English as an Additional Language (EAL) Unit 1 and 2

Prerequisites

This course should only be undertaken by those students who meet the VCAA requirements for entry to VCE English as an Additional Language.

A student is eligible for EAL if at the time of commencing Unit 1 - 2 study in 2022:

• The student has been a resident in Australia or New Zealand or other predominantly English-speaking country for no more than seven years (i.e. they have arrived after 1 January 2016). The period of seven years is to be calculated cumulatively over the student's whole life.
• English has been the student's major language of instruction for a total period of not more than seven years over the period of his/her education.

Scope of Study

VCE English and English as an Additional Language (EAL) focuses on the how English language is used to create meaning in print and digital texts of varying complexity.

The study of English empowers students to read, write, speak and listen in different contexts. VCE English and English as an Additional Language (EAL) prepares students to think and act critically and creatively, and to encounter the beauty and challenge of their contemporary world with compassion and understanding. Students work to collaborate and communicate widely, and to connect with our complex and plural society with confidence.

Areas of Study

Unit 1

Area of Study 1

Reading and exploring texts

In this area of study, students engage in reading and viewing texts with a focus on personal connections with the story. They discuss and clarify the ideas and values presented by authors through their evocations of character, setting and plot, and through investigations of the point of view and/or the voice of the text. They develop and strengthen inferential reading and viewing skills, and consider the ways a text’s vocabulary, text structures and language features can create meaning on several levels and in different ways.

Area of Study 2

Crafting texts

In this area of study, students engage with and develop an understanding of effective and cohesive writing. They apply, extend and challenge their understanding and use of imaginative, persuasive and informative text through a growing awareness of situated contexts, stated purposes and audience.

Students read and engage imaginatively and critically with mentor texts that model effective writing. Through guided reading of mentor texts, students develop an understanding of the diverse ways that vocabulary, text structures, language features and ideas can interweave to craft compelling texts. They consider these texts through knowledge of the ways purpose, context (including mode) and audience influence and shape writing.

Unit 2

Area of Study 1

Reading and exploring texts

In this area of study, students develop their reading and viewing skills, including deepening their capacity for inferential reading and viewing, to further open possible meanings in a text, and to extend their writing in response to text. Students will develop their skills from Unit 1 through an exploration of a different text type from that studied in Unit 1.

Area of Study 2

Exploring argument

In this area of study, students consider the way arguments are developed and delivered in many forms of media. Through the prism of a contemporary and substantial local and/or national issue, students read, view and listen to a range of texts that attempt to position an intended audience in a particular context. They explore the structure of these texts, including contention, sequence of arguments, use of supporting evidence and persuasive strategies. They closely examine the language and the visuals employed by the author, and offer analysis of the intended effect on the audience. Students apply their knowledge of argument to create a point of view text for oral presentation.

Overall Final Assessment

End of Semester Examination 

Information can be obtained from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, Victoria, Australia: www.vcaa.vic.edu.au