I *HATE* ALL ENGLISHES BUT WANNA SCORE HIGH IN VCE, ENGLISH OR EL??

[EvangelionZeta]

It means that Lit and English is more about interpretation and your own ideas, whereas Language is more about facts.

[kenny17]

English language all da way, and yes i had to do an oral presentation in unit 3!

[appianway]

It means that Lit and English is more about interpretation and your own ideas, whereas Language is more about facts.

I'd argue that success in language requires a degree of creativity and intepretation. If you want to write an essay that jumps out of the page, you have to make your own observations about language in society, and find your own evidence to back up your contention.

[EvangelionZeta]

Perhaps, but it's still a bit stark in comparison to Lit, which is entirely based upon your own ideas.  :p

Though that's not to say that it's a bad - or easier - thing.  I'd struggle with Eng Lang, given that I absolutely suck at taking in certain types of data.

[teebagger*]

I'm not doing Eng Lang this year but I picked it for next year. Because some of my friends also picked it *headdesk
I'm doing both English and Lit this year but God, lit is so draining. I've come to the realisation that I'm definitely not a lit person but I'm not entirely sure about Lang either.

[appianway]

I skipped Lang 1/2, but apparently the 3/4 is quite different to the year 11 course.

[teebagger*]

I skipped Lang 1/2, but apparently the 3/4 is quite different to the year 11 course.

Oh? Is there anything in 1/2 that helps with 3/4?

[lynt.br]

I skipped Lang 1/2, but apparently the 3/4 is quite different to the year 11 course.

Oh? Is there anything in 1/2 that helps with 3/4?

It's good to go over the basic metalanguage and terminology from the 1+2 course before starting 3+4. You can cover it in a week of revision so it's not that difficult to learn. Usually the 3+4 course will devote a few weeks to revising the necessary knowledge from 1+2 anyway, although it's always helpful to have some preliminary knowledge on the subject before your first SAC.

[appianway]

As lynt.br said, nail the metalanguage. If you have a few hours to spare, read over a few popular linguistics books (such as "Blooming English") to gather a bit of a feel for how language reflects society.

[/0]

I reckon, if you're really dedicated to getting a high score in EL it's easier than for English since usually most people write about 15-20 essays during the whole year for EL but if you think about it, you could probably write heaps more essays throughout the year. They're only meant to be 45 minutes, so you could easily do several per day if you wanted to. If you can write heaps of essays you will become really fluent and totally pwn everyone else. I reckon if people did as many Essays as they did exam papers for Spesh and Methods then it would become a lot easier to score high,.

[mypurpleundercracka]

If you "hate" a subject ur usually bound to get mediocre marks in that subject

[tim2541]

You could always just do ESL and circle all the nouns and verbs with all the other VCAL students if u really hate english that bad.

[mypurpleundercracka]

You could always just do ESL and circle all the nouns and verbs with all the other VCAL students if u really hate english that bad.

Im pretty sure ESL is nuthin like that nor VCAL

[lynt.br]

ESL is effectively a watered down English course which gets marked up. It follows pretty much the same course outline, albeit with slightly different texts. If you hate English, your going to hate ESL as well (Although this begs the question: if you qualify for ESL, why would you even consider English, which marks down, to ESL which is 'easier' and marks up?).

Circling nouns and verbs would actually be closer to English Language than English. English is more of a general cultural study rather than studying the mechanics of English. Even EL only covers the fundamentals of English partially, with most of the course devoted to the applications of language.

To OP: Judging by your subject choices, I'd hazard a guess your the more science/mathematical type? If this is true then I'd recommend English Language all the way. Both Literature and English/ESL are going to have significant focus on textual interpretation and essay writing which most people who favour sciences/mathematics despise. While English Language does require essays, they are much less prevalent in the course (only one in the exam) and, as someone else mentioned, they are much closer to a scientific thesis (e.g., you usually argue your contention through supporting evidence which you have researched yourself) than the English/Literature essays. There are also no 'interpretation' style questions.

The other parts of the EL exam are short answer questions and a much more akin to those you'd find in a science type exam. These are essentially just testing your memory and logic - another advantage to science minded students.

[appianway]

I reckon, if you're really dedicated to getting a high score in EL it's easier than for English since usually most people write about 15-20 essays during the whole year for EL but if you think about it, you could probably write heaps more essays throughout the year. They're only meant to be 45 minutes, so you could easily do several per day if you wanted to. If you can write heaps of essays you will become really fluent and totally pwn everyone else. I reckon if people did as many Essays as they did exam papers for Spesh and Methods then it would become a lot easier to score high,.

Hmm, even though writing a lot of essays helps, I wouldn't say it's the defining factor in success. If your writing's already quite fluent, it's probably better if you spend your time developing your ideas.