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English Version 2.0

  1. Introduction
  2. Curriculum
  1. F
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10

Level 9

Level 9 Description

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...

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Level 9 Content Descriptions

Language

Language for interacting with others
  1. understand how language strengthens relationships and roles (VC2E9LA01)
    1. identifying the various communities to which they belong and how language reinforces membership of these communities, for example the intimate language of family members, the jargon of teenage groups, the technicality of some online communities, the language specific to recreational groups and the interaction patterns of the classroom
    2. investigating language used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors to reinforce relationships to Country/Place and with others, for example ‘Welcome’ for the Wurundjeri People is ‘Wominjeka’
  2. understand how the language of evaluation and substantiation expresses individual views and values through language features such as allusion, evocative vocabulary and metaphor (VC2E9LA02)
    1. comparing texts that use evaluative language in different ways (for example, print advertisements, editorials, talkback radio, podcasts and poetry) and identifying wording that appraises indirectly through evocative language, similes and metaphors that direct readers’ views in particular ways
Text structure and organisation
  1. explore the ways that text structures and language features can be adapted and altered according to purpose (VC2E9LA03)
    1. comparing the use of linear and non-linear narratives in a range of short stories, and determining the purpose and effect of the different structures
    2. comparing the opening paragraphs of different public texts such as feature articles, and determining the purpose and effect of the different structures and language features
  2. understand how a range of cohesive devices, including nominalisation, condense information in texts and link, expand and sequence ideas (VC2E9LA04)
    1. sequencing and developing an argument using language structures that suggest conclusions (‘therefore’, ‘moreover’, ‘so’), give reasons (‘since’, ‘because’) or suggest conditionals (‘if … then’)
Language for expressing and developing ideas
  1. explore how authors vary sentence structures for effect, such as using a sentence fragment, or intentionally using a dependent clause on its own (VC2E9LA05)
    1. identifying the effects of using an interrupting clause inside another clause (for example, ‘His friend, who had left home the previous year, suddenly returned.’), intentionally using a dependent clause on its own (for example, ‘If you see what I mean.’) or using a sentence fragment (for example, ‘Breathtaking!’)
  2. understand how abstract nouns can be used to summarise ideas in text (VC2E9LA06)
    1. exploring sections of academic and technical texts, and analysing the use of abstract nouns (for example, ‘the previous argument’ or ‘the prologue’) to summarise and distil information, structure the argument and summarise preceding explanations
  3. analyse how symbols in still and moving images and the use of sound augment meaning (VC2E9LA07)
    1. investigating the use of symbols (for example, specific seasons, weather and colours in images, films and picture books) and evaluating their contribution to viewers’ understanding, recognising that visual and verbal symbols have different meanings for different groups and cultures
    2. understanding the use of symbols by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, where a symbol may have many meanings or have different meanings across language groups; for example, artwork enables the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People from a particular Country/Place to identify symbols and interpret the artwork
    3. exploring how recurring sounds or music make meaningful connections in text
  4. analyse how vocabulary choices contribute to style, mood and tone (VC2E9LA08)
    1. identifying the words used to create nuanced meaning; for example, identifying the words that create a sarcastic tone in a text
    2. identifying how the vocabulary used in a text contributes to its stylistic effectiveness
  5. understand and use punctuation conventions to condense information and for referencing and citing others for formal and informal purposes (VC2E9LA09)
    1. understanding when to and how to cite in essays, reviews and academic assignments, and when it is appropriate to use direct quotations or to report sources more generally

