Is English Language right for me?

[hongkong]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and have a pretty big problem on my shoulders.

Recently, I've started thinking about English and its role in making up the ATAR, I've read the study guides of English and English Language. By far, EL has seemed to catch my attention over English - not because it's easier, but because of the content covered in EL; I just feel it wont be as dry as English is. Looking at it from my perspective, I really enjoy learning about change in our language and more about English as a Language than writing essays based on novels. Would EL be a better choice for me than English?

From what I've heard, English Language is actually harder than English, is it true? Albeit this won't have much of an impact on my decision, I just wanna know out of curiosity :S

Thank you so much in advance guys!

[grannysmith]

English Language sounds perfect for you. You'd have to catch up on a lot of the terminology, although this shouldn't be too hard.

I wouldn't say it's harder than mainstream English, but they're unlike each other.

Personally, if you see English as a dry and boring subject, then I wouldn't hesitate to give EL a go.
Edit: it also depends on whether your (subject) coordinators would allow you to make the change, but considering how English as a whole is an all-important determiner for your VCE, I can't see why they wouldn't allow it

If you haven't already, more information can be found here A Guide to English Language for New/Prospective Students

[hongkong]

English Language sounds perfect for you. You'd have to catch up on a lot of the terminology, although this shouldn't be too hard.

I wouldn't say it's harder than mainstream English, but they're unlike each other.

Personally, if you see English as a dry and boring subject, then I wouldn't hesitate to give EL a go.
Edit: it also depends on whether your (subject) coordinators would allow you to make the change, but considering how English as a whole is an all-important determiner for your VCE, I can't see why they wouldn't allow it

If you haven't already, more information can be found here A Guide to English Language for New/Prospective Students

Thank you for your reply!
By terminology do you mean, subsystems, morphology, phonology, lexicology, semantics, syntax etc.? Would covering metalanguage be helpful as well?

Hmm... I'd make every effort I can to do well in English since I am aiming high in it. What actually make EL harder than English in your POV?

Yeah, they're happy to allow me to give EL a go, so I am considering moving into EL.

Thanks once again

[grannysmith]

Yeah, basically the subsystems of language. There is a lot of metalanguage incorporated into each subsystem, so yes it will definitely be helpful to know them.

Once again, it isn't necessarily harder than English, they're just two different subjects focusing on different things. In EL for example, you may be asked to analyse how a  piece of discourse (could be a dialogue, article, ad or just a piece of text) conveys meaning (semantics).

[ealam2]

If you find English boring and dull and if you are interested in learning about the English language, switch to English Language. That's what I did.

Know your metalanguage and grammar!

You still write tons of essays in English Language and need to use contemporary, recent examples. Reading newspapers everyday and watching the news is important in looking for those examples of language use in everyday society.

Short-answer questions can be "easy" to answer but marking in my opinion can be harsh. A 4 mark question won't necessarily mean that you need to list 2 examples and then explain each. Marks can be allocated to how you express your answer and your use of terminology/metalanguage and being specific as in using examples and names from the text instead of just saying speaker/writer and audience.

My teacher said that she allocated 4 or 2 marks to questions because one of the reasons was that she doesn't like having odd numbers (makes it harder to add up or whatever), haha!

All in all, English Language is a cool subject and very different from English.

[hongkong]

Yeah, basically the subsystems of language. There is a lot of metalanguage incorporated into each subsystem, so yes it will definitely be helpful to know them.

Once again, it isn't necessarily harder than English, they're just two different subjects focusing on different things. In EL for example, you may be asked to analyse how a  piece of discourse (could be a dialogue, article, ad or just a piece of text) conveys meaning (semantics).

Ahh! So grammatical structuring of work is important basically?

If you find English boring and dull and if you are interested in learning about the English language, switch to English Language. That's what I did.

Know your metalanguage and grammar!

How are you doing with the change from mainstream English to EngLang?
Essentially knowing the composition and grammatical terms? 

You still write tons of essays in English Language and need to use contemporary, recent examples. Reading newspapers everyday and watching the news is important in looking for those examples of language use in everyday society.

Yay! That comes to my advantage since I have the habit of watching the news daily. Not so much on reading the newspaper, but I'll give that more of a go What's it actually like in terms of assessments and work that is given? As in, are we told to read articles and told to write an opinion piece?

Short-answer questions can be "easy" to answer but marking in my opinion can be harsh. A 4 mark question won't necessarily mean that you need to list 2 examples and then explain each. Marks can be allocated to how you express your answer and your use of terminology/metalanguage and being specific as in using examples and names from the text instead of just saying speaker/writer and audience.

Haha! I had a look on the past exam for EL and wow, the space given for the "short" answers really surprised me! I understands what you mean by marking I guess making the answer very, very concise is the main idea of short answers and expanding on it? o.O
I'll try develop those skills over the holidays >.<  Inputting the terms which we learn in order to answer the questions? Sounds so much like a science or maths test LOL


My teacher said that she allocated 4 or 2 marks to questions because one of the reasons was that she doesn't like having odd numbers (makes it harder to add up or whatever), haha!

Hahaha! :')

All in all, English Language is a cool subject and very different from English.

Thank you both so much, and sorry for all the questions I'm just a little naive to the subject... LOL

[ealam2]

How are you doing with the change from mainstream English to EngLang?
Essentially knowing the composition and grammatical terms? 

Woops sorry my bad. It's my wording. I never did mainstream English in year 11. I chose English Language right from the start of VCE. I meant I was bored with English in general in the years before year 11. And I was always interested in grammar anyways and have learnt some before in primary school overseas. So I'm doing English Language 3&4 this year.

Yay! That comes to my advantage since I have the habit of watching the news daily. Not so much on reading the newspaper, but I'll give that more of a go What's it actually like in terms of assessments and work that is given? As in, are we told to read articles and told to write an opinion piece?

It's good that you're watching the news but definitely read newspapers. (I should take up on my own advice, haha!) You can also read language blogs online where bloggers talk about the English language in general and they're quite interesting.

No we're not told to do that. It's more of you gathering examples from the media to incorporate those contemporary examples into your essays.

Haha! I had a look on the past exam for EL and wow, the space given for the "short" answers really surprised me! I understands what you mean by marking I guess making the answer very, very concise is the main idea of short answers and expanding on it? o.O
I'll try develop those skills over the holidays >.<  Inputting the terms which we learn in order to answer the questions? Sounds so much like a science or maths test LOL

Well for short answers you have to be both concise and making sure that you include all relevant points and terminology and not irrelevant stuff. You need to aim to fill in all the space given too. It's probably best for you to write out the whole example out rather than using dot points (for example: line number 16: ".........did this and that.") so it's easier for the examiner or teacher when reading your work. Always include line numbers PLUS what's actually in the line (meaning don't just put the line number)

And when answering these questions, go straight to the pointand just answer the question.
Definitely use your metalanguage/key terms. Important. Very Important. (Grammar too.)

Feel free to PM me or ask more questions here.