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The language strand is concerned with the nuts and bolts of the English language itself. It relates to ‘the patterns and purposes of English usage, including spelling, grammar, and punctuation at the levels of the word, sentence, and extended text, and the connections between these levels’ (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], n.d., para. 6). It also promotes learning about the individual sounds (phonemes) and letters (graphemes) of English, and how the different combinations of these create spoken and written words. Like the tools that fill a builder’s toolbox, the many aspects of language are available to users of English to accomplish infinite communicative purposes.

The literacy strand is concerned with the practical usage of language, especially in the interpretation and creation of different text forms through speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing, and creating. ‘The literacy strand aims to develop students’ ability to interpret and create texts with appropriateness, accuracy, confidence, fluency, and efficacy for learning in and out of school, and for participating in Australian life more generally’ (ACARA, n.d., para. 11). Like the practices of a builder as he or she uses tools from their toolbox, the practices of literacy describe how people use language in many ways for many purposes.

The literature strand is concerned with how language users respond to, appreciate, understand, and create texts through literate practices. Forms of literature include ‘short stories, novels, poetry, prose, plays, film, and multimodal texts, in spoken, print, and digital/online forms’ (ACARA, n.d., para. 8). The literature strand involves the study of spoken, written, visual, multimodal, and digital literary texts of aesthetic, personal, social, and cultural value. Like the buildings explored and created by builders, literature is explored and created by language users through literate practices.

English as a coherent and cumulative body of knowledge

The writers of the Australian Curriculum: English have conceptualised English as a coherent and cumulative body of knowledge, not unlike how mathematics and science have been presented traditionally. Previous school curricula often fragmented English into bits and pieces of knowledge to be learnt, rather than understanding it as a number of coherent and interconnected concepts that are introduced at a basic level in the first year of primary school and that become more complex, sophisticated, and abstract across the primary school years. The Australian Curriculum: English has been successful in intensifying the continuity of English learning across the school years, so that it is seen as a growing and cumulative body of knowledge (Freebody, 2010).