Literature

Literature and contexts
  1. analyse the representations of people and places in literary texts, drawn from diverse historical, cultural and social contexts, by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and a wide range of Australian and world authors (VC2E9LE01)
    1. exploring and comparing representations of values of characters; for example, exploring the values associated with authority, community and family in literature drawn from different cultures and times
    2. analysing how texts by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors reflect unique ways of being, knowing, thinking and doing
    3. exploring the ways in which a wide range of Australian novels, poems and films represent water and characters’ relationships with water
Engaging with and responding to literature
  1. explore and develop responses, including personal responses, to literary texts, comparing initial and subsequent impressions (VC2E9LE02)
    1. interrogating and making judgements about a text, comparing others’ ideas against their own and reaching an independent decision or consensus about the interpretations and ideas expressed
  2. analyse how literary devices and language features, and still and moving images, shape an audience’s preference about the social, moral or ethical positions presented in literary texts (VC2E9LE03)
    1. reflecting on and discussing responses to literature (including characterisation, setting details, plot events, themes and literary devices used to achieve particular effects) and collaboratively formulating a list of factors that distinguish value
Examining literature
  1. analyse the effect of text structures, language features and literary devices such as extended metaphor, metonymy, allegory, symbolism and intertextual references (VC2E9LE04)
    1. examining how different authors make use of devices such as imagery, and explaining the effect of these choices on audiences
    2. identifying examples of literary devices in a range of poems and considering how they contribute to meaning and influence the emotional responses of the audience
  2. analyse the ways that text structures, language features and literary devices in literary texts create aesthetic qualities (VC2E9LE05)
    1. comparing texts created by the same author to determine literary style, assessing their appeal and presenting comparisons to others
Creating literature
  1. create texts, which may be hybrid, that experiment with literary text structures, language features and devices, and voice, for purposes and audiences (VC2E9LE06)
    1. taking an existing short story, poem, play or speech in print form and creating a short film
    2. adapting traditional and contemporary literature through textual intervention, prequel or sequel

Literacy

Interacting with others
  1. use interaction skills to discuss opinions regarding texts that have different purposes and audiences, analysing how language features position an audience to respond in particular ways (VC2E9LY01)
    1. discussing how stereotypes are created through language and how they position listeners to respond
    2. using effective strategies for dialogue and discussion in a range of formal and informal contexts, including speaking clearly and coherently and for an appropriate length of time, presenting an opinion and listening to the opinions of others
  2. deliver structured spoken texts for particular purposes, demonstrating different levels of formality in consideration of audience, using features of voice and multimodal or digital elements (VC2E9LY02)
    1. using graphics and text animations to accompany spoken text; for example, presenting a news item suitable for a current affairs program that uses images with spoken text to influence a viewer’s response
    2. selecting features of voice such as tone, volume, pitch and pace for their specific effects, to create tone or to persuade an audience
Word knowledge
  1. use learnt knowledge to spell accurately and consistently, and understand that non-standard spelling is used in texts for particular effects, such as characterisation and humour, and to represent accents and distinctive speech (VC2E9LY03)
    1. exploring the spelling of neologisms and their effect in media texts such as online posts, for example ‘selfie’ and ‘Paralympics’
    2. analysing how spelling is used to represent the distinctive speech of a character by noting where authors have dropped letters from words to emulate the sound of spoken words
Texts in context
  1. analyse how representations of people, places, events and concepts reflect contexts (VC2E9LY04)
    1. examining the representation of public figures in media and recognising how these vary in different contexts
    2. identifying and analysing how news is conveyed in texts; for example, analysing representations of an event at a particular time reported in the media
    3. comparing texts from different time periods and analysing the language features used to represent individuals or groups
Analysing, interpreting and evaluating
  1. analyse and evaluate how language features are used to explicitly represent values, beliefs and attitudes (VC2E9LY05)
    1. analysing the use of language in the coverage of a contentious issue in a range of news services and social media
    2. explaining how authors use language features to represent ideas and convey opinions
    3. comparing a range of advocacy, campaign or inspirational speeches from films or media and identifying language features that influence the listener
  2. analyse the organisation of ideas in paragraphs and extended texts, and evaluate its impact on meaning (VC2E9LY06)
    1. evaluating techniques used in texts to organise ideas and evoke emotional responses, such as comparison, contrast, exaggeration, juxtaposition, the changing of chronological order, and the expansion and compression of time
    2. explaining whether the author conveys meaning effectively, through the sequence of information and evidence
  3. use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to compare and contrast ideas and opinions in and between texts (VC2E9LY07)
    1. comparing and contrasting visual representations of ideas, issues or events in online news reporting
    2. comparing representations of an event in print and digital sources, summarising their qualities, identifying opinions and analysing evidence
    3. summarising articles representing a current event, comparing and contrasting ideas and opinions in and between texts
Creating texts
  1. create different types of texts, written and spoken, that present a point of view and advance, illustrate or expand ideas, including texts that integrate print, multimodal and/or digital elements in deliberate consideration of an audience (VC2E9LY08)
    1. developing an argument that has a series of sequenced and linked paragraphs, beginning with a contention, followed by a series of supported points that develop a line of argument, and a conclusion that summarises the main line of argument
    2. creating informative texts that explain and analyse complex phenomena using well-chosen facts and precise language
    3. choosing text structures and adapting literary devices such as similes, metaphors and personification to meet the perceived needs of an audience when debating a topic, creating a voice over for a media presentation or presenting a seminar
    4. collaborating with peers to develop imaginative recreations of part of a text or to represent a key idea in a text
  2. review and edit their own texts and the texts of others to improve clarity, coherence and control over content, organisation, paragraphing, sentence structure, vocabulary and multimodal elements, and reflect on these processes (VC2E9LY09)
    1. editing by checking for run-on sentences, ensuring detail or repetition is used for effect, and ensuring paragraphs are linked in ways that develop the narrative
    2. reviewing and editing their own and others’ texts, which may involve using online applications, for accuracy of grammar, spelling and punctuation, and to achieve particular purposes and address specific audiences by improving clarity and control of content through organising, developing, extending and linking ideas
    3. discussing, with a peer, choices of literary devices used in a literary text, and evaluating the potential effect of each choice on an audience

