3 & 4 without 1 & 2

[mba]

I am thinking about doing Lang 3 & 4 without 1 & 2, instead of straight English next year. Wondering if anyone has had any experience with this? Do you miss  a lot of the work you need to know in Yr.12 from Yr.11? Is it hard to pick up the concepts from 1 & 2?

Regards.

[cns1511]

Unit 1 and 2 has only basic concepts that need to be known for units 3 and 4. Understanding of the phonetic alphabet as well as sentence structures and functions are all I can think of right now. These topics (other than phonetic alphabet) should be revised at some stage during unit 3 and 4 anyway. So I don't see any problems with doing units 3 and 4 without 1 and 2.

[Gloamglozer]

Unit 1 and 2 has only basic concepts that need to be known for units 3 and 4. Understanding of the phonetic alphabet as well as sentence structures and functions are all I can think of right now. These topics (other than phonetic alphabet) should be revised at some stage during unit 3 and 4 anyway. So I don't see any problems with doing units 3 and 4 without 1 and 2.

Ditto.  Of Units 1 & 2, Unit 1 is the most important and definitely the most relevant for you to progress through to the final two units.  I just did Unit 1 and basically to be set for Unit 3, all you need to be familiar with is::

1.  All the terms and definitions on page 13 in Heinemann English Language VCE Units 1 and 2 (eg. "discourse", "metalanguage", "lexicon", "syntax", etc).
2.  The subsystems of language.
3.  The prosodic features - stress, pitch and intonation.
4.  Word classes
5.  Phrases & clauses and the different types of clauses.
6.  Sentence types (declarative, imperative, exclamative or interrogative) and sentence structures (simple, compound or complex).
7.  The major functions of language (emotional expression, social interaction, recording the facts, etc)
8.  Audience, context and mode
9.  Primary modes of language - speaking, writing and signing
10.  Register and principle of appropriateness
11.  Differences between speech and writing (this is in Unit 4 though)

[hyperblade01]

This year, a whole class worth of people picked up 3&4 without 1&2. I think none of the people that did 1&2 have an advantage really..

At the start of the year, we did chapter two of Heinemann in somewhat detail and had our first SAC on it. If you look at the start of Chapter 3 you'll notice that only then does it say 'Unit 3' which implies that Chapter two is not even part of the course. However, that book's based off the old study design so maybe that stuff is included.

Unit 1 helps slightly - to be honest the people that did unit 1 would have forgotten alot of it.
Unit 2 - to do with the history of how English came to be. It really is just regurgitating facts.


If it makes you feel better, the top scorer for EL in my school last year didn't do 1&2

[lynt.br]

I'm currently doing EL 3+4 without having done 1+2 and I've been doing fairly well. At the start of the year it helps to familiarise yourself with the key terms from 1+2 because most of your SACs in unit 3 will cover that area. Other than you you should pick it up fairly quickly and easily. My class is about 50% non-1+2 students and there really isn't any way to differentiate between those who did 1+2 and those who didn't on the basis of performance.

In short, you can probably cover everything you needed to know from 1+2 in  1-2 weeks of effective revision. Just go over the first few chapters in your textbook and familiarise yourself with what all the terms/jargon mean.

[naved_s9994]

Personally, although I am doing EL 1 &2 this year, thanks heaps everyone, because this is essentially what to revise during summer break i suppose?

Also Btw, without making a 'big' issue for all Unit 3 & 4 EL Students.
I have been really concerned about the 'lack' of notes available on VN for EL (Im sure you guys may have aswell).

If before the end of the year, you guys could upload material on EL 3&4, it would soo much helpful
for everyone to come in future years.

Thanks heaps !

[mba]

Thanks all for your replies. One follow up question. Do you think it is easier to do well in Lang if you're a good English student? I average an A in straight English. I realise due to the large cohort it is very hard to get a good score for 3&4. Lang has a smaller cohort, so logically a strong Eng student should be able to get a higher score. Is my thinking behind this correct?

Cheers.

[naved_s9994]

Sort off, because its cohort ranking..then Exam scores can twist things all around aswell - so yea, like any other subject - I THINK

[appianway]

Thanks all for your replies. One follow up question. Do you think it is easier to do well in Lang if you're a good English student? I average an A in straight English. I realise due to the large cohort it is very hard to get a good score for 3&4. Lang has a smaller cohort, so logically a strong Eng student should be able to get a higher score. Is my thinking behind this correct?

Cheers.

I'd say it's harder to get a higher study score in EngLang than English. Approximately the same percentage of students attain a study score of x, but in EngLang you typically have students who are interested in the subject (whereas English has a lot of mediocre students).

I think that success in English Language is really defined by the following factors:

+An ability to substantiate arguments with relevant evidence
+An ability to pick up nuances in texts and interpret them in a social context
+An ability to identity revelant examples in C.A.E.
+An ability to logically classify elements of language into different categories
+An ability to note the way language changes and to think of language in a more abstract manner
+Fluency in the written mode
+An interest in the subject

As for skipping the 1/2 - it's definitely possible. At my school, around 10 people (including myself) jumped into the subject as a 3/4. So long as you do some background reading, you should be fine. If it makes you feel any better, a few years ago, a year 11 at my school took the subject and scored a 50. 

[EvangelionZeta]

I know a guy who did English 1/2, then picked up English Language 3/4 in year 12 (whilst still doing English 3/4 as well) who got 45 in EL and 43 in Eng.