[English] Year 12 English exam

[Lyle Stebbing]

Dear colleauges,
I've just returned from six months overseas and would like some advice re the new year 12 English course- which I’ll be teaching again next year. I’ve been told by a friend that, at an English conference on the part 2 text or context question on the exam, teachers were told two things which I find worrying.
 
(1)   students should be encouraged to incorporate lots of (relevant) material from outside the specific texts studied and would be rewarded for this;
 
My first question is  -  do other teachers know how much of the persuasive and expository responses on the exam should be about the text itself? 2/3? ¾? 1/3? There is no advice in the study design about what is expected in the context responses. Surely exams should be set in conjunction with the panel which determines the study design.
 
(2)   teachers need not teach the Context texts as a whole and students do not need to read the whole texts but just focus on selected extracts relevant to the context; teachers provide a summary of the rest of the text to fill in the gaps.
 
My second question is - is this true?  If so, I have several concerns about this. First it would seem to destroy the integrity of the texts. Secondly, it suggests that the new study actually allows an ‘English lite’ approach that the new ‘text-heavy’ study design was supposed to avoid so as to deflect the criticisms made in the press after the first draft was revealed. Thirdly I have heard that some schools are giving students lists of (out of context) quotations by ‘important people’ related to their context so as to allow students to ‘add depth’ to their context essays. .
 
My last question is - has VCAA offered any advice regarding this?  My colleagues seem unsure of what is expected and fee! VCAA has provided inadequate guidance. We need, for example, a sample of the three types of context writing set on the exam. Has VCAA provided this? It seems we are sending students to the exam on a wing and a prayer.
Lyle


 


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