Level 9 Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 9, students demonstrate the following skills in English.

Speaking and Listening

When interacting with others, students explore vocabulary of mood and style and use language to strengthen relationships and roles....

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Level 10

Level 10 Description

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...

Show more

Level 10 Content Descriptions

Language

Language for interacting with others
  1. understand how language can have inclusive and exclusive social effects, and how it can empower or disempower people (VC2E10LA01)
    1. identifying language that seeks to align the audience or reader, for example ‘of course’, ‘obviously’ and ‘as you can imagine’
    2. discussing the use of first person (‘I’, ‘we’) and second person (‘you’) pronouns to distance or involve the audience
    3. identifying language used to reference or indicate shared assumptions
    4. identifying language that appeals to shared cultural knowledge, values and beliefs
    5. exploring examples of language that are inclusive or marginalising
  2. understand that language used to evaluate and substantiate, implicitly or explicitly, reveals views and values (VC2E10LA02)
    1. identifying explicit expressions of values when evaluating texts
    2. exploring subtle or implied values communicated through language; for example, using a term such as ‘teenager’ to refer to an individual rather than using a specific name
Text structure and organisation
  1. analyse text structures and language features and evaluate their effectiveness in achieving their purpose (VC2E10LA03)
    1. comparing the text structure and language features of a print text transposed to an online environment and evaluating the effectiveness of the online text
    2. analysing the text structures and language features of reviews from different sources and evaluating their effectiveness
    3. analysing and experimenting with combinations of graphics, text and sound in the production of multimodal texts such as documentaries, media reports, online magazines and digital books to influence audience responses
  2. understand how text structures are selected and can be varied to create sequence and cohesion (VC2E10LA04)
    1. examining how authors vary paragraph structures for effect
    2. examining the integration of paragraphs and images on websites for effect
    3. evaluating the effect of the integration of paragraphs and images in graphic novels
Language for expressing and developing ideas
  1. analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of particular sentence structures to express and craft ideas (VC2E10LA05)
    1. recognising how the focus of a sentence can be changed by using the passive voice; for example, comparing the active voice in ‘The police had caught the thief’ with the passive voice in ‘The thief had been caught’
    2. recognising how authors sometimes use verbless clauses for effect, for example ‘And what about the other woman? With her dark glasses and briefcase.’
    3. recognising that a sentence can begin with a coordinating conjunction for stylistic effect, for example ‘And she went on planning how she would manage it.’
  2. analyse how syntax contributes to meaning and style (VC2E10LA06)
    1. considering how nominalisation affects the way in which events are constructed and explained, making some information more explicit than other information
    2. analysing how logical relations between ideas are built up by combining main with subordinate clauses to indicate cause, result, manner, concession, condition, and so on, for example ‘Although the poet was not generally well received by critics during her life (concession), her reputation grew substantially after her death.’
    3. considering how abstraction in a noun group allows for greater generalisation of complex ideas in a sentence, for example ‘He focused on the political, religious, social and economic elements of the society in his thesis.’
  3. evaluate the features of still and moving images, and the use of sound, and the effects of those choices on representations (VC2E10LA07)
    1. examining features of visual texts that create nuance in representations; for example, analysing the use of light and dark, and evaluating the impact of light and dark when representing duplicity
    2. exploring the use of sound to enhance representation of character or events
  4. understand and use, with precision, an expanded vocabulary (VC2E10LA08)
    1. identifying the meaning of an increasing range of technical vocabulary; for example, using specific terms about rhythm such as ‘iambic pentameter’ when analysing poetry
  5. use and experiment with punctuation for meaning and effect (VC2E10LA09)
    1. using colons and semicolons in expositions and other extended texts to add detail or extend an idea
    2. examining an author’s use of ellipses to create tentativeness in a character’s speech
    3. reviewing the use of punctuation to represent emotions, for example the use of multiple exclamation marks or punctuation emojis

