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March 29, 2024, 11:43:14 pm

Author Topic: English or English Language?  (Read 19058 times)  Share 

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Lesliel1

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English or English Language?
« on: August 12, 2010, 08:05:07 pm »
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hey,
I am stuck between the decisions of english language and normal english.
I was wondering if someone could give me the pros and cons of the subjects and tell me which one is better.
because i heard from some people that english language is way better. :)

 thanks :P
« Last Edit: December 29, 2010, 11:29:07 am by lexitu »
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appianway

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2010, 08:17:28 pm »
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I've done/do both, so here it is...

English:

It's less structured, and less competitive. That said, the scores aren't scaled up. You do three areas of study - 'reading and responding', which is a text study, 'creating and presenting', in which you draw on the ideas presented in a context and 'language analysis', in which you look at how authors use language to persuade their audiences. You have a little more scope for your own interpreations (although this can be done in English Language if you put in the effort). There's a speech as an oral, but the rest of the SACs/exams are essays, so be prepared.

English Language:

Unit 1/2's a bludge from what I've heard, but I skipped it so I can't vouch for it. Unit 3 looks at how language represents identity and how it manipulates meaning - it's an essay writing unit, and you need to go out and research your own examples. Unit 4 is VERY dry - you look at how specific linguistic features facilitate conversations and deliver the meaning of written texts. It's interesting, but there's a lot of definitions.

I'm not sure what's easier to do well in - I think for either, if you're a good student, you can walk in and get anywhere between 40 and 50. But that's just my view.

Mulan

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #2 on: August 12, 2010, 09:18:18 pm »
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english langauge is like learning a different language..in english (:

Lesliel1

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2010, 04:04:07 pm »
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so.. which one do you guys think is easier? xD
haha
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brightsky

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2010, 06:05:28 pm »
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Generally, for a maths/science-orientated person, English Language is easier, as it focuses more on the mechanics of English and how they work - so very memorisation-based. Also, essay-writing does not take up as much of the course as does English, like 1/3 of the exam is short answer questions. Conversely, English is very much based on essay-writing and exploring subjective concepts rather than objective facts. Because of this, it can get very complicated, unlike EL (and a lot of the VCE science/maths subjects) where the info is provided for you.
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vexx

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #5 on: August 13, 2010, 06:10:09 pm »
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^ Yep, English Language is more suited to Sciencey students or people who aren't as good at Essays.
BUT, i went in thinking 'oh it's all memory based, thats so good, i can do so well,bahblah' but not exactly, unit 3 is extremely opened ended and so much to know, and need to research all sorts of things that it's like a humanities-type essay suject and so i, personally, will not be doing well at all xD
... but unit 4 is very theory and short answers, so its very good if you know how to answer those sort of questions, which at the moment look quite strange and i'm not even sure i can answer them all that well either..

Still, EL > English.
I regret not working hard from the beginning for it, but do this and you should be fine. It's more 'oh i studied and it showed' rather then english's more luck on a topic you can write about (if your are good at english then this doesnt matter)
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AzureBlue

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #6 on: August 13, 2010, 06:10:45 pm »
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so.. which one do you guys think is easier? xD
haha
This may vary between people, but the general consensus is that English is easier, and the main population do it - English Language is difficult in that it's quite complex, like learning another language (linguistics). Literature is also difficult in that it explores much more deep, complex ideas than English. I'm trying EL next year - if it is not enjoyable, I'll go to English. Lit would be interesting too, but I would prefer to do the 1/2 if I was to do the 3/4.

AzureBlue

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #7 on: August 13, 2010, 06:11:43 pm »
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^ Yep, English Language is more suited to Sciencey students or people who aren't as good at Essays.
Nope, that's not right - apparently EL is for people who are strong at English and are very intellectually capable... and remember, you have to write essays too.

brightsky

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #8 on: August 13, 2010, 06:13:39 pm »
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Quote
Literature is also difficult in that it explores much more deep, complex ideas than English.

