What is ATAR English all about?
The English ATAR course focuses on developing students’ analytical, creative, and critical thinking and communication skills in all language modes, through the use of texts from their contemporary world, with texts from the past and with texts from Australian and other cultures. Through close study and wide reading, viewing and listening, students develop the ability to analyse and evaluate texts and enjoy creating their own imaginative, interpretive, persuasive and analytical responses. Students will also learn to speak and write fluently in a range of contexts improving their oral communication skills through discussion, debate and argument, in a range of formal and informal situations.
Who should select these units in Year 11?
Students who are hoping to gain entrance into University are required to complete an ATAR English course.
Students wanting to select ATAR English will need to have successfully passed the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) in Year 10 or prequalified by achieving Band 8 or higher in the Year 9 NAPLAN.
Pathway
Students who are planning to go to University will continue the ATAR English Units 3 and 4 in Year 12. A passing grade in this course is a requirement to obtain an ATAR.
Areas of Study
UNIT 1 – Language, culture and meaning
- Relationships between language, text, context and meaning
- Conventions and structures of various written and visual texts
- Investigate and evaluate how responses to text are influenced
- Creation of a range of different text
UNIT 2 – Ideas, values and attitudes in texts
- Representation of ideas, values and attitudes in texts
- Comparisons between representations in multimodal texts
- Analyse and evaluate variance of responses to texts
- Creation of a range of texts
To provide for different learning styles a variety of assessment tasks are used. For each course of study tasks are selected from:
- Responding – analytical essays, oral productions, reviews, feature articles and other expository texts, film, discussion
- Creating – imaginative, interpretive and persuasive texts in a range of modes such as; short stories, poetry, letters, diary entries, oral production, film
- Examination – both analytical and creative responses will be assessed in an examination at the end of each unit
What is ATAR English all about?
This course is designed to develop students’ analytical, creative and critical thinking and communication skills through a series of assessment tasks and regular class work. Students develop their language skills by engaging critically and creatively with texts, including a novel, film, short stories, documentary, and autobiography. Assessment tasks will include analytical essays (both timed and prepared), creative tasks (written and oral) and examination-style responses (both for class assessment and as preparation for the exams). By the end of this course, students should have a sound grasp of the English language and the skills required to complete a University course.
Who should select these units in Year 11?
An understanding of the English ATAR Year 11 content is assumed knowledge for students in Year 12. It is recommended that students studying Unit 3 and Unit 4 have successfully completed Unit 1 and Unit 2 previously. Units 3 and 4 include the knowledge, understandings and skills described below. This is the examinable content.
Pathway
Students who are planning to go to University need to complete both Year 12 ATAR Units (3 and 4). A passing grade in this course is a requirement to obtain an ATAR score.
Areas of Study
UNIT 3
- Explore representations of themes, issues, ideas and concepts through a comparison of texts.
- Analyse and compare the relationships between language, genre and contexts.
- Recognise and analyse the conventions of genre in texts.
- Compare and evaluate the effect of different media, forms and modes and how audiences respond to them.
UNIT 4
- Examine different interpretations to develop their knowledge and analysis of purpose and style.
- Challenge values and attitudes in texts, developing their own interpretations though debate.
- Explore relationships between content and structure, voice and perspectives and the text and context.
- Extend their experience of language and texts and explore their ideas through reading and viewing.
To provide for different learning styles a variety of assessment tasks are used. For each course of study tasks are selected from:
- Responding – analytical essays, oral productions, reviews, feature articles and other expository texts, film, discussion
- Creating – imaginative, interpretive and persuasive texts in a range of modes such as; short stories, poetry, letters, diary entries, oral production, film
- Examination – both analytical and creative responses will be assessed in an examination at the end of each unit