Literature

Literature and contexts
  1. analyse representations of individuals, groups and places and evaluate how they reflect their context in literary texts by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and a wide range of Australian and world authors (VC2E10LE01)
    1. analysing the ways in which cultural stories may be retold and adapted across a range of contexts, such as analysing the story of the ‘antihero’ and evaluating how the ‘antihero’ reflects the context
    2. analysing how stories written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors contemporise or modernise traditional stories, and evaluating the responses of contemporary audiences
    3. analysing how humour is used to represent the underdog in Australian texts and evaluating how the underdog reflects the context
Engaging with and responding to literature
  1. synthesise their own interpretation of a literary text, and explore the interpretations of others (VC2E10LE02)
    1. debating whether a text possesses universal qualities and retains relevance
    2. presenting arguments based on close textual analysis to support an interpretation of a text; for example, writing an essay or creating a set of director’s notes
    3. creating personal reading lists for a variety of genres and explaining why texts qualify for inclusion on a particular list
  2. analyse the ways that social, moral or ethical positions are represented in a range of literary texts (VC2E10LE03)
    1. identifying and analysing ethical positions on a significant issue, including values and/or principles involved, and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the position presented
Examining literature
  1. analyse how text structure, language features, literary devices and intertextual connections shape interpretations of literary texts (VC2E10LE04)
    1. examining a range of short poems, a short story, or extracts from a novel or film to find and discuss examples of how language devices layer meaning and influence the responses of listeners, viewers or readers
    2. examining satirical representations of events or ideas and determining how satire shapes interpretations and responses
  2. compare and evaluate how ‘voice’ as a literary device is used in a range of texts to evoke emotional responses and to create aesthetic qualities (VC2E10LE05)
    1. examining a range of texts and evaluating the effect of text structures and language features; for example, determining whether the narrative position of a child evokes reader sympathy towards an event or issue
    2. comparing the ‘voice’ of protest in a range of poems or songs and evaluating how different voices evoke a response
    3. using terms associated with literary text analysis (for example, ‘stanza’, ‘figurative language’, ‘symbolism’ and ‘soundtrack’) when evaluating aspects that are valued and that contain aesthetic qualities
    4. analysing and evaluating the use of literary devices; for example, commenting on the effect of symbolism in a text
Creating literature
  1. create texts with a sustained voice, selecting and adapting literary text structures and devices, and language, auditory and visual features for purposes and audiences (VC2E10LE06)
    1. experimenting with the aesthetic features that authors use in their own texts
    2. creating a range of texts, experimenting with and manipulating ‘voice’ for particular purposes and audiences

