[English] Reframing the English study design?

Wed Feb 16 06:58:10 EST 2011

Hi Janny

I find it difficult to believe that there would be a reframing of the study
design. My very limited experience in marking the paper suggests that being
able to analyse and connect the contribution of the visual to the meaning of
the passage is a complex high order thinking and writing skill that is
looked for - so separating them is not something I can imagine is being
encouraged. I can understand a criticism of spending too much time on the
visual ( 3 paragraphs) at the expense of opportunities to discuss written
text. (but I have questions about this - see next paragraph) Part of the
task for the student is to decide what is important and what is not as
everything you could possibly write about cannot be covered. Given the main
purpose of a visual is to support the ideas in a text I would not want my
students writing too much on this visual alone, especially if they are not
linking it to the written text. Students need to stand back from the piece
and analyse how the whole works together - then deconstruct those parts that
support their ideas. I hope this is what the comments were alluding to. 

However, I am curious. Was the reference to three paragraphs on the image
related to a trend? Did this occur in many papers or was it cited as just
one example? As for the  3 paragraphs - if a student has written a total of
5 or 6 paragraphs and 3 of these are on the visual they may perhaps not have
the balance between visual and text. If on the other hand they group and
order ideas in such a way they have 8-10 paragraphs in total and 3 make
reference to the image that may not be so bad in terms of balance. (on the
other hand these 3 could be worse than the first example as they work as a
shopping list of persuasive techniques and do not link image to text and
therefore are even less useful than where a student has simply focussed too
much of their energy on analysing the image) I am curious therefore about
the references to 3 paragraphs - what was the context?

How long is a paragraph? Once again - there is no formula - there are
expectations; a clear main idea, a development of the idea, relevant
illustration of the idea, and a demonstration of the relevance of this idea
to the whole. This brings me back to the context of the comments about 3
paragraphs on image - how long were they? How detailed and relevant etc. 

I am also surprised that you have come away from the meeting with comments
about what 'should' appear in the first paragraph. When I did the training
and the marking a common comment and thread of feedback was that teachers
need to ease up on giving formulas for writing. Instead we need to support
and encourage the student's ability to embark on engaging the reader (in
this case the examiner) in an analytical discussion of how language and
image are used in their own voice and style. As a teacher doing the marking
for the first time the one thing I really learned is that there really is no
set formula other than the concept that good writing engages the reader and
is focussed on the task. The best pieces contained not only the best
language skills but also the most complex thinking. We were not trained to
look for the presence of x, y, z (formula) in an introduction or first
paragraph. (I actually think this varies a lot from teacher to teacher -
based on our own expectations as readers) 

I imagine the use of a what 'should' appear in an introduction may have been
better phrased as what 'could' appear. As teachers we do look for formulas
so we can offer students a scaffold or structure to assist them with their
writing as they struggle to come to terms with the demands of having their
own style and voice. (and even thinking!) This is our struggle - finding the
right balance between telling students what to write (and how much they
expect this)  and teaching them how to determine that for themselves. (which
many of them do not wish to do - they want the magic formula) Ultimately
they need to be taught there is no set rule and their individual voice as a
writer and analyst is to be encouraged. 

I recall a time when there was a 'formula' for the expository style response
to the Context task kicking around - it went something like 50% text, 25%
world, 25% personal - and made for some very unauthentic pieces. Every PD I
have had with the examiners has reiterated strongly that there is no
formula. I recall the expression on the face of Ross Huggard when he was
questioned on this in regard to the AOS 2 responses a few years back...hence
my surprise at a 'what should be' in the introduction for AOS3.  I believe
the philosophy of no set formula/rule applies across the board. We do give
our students a skeleton, a structure to follow, but we need to encourage
them to stretch beyond this. 

Given that you feel the advice was 'so definitive' I would be inclined to
make contact with some of the board if you can and have it clarified from
there. 

Regards

Jenny Gilbert

English Coordinator, St Joseph's College Mildura
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-----Original Message-----
From: english-bounces at edulists.com.au
[mailto:english-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of
mccurryj at netspace.net.au
Sent: Tuesday, 15 February 2011 7:41 AM
To: 'VCE English Teachers' Mailing List'
Subject: [English] Reframing the English study design?

Presenters at VATE's Meet the Assessor's evening offered valuable insights
into the ways that students responded to the 2010 English exam and included
practical advice about how we teachers might understand the various tasks
and support our students as they learn how to do them effectively with an
eye on performing well in the end of year exam. 

However, I was a bit surprised that some of the advice was s so definitive
about the form a language analysis response should take. 

For instance, apart from comments about what should appear in the first
paragraph, it was suggested, I think, that students should be advised not to
write at length on visual components within a text and that three paragraphs
were certainly too many. Perhaps this was clearly the case in relation to
the
2010 Section C material and the range of student responses that were seen by
assessors. However, I wonder if it was the case for the 2008 exam where the
cartoon showing the asinine parent had quite a bit going on in it, much of
which picked up points made in the verbal text. And will it be the case for
the particular visual elements of the text chosen by the Exam setting panel
for 2011? And, anyway, how long is a paragraph? 

Taking into account what I think I heard, along with the way the 2010
Examiner's report distinguishes between the 'visual' and 'the passage', I
wonder if there is a danger that assessors are reframing the intention of
the study design in relation to visual language. I had assumed that students
need to be attentive to the details of design apparent in both visual and
verbal text and that accounting for the persuasive intention of these design
choices, shaped as they are by the context of the text, was what was at
issue in the task.

Janny McCurry

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