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March 28, 2024, 08:26:24 pm

Author Topic: Should i pick up eng lang in yr12 without 1&2  (Read 5934 times)  Share 

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aisha hussein

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Should i pick up eng lang in yr12 without 1&2
« on: August 27, 2021, 08:04:02 am »
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Hi im considering picking up eng lang in yr12 without 1&2, would you guys recommend i do so?

Joseph41

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Re: Should i pick up eng lang in yr12 without 1&2
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2021, 09:14:44 am »
+1
Depends! Why are you thinking of picking it up? :)

P.S. Welcome to ATAR Notes!

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heather727

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Re: Should i pick up eng lang in yr12 without 1&2
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2021, 02:18:31 pm »
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Hey Aisha!
I also picked up English Language 3/4 without having done the 1/2, so I hope I can offer you some advice.

Starting out – why do you want to pick up Eng Lang?
I would like to echo Joseph41 – consider why you want to pick it up. For me, the primary reason was because I wanted to drop literature, which was the English subject I had done in year 11 (it really was not the subject for me). In addition, eng lang was always a subject that had interested me (nearly picked it in year 10 but then went with lit in the end), and I found it so cool to listen to my friends who were doing eng lang discussing different linguistic concepts with each other. 
Before you make your decision, I’d also advise you to consult people you know who do eng lang, and maybe even speak to an eng lang teacher (I did this last year, and it helped to clear a lot of things up in terms of what exactly is studied in this subject). This way, you can see how people who actually do or teach eng lang at your school, feel about the subject, which could inform your decision.
Furthermore, the study design is also a great place to find out what exactly you’ll be studying, which could help you decide if it would be something you’d enjoy (though I admit it’s a bit hard to understand what the study design means when you aren’t familiar with some of the jargon terms used in it, which is why I would recommend consulting someone who does/teaches the subject).

What it’s like to do 3/4 without the 1/2 
Content
In terms of the logistics of picking up eng lang, there isn’t actually much catch-up you have to at all, at least in terms of unit 1/2 content. I did not look at any concepts from unit 1/2 during my preparation for 3/4 during the summer holidays, because most of it is not relevant to 3/4. However, it is absolutely vital that you learn the metalanguage required for 3/4, which does have some overlap with the metalanguage list for 1/2. If you do decide to pick up the subject, I’d advise you to ask some eng lang teachers (or, if your school has a 3/4 ignition week at the end of the year, ask your own teacher) for some resources to help you learn the metalanguage. For me, my teacher compiled a bunch of pages from the ‘English Language for Senior Students’ textbook, which covered basic concepts such as morphemes, word classes, sentence structures, among others. I read these pages and completed the activities to do with them over the summer holidays, so that I would have an understanding of the basics of English from a linguistic perspective. Doing this meant that I wasn’t really behind in any of the content, and could keep up in class just as well as my peers. Another thing I did (it wasn’t recommended by my teacher, but I found it very useful), was to fill out a metalanguage glossary with all the terms from the study design. As you go through the year, you can add and expand on these definitions based on content you learn in class, but this is just a great starter activity to get you familiar with the metalanguage, and so that you have at least a base level understanding of everything (this might even let you get ahead of everyone else, since some things in the 3/4 list, such as cohesion and coherence factors aren’t in the 1/2 list). You can get these definitions from your textbooks, or alternatively, you can search on websites like Quizlet for study sets other people have made, which can also be helpful.
Writing
You may be worried about how you’re meant to answer question in eng lang – I know I definitely was! The way in which you’re expected to answer questions is very different from the other Englishes, and this is certainly something I struggled with early on. However, as cliché as it may be, the best way to improve is to practise. Write as many practise analytical commentaries (ACs) and essays, and answer as many short answer questions (SAQ) as you can, and send them to your teacher for feedback, so you know what to improve on. If you’re struggling with structuring your responses, and knowing what to include, my biggest piece of advice is to ask your teacher, they will definitely be able to help you out. If your school uses resource sharing websites such as SharePoint, you could even look around for resources from previous years around how to structure yours ACs, essay and SAQs. In addition, reading exemplars from the examiner’s reports, or ones that your teacher might have given you is also a great way to see what sort of things high scoring responses have. 

Final thoughts
I love eng lang this year, I find it very interesting. I also love that I can directly apply what I have learned to everyday interactions with people, something I didn’t really get out of literature. I’d definitely recommend picking it up if you think it would be something you’d enjoy as well, because with some catch-up work, you can do as well and even better than people who have done 1/2.
I hope this helped, and if you have any questions, feel free to let me know :)!

Joseph41

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Re: Should i pick up eng lang in yr12 without 1&2
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2021, 03:56:17 pm »
+2
^Great post!

Oxford comma, Garamond, Avett Brothers, Orla Gartland enthusiast.