Head of Department
Mrs Chrystal Carseldine
Email: carmi18@eq.edu.au
English is the principal spoken language and the predominant written language of personal and public life. Proficiency in and understanding of English allows people to share in and contribute to current and future local, national and global communities and cultures.
Effective communication is integral to our society. New technologies, the influences of globalisation and the restructured workplace require students to be able to interpret, construct and make judgments about meanings in texts, in preparation for lifelong learning. The study area specification in English Communication is designed to allow students to develop and use these skills in the areas of work, community and leisure.
English, in the Middle school context, provides a course of study that encompasses six major tasks a year that cover the writing/shaping; reading/viewing; speaking and listening components of the junior English syllabus.
Over the three years students will study a wide range of both modern and traditional texts, such as, novels; plays; films; poetry anthologies; feature articles; magazines; newspapers; auto/biographies and web pages. As a result, enabling students to be exposed to a number of different genres, authors and cultural contexts.
A major focus within subject English is the teaching of literacy skills. At the core of every unit in years 7, 8 and 9 there is an emphasis on students being taught the basic techniques of writing, reading and comprehension.
Junior Secondary
English Year 7
English Year 8
English Year 9
Senior Secondary
Introduction to Essential English Year 10
Essential English Year 11
Essential English Year 12
Introduction to General English Year 10
General English Year 11
General English Year 12
Introduction to Literature Year 10
Literature Year 11
Literature Year 12 (from 2020)
Enrichment
QUT Widening Participation Program
Brisbane Writers Festival
USC Creative Writing Excellence Program
Subject Information
Junior Secondary English
In Years 7, 8 and 9, students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They listen to, read, view, interpret, evaluate and perform a range of spoken, written and multimodal texts in which the primary purpose is aesthetic, as well as texts designed to inform and persuade. These include various types of media texts including newspapers, magazines and digital texts, early adolescent novels, non-fiction, poetry and dramatic performances and multimodal texts, with themes and issues involving levels of abstraction, higher order reasoning and intertextuality references. Students develop their understanding of how texts, including media texts, are influenced by context, purpose and audience.
Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts, for example narratives, procedures, performances, reports and discussions, and begin to create literary analyses and transformations of texts.
Essential English
Essential English can establish a basis for students' further learning as well as developing essential communication skills to enhance employment opportunities.
This study area specification offers students opportunities, within the contexts of work, community and leisure, to use language to perform tasks, use technology, express identity, and interact in groups, organisations and the community. It focuses on developing students' understanding and use of language systems to communicate effectively. Students will have the opportunity to:
- make meanings in and of everyday, mass-media and literary texts, understanding the influence of cultural contexts and social situations
- develop abilities in speaking, listening, reading, viewing, writing and shaping practices, responsive to and effective in diverse social contexts
- become confident, effective and critical users of texts and language, making judgments to accept or challenge meanings.
Students will be involved in learning experiences that allow them to develop their interpersonal skills, to learn and function in various situations, and to acquire specific knowledge and skills relevant to future life and further training and employment. Students are supported in developing the capacity to earn from and about spoken, written and visual texts.
General English and Literature
The key difference between General English and Literature is the quantity and complexity of the texts studied and the depth of analysis required. In General English the texts include media (print and digital), plays, poetry, novels and short stories. In Literature the texts include a wider range of Classic Literature including plays, novels and poetry.
Students studying General English and Literature will learn to:
- examine a range of literary and non-literary works in English, in various modes and mediums across diverse cultures and periods
- interpret, analyse, evaluate, respond to and construct a wide range of texts through reading, listening, viewing, speaking, writing and shaping
- communicate effectively in Standard Australian English for various social and cultural purposes and audiences
- make choices about generic structures, language, textual features and technologies to convey intended meaning
- control language (written and spoken), using grammar, punctuation, vocabulary and spelling.
There will be a range and balance in the texts that students read, listen to and view. Australian texts by Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers will be included as will texts from different times, places and cultures. Texts will encompass traditional, contemporary and translated works. Texts will include:
- novels, short stories and poetry
- scripted drama and drama performed as theatre
- reflective texts such as biographies, autobiographies and journals
- popular culture, media and multimodal works
- spoken and written everyday texts of work, family and community life.