Really? My impression of Lit is that it's based on close, critical analysis of text rather than "deep, complex", philosophical ideas.
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vexx

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #9 on: August 13, 2010, 06:15:01 pm »
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^ Yep, English Language is more suited to Sciencey students or people who aren't as good at Essays.
Nope, that's not right - apparently EL is for people who are strong at English and are very intellectually capable... and remember, you have to write essays too.

i do english language >_> and it's definitely more suited to science students without question!
ha, and no i'm not strong at english at all, i dropped english because i have an inability to write an essay and i made the right decision with englang even if my poor english skills bring me slightly down.
you write one essay in the exam and some throughout unit 3 where they are more factual, theory based humanities-type essays
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AzureBlue

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #10 on: August 13, 2010, 06:15:35 pm »
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Quote
Literature is also difficult in that it explores much more deep, complex ideas than English.
Really? My impression of Lit is that it's based on close, critical analysis of text rather than "deep, complex", philosophical ideas.
And English Language and Lit are definitely much more competitive than the English cohort - I heard that you go into the deep ideas in Lit, and that could be enjoyable; but probably ask someone who's done it, that's just what I heard from teachers.

AzureBlue

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #11 on: August 13, 2010, 06:16:58 pm »
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i do english language >_> and it's definitely more suited to science students without question!
ha, and no i'm not strong at english at all, i dropped english because i have an inability to write an essay and i made the right decision with englang even if my poor english skills bring me slightly down.
you write one essay in the exam and unit 3 is a more factual, theory based humanities-type essay.
Yeah, probably because they would be more "analytical" and "complex-thinking" but English Language is definitely not "the easy way out" for people who are relatively bad at English but enjoy the sciences, and it's more competitive too. It depends on what you're interested in, really - if Linguistics is your thing, try it out (the papers look quite... interesting) ;)

vexx

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Re: English Language vs. english !help!
« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2010, 06:21:12 pm »
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i do english language >_> and it's definitely more suited to science students without question!
ha, and no i'm not strong at english at all, i dropped english because i have an inability to write an essay and i made the right decision with englang even if my poor english skills bring me slightly down.
you write one essay in the exam and unit 3 is a more factual, theory based humanities-type essay.
Yeah, probably because they would be more "analytical" and "complex-thinking" but English Language is definitely not "the easy way out" for people who are relatively bad at English but enjoy the sciences, and it's more competitive too. It depends on what you're interested in, really - if Linguistics is your thing, try it out (the papers look quite... interesting) ;)

yeah, it's not exactly an easy way out - depends on the person.
though, if i had worked hard from the start, then it would have been honestly been a little bit of an 'easy way out' because i would have to put in so much more work in english to get the same score i probably will probably get in englang. though, if englang wasn't an option, i would be doing lit :p

hmm it usually has similar cutoff ranges to english as a guide, and is marked up 2 whereas english is marked down 1, so the cohort your against is favourable. but yes still said to be 'more competitive' as everyone does english.
2010 VCE: psychology | english language | methods cas | further | chemistry | physical ed | uni chemistry || ATAR: 97.40 ||

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    || genetics&the evolution of life | biochemistry&molecular biology | techniques of molecular science -.- | mind,brain&behaviour 2

20XX: MEDICINE

bar0029

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HELP...
« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2010, 06:29:21 pm »
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Okay, well currently I am in year 11 studying the following subjects:
English 1.2
Biology 3.4
Methods 3.4
Advanced Maths 1.2
Chemistry 1.2
Physics 1.2

I thought the above information is relevant as it may help you, help me decide on whether to do:
ENGLISH or ENGLISH LANGUAGE
and also if I do English language will i be disadvantaged? Although I am more than willing to study the Unit 1&2 course over the summer holidays...
Alongside this, what exactly is on the course of English Language 3&4?


Whoever helps me, i love you, because this is the hardest decision for me thus far haha  :)
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Re: HELP...
« Reply #14 on: August 13, 2010, 10:06:14 pm »
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I'd be leaning towards english... some of my friends switched englishes without doing 1/2 and they're struggling hard
That's not to say you will... you're obviously more committed if you're gonna self teach 1/2.
My personal opinion would be english language is more fun... normal english is unbearably boring. Maybe get a hold of your friends EL 1/2 book and have a flick through it (if you haven't already done so)
If you HATE essays like i do... go for EL
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