Thoughts on English 3 and 4 in year 11

[knightrider]

Hi guys what are your thought on doing English 3/4 in year 11

I am currently doing 1/2 English this year and am still not sure on doing 3/4 next year

What are your tips/advice on deciding and how do you reckon you can get a really good score in english
Any help will be appreciated

[datfatcat]

Hi guys what are your thought on doing English 3/4 in year 11

I am currently doing 1/2 English this year and am still not sure on doing 3/4 next year

What are your tips/advice on deciding and how do you reckon you can get a really good score in english
Any help will be appreciated

I assuming you are in year 10 right now and you don't have any idea if you should take Eng unit 3 and 4 next year. To me, I would take English unit 3/4 in year 11 in a heartbeat because (1) I doubt there is much to learn with one more year doing English unit 1/2 (2) If I don't do well next year, I will most likely repeat unit 3/4 in year 12 (since English is the "core" subject and you cannot put it as your 5th/6th subject unless you also do Eng lang or Lit). (3) I personally found Eng takes most of my time compared to other subjects.

[literally lauren]

I'd highly recommend doing 3/4 next year unless you're really struggling. There'll be a new study design for 2016 so if you wait till then, some of your work in Units 1/2 will be wasted. Better to stick with what you know and hope for the best. It'll be more work for you if you decide to leave it for another year, and that's time that could be devoted to other subjects.

[shadows]

From my experience, Units 1/2 and 3/4 English are pretty much taught the same. The only difference I've found is that a lot more people take English seriously in Year 12, lol.

You just need to perfect your Text Response, Context and Language Analysis writing throughout the year.

Definitely do it next year! English requires a lot of attention, and it is a subject you can't afford to bludge (if you want a good atar) because unless you are doing Lit/Eng Lang, it will be in your top 4.

[knightrider]

Thanks so much everyone for your help i really appreciate it

In regards to the study design, Lauren how do you find out when it is changing and what it is currently

Also whats the best way to score really high in English and how often should you be doing essays
 
Also another big thank you to everyone

[meganrobyn]

I would absolutely in no way advise you to do English early.

Everyone is right in saying there isn't a whole lot of new English 'content' in 3/4 (if you've been taught structure and analysis well in earlier years) - but there is an excellent reason for this. You're not being marked on 'content'. You're being marked on SKILLS (mostly): your ability to analyse and write. And no matter whether we're talking about a Year 7 student or a PhD student, you get measurably better at these every year (assuming you put even a little work in) - because that's the nature of skills.

With most other, content-based, subjects, I would say you *could* certainly get the same mark in Year 11 as Year 12 (although statistics suggest you still are more likely to get a better mark doing the same subject in Year 12). But. With English, I'd go so far as to say you *cannot*. And I don't use absolutes often.

Could you sit the exam a year earlier, though, and produce decent pieces? Of course.

[literally lauren]

I definitely agree that developing skills over time is necessary for success, but English isn't all that difficult conceptually and if you're willing to put the effort in throughout the year, there's no reason you can't improve. Yes, some things like natural writing ability are incredibly difficult to learn, if not impossible in a 12/24 month period.

But if you wait a year, you will have wasted approximately 30% of your knowledge because Context/Section B is being abolished. The criteria for Sections A and C might be unchanged, but what you'll be doing in SACs throughout the year will be entirely new to you.

The VCAA website (here) has most of the information, but it's pretty jargonistic so here is an old thread in which some of us tried to make sense of the changes.

Play to your strengths in this situation; if you're someone who is good at oral presentations and creative pieces then the new system might suit you better. But if you like what you know and are confident with the current 3 essay-type-model then you're probably better off doing English early.

The "best way" to score highly in English is to do what the task is asking you to do. There's no cheat code I'm afraid, and everyone will study differently. Some people are writing an essay a week all year as a way of developing their understanding, others work on their ideas and knowledge in other ways and try to use practice pieces to test themselves. Work out where you are on this spectrum and study accordingly.

[datfatcat]

Thanks so much everyone for your help i really appreciate it

In regards to the study design, Lauren how do you find out when it is changing and what it is currently

Also whats the best way to score really high in English and how often should you be doing essays
 
Also another big thank you to everyone

I did EAL in year 12, but I guess it should be similar to English. What I did were 2 essays per week (I did more in September and October) and 3 lang analysis per week. I read my text over and over again during the holiday and made sure that I memorised all the important quotes by the end of June.

[24bauer12]

I would advise against the completion of English units 3&4 in Year 11.Instead, I would recommend you complete Unit 2 literature in 2015 as this would allow you to have some practice Comparing Texts (this is outcome 2 of lit unit 2).This will give you an advantage for the new study design as reading and comparing texts (English unit 4 (new study design) will be completely new to (most!) students. On top of that lit will also assist you with L.A.