Continue English Language 3/4 or move to Mainstream English 3/4?

[bumbecca]

Hi everyone!

I am a year 11 student heading into year 12, I have my year 12 head start week tomorrow and I'm pretty nervous.
I'm stuck in this one big dilemma on whether I should still continue English Language in Year 12 or move back into Mainstream English.
I did English Language 1/2 this year, I do find the coursework interesting, the grades I get for English Language are around the 60's-70's, which worries me as the course I'm interested in Uni requires a SS of 35+ in any English.
Basically I'm worried that I won't be able to obtain a SS of 35+ if I continue to do English Language.

I'm okay with most of the coursework, the only thing I struggle with mostly is the essay writing.
I struggle with the way in which it should be structured, what to talk about, how to go about in writing it etc.

I've talked to my English Language teacher, he says that I should go with my gut feeling (LOL), he says that I'm NOT that terrible at Eng Lang and I could go either way.
My student managers also checked the grades I received in normal English in year 10 semester 1 only (our semester 2 grades weren't kept due to the teacher strikes - DAMN), they were much higher than the grades I get in Eng Lang now (I'm not sure if that accounts for anything though).

I've also talked to the teacher who is the head of English at my school about my situation.
She recommends that I should just continue English Language for year 12, as I have a better foundation to build up and improve on, and that unless I have been struggling really badly (in which she says I haven't), then I don't have a need to change back to Mainstream English.
Another point she made is that it might be hard for me to transition back to mainstream English and to familiarize myself with the 3 essay types.

After receiving all these mixed answers from my teachers, I'm still so confused as to what I should do!
My main concern is that I might not be able to achieve the desired SS I want if I were to continue Eng Lang but then again if I change back to Mainstream English, I might not be able to keep up or even do that much better.

As for now, I kept English Language, my student manager says I should see how I go during my head start week and make up my mind then.

Any thoughts? If you did either Englishes, how did/do you find it?

Sorry for the lengthily post, thanks!

[ECheong]

Hi, I can offer some anecdotal accounts and some more general advice. However, I'd like to preface everything I say with: at the end of the day it really is up to which one you like better. (I did English Language 3/4 though so although I'll be as impartial as I can, bear that in mind)

Both Englishes are a lot of work. I can't speak for mainstream, but in English Language the 'further reading' component is very hefty and is where the hours drain to when looking for high marks. In EL everything is pinned on how complex your ideas about language are AND how well you can evidence that. In terms of mainstream, my friends who did it certainly had to work as hard if not harder than I did when preparing for it. For them, I believe the work was centred around a) knowing their books inside out and b) being able to form complex ideas about the book and express them in an erudite way.

The long and the short of it is, if you want to do EL you'd want to like analysing the gears behind language and how people use language to achieve their parochial aims and then be able to evidence it with the little quotes or bits of language you've found over the year of collecting further readings.

Onto my own experience. I was in a similar position to you in EL 1/2. My marks were completely all over the board ranging from 50s to 80s in 1/2. However, I went into 3/4 with a fresh approach to EL and ended up with a (SAC) average in the 90s. I had a similar problem too - I had no idea how to write the essays in EL. Throughout the course though, your writing will become better if not purely just because of the amount of practice you're getting (reading back on my 1/2 essays make me cringe so much, I mean, what is expression??LOL).

If I can offer any advice about structuring English Language writing that I learnt over the year is that English Language writing is very 'utilitarian'. Although you don't have to rigidly stick to TEEL, I always find myself coming back to evidence--> example; it's the clearest way to write. As long as you're able to structure big ideas into a coherent flow and have cohesive writing within the paragraphs you're set in EL and all this just comes from practice.

I personally found EL amazing, I loved it to bits LMAO. It's one of those subjects that you can carry with you post-vce (in fact, ask anybody who did EL, it's hard NOT to carry it around and be hyper-analytical LOL). Even writing this post, there are places where I've consciously placed ideas in specific positions inside a sentence to take advantage of end-focus or front-focus. The point being, EL is highly applicable and can be very interesting.

I can also say that u3/4 covers topics that are very different to what's covered in 1/2. Although development of English and child language acquisition are interesting, they're not directly relevant to 3/4.

So yeah, if being able to pick out why someone has picked their choice of words is something you'd like to do, then yes, go for EL. The essay writing will get easier as you get more practice.

Hopefully someone who's done English main can offer some contrast too.

Hope this helps!

[cute]

I feel that mainstream English would be your safest bet.
The Eng Lang cohort will only get stronger as you progress into Year 12, and if your results aren't at the ideal level you may fall further behind.
The only exception to this, in my opinion, is if you really enjoy EL. Do what you enjoy.