SammySpicer
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2015
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- HSC
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I've recently sent an essay to the BOS curriculum equiries email. It is about the validity of English as a subject and ways in which it may be improved. So, here it is...
Greetings. As I'm sure you know, English is the one subject that is mandatory for the HSC. I firmly believe that education concerning grammar, punctuation, and writing skills is necessary within today's society. The BOS English curriculum succeeds without a doubt in teaching students these critical skills. However, the secondary education English course completely stops teaching students practical knowledge after Year 8. It would be beneficial if language skills were reintroduced into the course.
Another issue is the nature of literature study. English has evolved to the point that class time is spent mostly on searching for abstract symbolism and meaning which the author arguably did not intend to include (English teachers often seem to qualify niche references with some symbolism. One of my English teachers said that Shaun Tan's adaption of the Australian painting "Collins Street 5pm" in "The Lost Thing" was to contrast the whimsical nature of the Lost Thing to the dull society. It's likely that it was more of a niche reference). I've found that the complete deconstruction of literature ruins any enjoyment that I may have previously derived from it. Seeing as one of the purposes of the English literature course is to expose students to famous and interesting texts so that they may develop a greater interest in consuming these texts, it would be counter-productive to remove the pleasure factor from the equation.
English's subjectivity is also an issue considering that English is a compulsory subject for the HSC. Is it fair to award one person a higher mark than another because their points in a critical review or an essay were more agreeable in one marker's perspective. Currently there are no fair regulations or marking schemes by which every essay is subject to. The massive quantity of papers ensures that there must be multiple markers, each of who harbor differing perspectives. The ATARs of some people who excel in objective subjects of greater importance within the workplace such as mathematics and science often don't reflect the true ability of the students - as they may find English difficult.
In short, what I'm suggesting is that English loses its mandatory status in the HSC. While attending the subject during secondary education should remain compulsory, students should have the ability to not count English in their ATAR providing they can fulfill the 10 unit requirement with other subjects.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Sincerely, S. Jacobs.