LANG & LIT or LIT?

By Yi-Mei Liu and Tanya Wan | Layout by Michele Liu

The gist of it:

In the IB, you get to choose to study English and Chinese Language A as either a Language & Literature (Lang Lit) or Literature (Lit) course. That is, your options would be English Language & Literature, English Literature, Chinese Language & Literature, and Chinese Literature.

All rising Year 12 students must select either English Language & Literature or English Literature, whereas Year 12 students who studied Chinese BSL or BHL in Year 11 are not subject to making this selection, and rather remain in their existing courses (unless changes between Language B Standard Level/Higher Level are made).

The main difference between Langlit and Lit:

In Language & Literature, you study both literary and non-literary works. That means you might be looking at, say, Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry one day and then memes the other.

In Literature, you study only literary works––as the name would suggest. So that would mean studying Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry one day and then Machiavelli’s prose nonfiction the other.

Literary analysis forms the foundation of both courses; you will need to become familiar with breaking down meaning from different texts and articulating your interpretations through essays and orals.

Which course is easier?

Yi-Mei (English Lang Lit HL, Chinese Lit SL): First, to set things straight, there is no objectively “easier” course. Both courses have the same assessments, and follow similar criteria. However, you may end up finding one course easier than the other – it depends on your personal preferences and your way of thinking. Lit has a stronger focus on depth: you will have to find meaning in things which may seem insignificant or unclear, though there are a handful of literary devices which can be applicable to almost any text you come across. On the other hand, Lang Lit emphasises breadth: you try to pick out as many noteworthy aspects of a text as you can, and you can’t memorise these the same way you might memorise literary devices, though they tend to be more intuitive and easier to explain. I personally found Lit to be the easier option, as I am a lot more familiar with analysing Lit texts from past years, and do not quite know what to write about when presented with a Lang text, which is why I stringently avoided Chinese Lang Lit. But if you struggle with finding meaning in a couple of vague words, or feel comfortable talking about design choices and intended effects, you may find Lang Lit to be easier.

Tanya (English Lit HL, Chinese Lit SL):

I’ve taken both courses––Lang Lit and Lit––for Chinese, and switched out of Lang Lit to join Lit towards the end of October. The reason why I took Lang Lit in Chinese in the first place was that I made the faulty, albeit commonplace, assumption that Lang Lit is easier, and I wanted to minimise the amount of Chinese I would have to write because I’m lazy. It really isn’t easier; at least I don’t think so. While the texts you read are different, the calibre of writing required for the analysis is pretty much the same. I also switched because I enjoy literature more: I find the study of 魯迅 and 契訶夫’s short stories (as an example) more engaging than the study of speeches (演講), which is under Lang Lit’s purview. So there’s not really an “easier” course as such.

What's some advice you have regarding the selection of courses?

Yi-Mei (English Lang Lit HL, Chinese Lit SL): This is going to sound unhelpful, but pick whichever one you will enjoy. You want to look forward to your classes, because it will motivate you to spend time on them. I originally was going to do both Chinese and English Lit, but had a lot of fun analysing films and comic strips in Y11, so I switched to Lang Lit. While there are some differences between the two as to how to approach a Lit and Lang text, as Tanya mentions below, it’s not a major problem as long as you are aware of them.

Tanya (English Lit HL, Chinese Lit SL):

If you’re in Chinese A, select the same course for both English and Chinese. In my opinion, it's easier to get a grip on the concepts for either Lit or Lang Lit as opposed to both Lit and Lang Lit. In terms of writing analytical essays, it does seem like there are some differences between the courses––for instance, the Lit classes I take focus on thematic analysis, whereas the Chinese Lang Lit class I was in previously went by techniques, or literary devices, in guiding the analysis. But that might not apply to all Lang Lit classes. Either way, I think keeping the course you take aligned across both languages will make your life easier in general. Then again, that’s just my experience; this won’t apply to everyone.

Yi-Mei (English Lang Lit HL, Chinese Lit SL):

Friendly reminder that whatever decision you make now is not final! As mentioned above, both Tanya and I switched between Lit and Lang Lit. In fact, I changed 4 of my subjects after the start of Y12, and it is more than manageable (though tomorrow's math test may prove me wrong). So go for either one, and do not overthink the decision. Don’t waste mental energy with pointless fretting! The Y12 teachers do a great job of easing students into the IB, and I promise it will just feel like a continuation of Y11.

Tanya (English Lit HL, Chinese Lit SL):

In terms of choosing between Lang Lit or Lit, do note that Lit involves some more reading, simply because it’s focused on literary works (no memes or cartoons, sadly). At Literature Higher Level, you read 13 texts over two years; at Standard Level, you read 9. So far, it’s been fairly manageable, and I’ve enjoyed it because I like reading (most of the time). So think about what interests you more––the non-literary works or the literary works––and then go from there.

All in all:

If you’re a Year 11 student, don’t let the course selections at the end of the year frighten you––you’ll have plenty of time to change your courses at the start of Year 12, and quite a few people in our year did so all the way until the end of October! If you’re a Year 7 student and you’re reading this, STOP! Go read something more interesting––you can worry about the IB when the time comes around.