English Advanced

2 units for each of Year 11 and HSC

NESA Developed Course

Exclusions: English Standard; English Studies; EAL/D

Why do I need to study English?

Proficiency in English enables students to take their place as confident communicators, critical and imaginative thinkers, lifelong learners and informed, active participants in Australian society. It supports the development and expression of a system of personal values, based on students’ understanding of moral and ethical matters, and gives expression to their aspirations and ideals.

The study of English in Stage 6 develops in students an understanding of literary expression and nurtures an appreciation of aesthetic values. It develops skills to enable students to experiment with ideas and expression, to become innovative, active, independent learners, to collaborate and to reflect on their learning.

The study of English in Stage 6 enables students to understand and use language effectively. They appreciate, enjoy and reflect on the English language and make meaning in ways that are imaginative, creative, interpretive, critical and powerful. Students value the English language in its various textual forms to become thoughtful and effective communicators in a diverse global world.

Why study English Advanced?

The English Advanced course is designed for students who have a particular interest and ability in the subject and who desire to engage with challenging learning experiences that will enrich their personal, intellectual, academic, social and vocational lives. Students appreciate, analyse and respond imaginatively and critically to literary texts drawn from a range of personal, social, historical and cultural contexts, including literature from the past and present and from Australian and other cultures. They study challenging written, spoken, visual, multimodal and digital texts that represent and reflect a changing global world.

Through their study of English, students can become critical thinkers, and articulate and creative communicators. They extend and deepen their ability to use language in subtle, nuanced, inventive and complex ways to express experiences, ideas and emotions. They refine their understanding of the dynamic relationship between language, texts and meaning. They do this through critical study and through the skilful and creative use of language forms and features, and of structures of texts composed for different purposes in a range of contexts. They extend their experiences in researching, accessing, evaluating and synthesising information and perspectives from a range of sources to fulfil a variety of purposes.

Most Year 11 students at Pymble are encouraged to study Advanced English because this maximises their choices for Year 12.

Course description:

English Advanced is designed for students to undertake the challenge of higher-order thinking to enhance their personal, social, educational and vocational lives. These students apply critical and creative skills in their composition of, and response to, texts in order to develop their academic achievement through understanding the nature and function of complex texts.

Main topics covered:

The Year 11 English Advanced course has two sections:

• In Year 11 students study a Common Module – Reading to Write. In this module, students undertake the intensive and close reading of quality texts from a variety of modes and media. In doing so, they further develop the skills and knowledge necessary to appreciate, understand, analyse and evaluate how and why texts convey complex ideas, relationships, endeavours and scenarios.

• Students also study two modules where they investigate how an author’s use of textual structures, language and stylistic features are crafted for particular purposes, audiences and effects. They examine conventions of narrative, for example setting, voice, point of view, imagery and characterisation and analyse how these are used to shape meaning. Students also explore how rhetorical devices enhance the power of narrative in other textual forms, including persuasive texts. They further develop and apply the conventions of syntax, spelling, punctuation and grammar for specific purposes and effect. Students also develop analytical and critical knowledge, understanding and appreciation of a literary text. Through increasingly informed personal responses to the text in its entirety, students develop understanding of the distinctive qualities of the text and notions of textual integrity.

The HSC English Advanced course has two sections:

• Year 12 Common Module where students deepen their understanding of how texts represent individual and collective human experiences. They examine how texts represent human qualities and emotions associated with, or arising from, these experiences. Students appreciate, explore, interpret, analyse and evaluate the ways language is used to shape these representations in a range of texts in a variety of forms, modes and media

• Modules which emphasise analytical and critical knowledge, understanding and appreciation of substantial literary texts; students understand the distinctive qualities of the text, notions of textual integrity and significance. Students will also be required to write for a range of audiences and purposes using language to convey ideas and emotions with power and precision.

Particular course requirements:

The Year 11 English Advanced course requires students to experience:

• a range of types of texts inclusive of prose fiction, drama, poetry, nonfiction, film, media and digital texts

• texts which are widely regarded as quality literature, including a range of literary texts written about intercultural experiences and the peoples and cultures of Asia

• a range of Australian texts, including texts by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander authors and those that give insights into diverse experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples

• texts with a wide range of cultural, social and gender perspectives

• integrated modes of reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing and representing as appropriate.

The HSC English Advanced course requires students to:

• complete the Year 11 course as a prerequisite

• study a range of types of texts inclusive of prose fiction, drama, poetry, nonfiction, film, media and digital texts

• texts which are widely regarded as quality literature, including a range of literary texts written about intercultural experiences and the peoples and cultures of Asia

• a range of Australian texts, including texts by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander authors and those that give insights into diverse experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples

• texts with a wide range of cultural, social and gender perspectives

• integrated modes of reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing and representing as appropriate.

HSC examination structure:

There will be two papers in the HSC examination

The importance of HSC English:

English is the only compulsory Stage 6 Course and the only subject from which two units must contribute to the ten units that comprise a student’s ATAR score.