PRELIMINARY ENGLISH (ADVANCED) Module 1: Comparative Study of Texts and Context This module requires students to compare texts in order to explore them in relation to their contexts. It develops students’ understanding of the effects of context and questions of value. Each elective in this module requires the study of groups of texts which may be in different forms or media. Students examine ways in which social, cultural and historical context influences aspects of texts, or the ways in which changes in context lead to changed values being reflected in texts. This includes study and use of the language of texts, consideration of purposes and audiences, and analysis of the content, values and attitudes conveyed through a range of readings. Students demonstrate understanding of the module through interpretive and analytical responses that relate to the comparative study of texts and context.
Elective 1: Intertextual Connections In this elective, students compare texts in order to develop their understanding of the effects of context, purpose and audience on the shaping of meaning. Through exploring the intertextual connections between a pair of texts, students examine the ways in which different social, cultural and historical contexts can influence the composer’s choice of language forms and features and the ideas, values and attitudes conveyed in each text. In their responding and composing, students consider how the implicit and explicit relationship between the texts can deepen our understanding of the values, significance and context of each.
The environment in which a text is responded to or created. Context can include the general social, historical and cultural conditions in which a text is responded to and created (the context of culture) or the specific features of its immediate environment (context of situation).
DEFINITION: noun; the circumstances (personal, social, cultural, historical, literary, etc) that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood.
ANALYSIS FRAMEWORKS STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK Used to analyse how a text’s formal elements and principles contribute to its meanings and messages.
SUBJECTIVE FRAMEWORK Used to interpret how a composer’s experiences, feelings, thinking and/or personal philosophy can be reflected in a text. It can also be used to gain awareness of the effect of the responder’s cultural background and experience on the interpretation of the text.
CULTURAL FRAMEWORK Used to identify the influences on a text of the time, place, purpose, cultural and political settings in which it was made. These influences may include historical, political, social, socioeconomic, religious contexts as well as aspects of ethnicity and gender.
CRITICAL FRAMEWORK Used to interpret how contemporary ideas and issues influence the making, interpretation and analysis of texts from both the past and present.