Should I study English, EngLang AND Lit in year 12??

[emilyclare]

Hello!

I am currently a year 11 student and will be the graduating class of 2020. I am a strong English student and I love analysing plays/films/books and it comes pretty naturally to me (even in my spare time). I am aiming to study Speech Pathology at uni after school.

This year, I completed 1/2 Legal Studies, Further, Health, French and English, as well as 3/4 Psychology.

Next year, my timetable is currently Legal Studies, Further, Health, English and Literature (there was not an available class for French for me).

My question is: would it be crazy to drop Legal and pick up English Language?

I do not enjoy Legal as much as I would have hoped - I find it very, very dry and even though I learn well by rote, I find it hard to apply elaborative learning to the subject. My scores for 1/2 have been relatively good (averaging around 80%), but after looking at the content and talking to my friend who is currently studying 3/4 Legal, I can't see myself enjoying/being very good at it.

My current year 12 friends are telling me that studying 3 english's be an insane workload, but I guess my logic behind it is this:
1. English = I'm good at it, it comes pretty easy to me and I have done it since year 7.
2. Literature = This would be my 'passion' subject. I love analysing books and plays, and even though I have not completed 1/2 and I understand that the formatting is different (ie. writing literary perspectives), I am willing to work hard to overcome it.
3. Language = My work friend who is currently studying the same Speech Pathology course I want to study said that English Language set her up well for the course as it covers similar topics. I also understand that not doing 1/2 and picking up 3/4 Language will be initially difficult, but I am not the first to do it and I have spoken to the teacher who is kindly willing to give me resources to study over the summer to help me catch up. I am not an overly scientific or 'logical' learner and I prefer the creative stuff which is why my mum is worried about me doing Language... buttt it does interest me and I did well in psychology (from which I've heard the amount of content load is similar).

I also understand that one of these will have to be a 10% increment (which I am expecting will be Language). In turn, if I end up doing Legal, I expect that to be a 10% increment, along with maths.

I'm anxious about making the wrong choice and limiting the breadth of my subjects. Studying English, Lit and Language honestly makes me excited for year 12... but I may be being very naive and just feeling overwhelmed with Legal because of the time of year.

So do I study all three English's? Or do I keep Legal and be okay with the fact that it may not be my strongest subject?

I would really appreciate your advice! <3 Thanks so much:)

[AngelWings]

Have you checked out the study design for Eng Lang U3/4 and does that interest you more or less than Legal? And are you prepared to write loads of essays (as well as catch up on the metalanguage of Eng Lang U1/2 that carries over to Eng Lang U3/4)? As you can guess, if you do make the move to Eng Lang, you’ll have quite the number of essays to write for all three of the English subjects.

Moreover, will the school permit this, as in will these subjects be in different timetabling blocks, so that you don’t have a clash? From my own high school experience, I noticed that my old high school used to block two of the English subjects at the same time, so that, for example, the only Lit class would run simultaneously with the only Eng Lang class. Assuming that your school’s subject preferences have already been submitted and you’re hoping to change late this year/ early next year, your school may have already started setting subjects into timetabling blocks and, if two of these clash, then you might not be permitted to join the Eng Lang class, if that makes sense.

If you have no qualms about essay writing and are far more interested in Eng Lang than Legal, I’d be more inclined to make the move (if your school permits it).

[schola300]

If the prospect of this genuinely excites you I would say go for it. School should also be about having fun and enjoying the content you learn as well as getting good marks required for your chosen pathway after school. I think Eng Lang would be extremely beneficial for speech pathology but I am only a mainstream English student so don't have much insight on the rest of the workload and content. Good luck with your decision.