding of texts, students analyse and evaluate representations from diverse historical, cultural and social contexts, and compare initial and subsequent impressions. They synthesise their own interpretations of a text, and evaluate how literary devices, and still and moving images and sound, represent values, beliefs and attitudes. They evaluate the connections between text structures, language features, literary devices and intertextual references.
They analyse and evaluate the structures of texts, including print, digital and hybrid, according to purpose. They compare the use of voice as a device to evoke emotion and to create aesthetic qualities. They evaluate the features of still images, moving images and sound and their effects on representation.
When creating written and spoken texts, students use a sustained voice and reflect on challenging or complex ideas or issues. They select appropriate textual elements for purpose and audience, and include appropriate multimodal or digital elements. They review, edit and refine their own and others’ texts and reflect on these processes.
They vary and experiment with text structures, grammar and punctuation to create and maintain cohesion and sequence.
They use vocabulary with precision for purpose. They select, adapt and apply language features and literary devices, and use a sustained voice.
They use standard and non-standard spelling appropriate for purpose and audience.