Literacy

Interacting with others
  1. use interaction skills to discuss an opinion about texts and analyse the purposes and effects of text structures and language features (VC2E10LY01)
    1. analysing spoken and multimodal features of media texts and discussing the effects of these features; for example, presenting an opinion on the combination of words and sound in creating mood
  2. deliver structured spoken texts for particular purposes, experimenting with formality in deliberate consideration of an audience, using features of voice and multimodal or digital elements (VC2E10LY02)
    1. presenting a structured argument by stating the major arguments or concerns relating to an issue; previewing the structure of arguments; structuring the text to provide a major point for each paragraph with succinct elaboration; and concluding with a summary of the main issues or recommendations in an argument
Word knowledge
  1. use learnt knowledge of the spelling system to spell words accurately and to manipulate standard and non-standard spelling for particular effects (VC2E10LY03)
    1. using homophones to create new spelling of familiar words, for example ‘lite milk’
Texts in context
  1. analyse and evaluate how people, places, events and concepts are represented in texts and reflect contexts (VC2E10LY04)
    1. evaluating stereotypes of people, places, events and concepts, and expressing opinions on these representations with reference to the contexts for which they were created
    2. analysing representations of events and issues in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media, such as NITV (National Indigenous Television, News and Programs)
Analysing, interpreting and evaluating
  1. analyse and evaluate how language features are used to implicitly and explicitly represent values, beliefs and attitudes (VC2E10LY05)
    1. analysing social or political cartoons to identify the implicit and explicit values, beliefs and attitudes expressed
  2. analyse and evaluate how authors organise ideas in texts to achieve a purpose (VC2E10LY06)
    1. identifying the organisation of ideas in a text and determining the purpose and effect, for example how the eye is drawn across or down a webpage for a purpose
    2. evaluating how ideas in an online review are organised and its success in achieving its purpose
    3. comparing the organisation of ideas in different political pamphlets and determining the impact of each
  3. integrate comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring to analyse and interpret complex and abstract ideas (VC2E10LY07)
    1. monitoring the language features associated with right and wrong in a text and interpreting the representation of the abstract concept of justice
    2. interpreting how visual features represent abstract concepts in advertising, such as the representation of parenthood in advertisements
    3. summarising the qualities and interpreting the role of a character archetype in a range of texts and analysing the importance of this archetype
Creating texts
  1. create different types of texts, written and spoken, that reflect on challenging and complex issues, including texts that combine specific print, multimodal and/or digital elements, for a range of purposes and in deliberate consideration of an audience (VC2E10LY08)
    1. creating written and multimodal texts that compel readers to empathise with the ideas and emotions expressed or implied
    2. designing a webpage that combines navigation, text, sound, and moving and still images for a specific audience
    3. taking the role of a character in a reflective monologue, and considering and justifying actions and choices at a critical moment in the text
    4. experimenting with the impact of rhetorical questions in texts designed to persuade
    5. creating spoken multimodal texts that manipulate rhetorical devices to compel listeners to act
    6. discussing and negotiating with peers in debates and panel discussions about issues related to a text
  2. review, edit and refine their own texts and the texts of others for control and coherence of content, organisation, sentence structure, vocabulary, and/or visual features to achieve particular purposes and effects, and reflect on these processes (VC2E10LY09)
    1. creating and editing a suite of short texts that focus on a key idea expressed in different voices
    2. describing choices of text structures, literary devices, language, or auditory or visual features made in a literary text and reflecting on the effect of those choices
    3. reviewing, editing and refining their own and others’ texts for accuracy of grammar, spelling and punctuation, and to achieve particular purposes and address specific audiences through control and organisation of content, sentence structures, vocabulary choices and visual features
    4. reflecting on the effect of choices made in a written or multimodal text and how these choices may be changed or developed in future texts

Level 10 Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 10, students demonstrate the following skills in English.

Speaking and Listening

When interacting with others, students use an expanded vocabulary and distinguish inclusive and exclusive language....

Show more