Some things that may or may not sway your decision:
• If you have a decent teacher (and/or ATAR Notes
) none of the English subjects are that conceptually difficult. You could even head into Units 3&4 without the 1&2 backing and still do pretty well.
• Both English and English Language require you to write essays under time constraints - there's no getting around that. The Englang exam does include some 'short answer'-ish components whilst English is just 3 essays in 3 hours, but the time pressure is about equal. The Englang exam is only two hours, and you still have to write a fair bit. You can check out the 2015 exams for both if you want, though there are some study design changes which I'll discuss below.
• The Englang course is changing this year, so the current Year 12s are doing some slightly new stuff (admittedly there aren't any huge changes, esp. not compared with English) and this won't be much of a problem since you'll be part of the second cohort to go through this new study design. Translation: you'll have more practice exams and resources than the current Englang cohort, and your teachers will likely be a little more confident by this time next year.
English on the other hand is going through some more
substantial changes. Long story short: there's a compulsory creative SAC; the persuasive oral presentation is worth a lot more, and there's this brand new task that involves comparing two texts. The exam is still 3 essays in 3 hours, but one of those essays is a totally new thing, and your year level will be the first to do it. As such, resources will be few and far between; you won't have many practice pieces to use, and if you have a dodgy teacher, this might prove challenging.
• Regarding memorisation, I wouldn't say either of the English subjects require much. You do have to learn how to analyse language in both courses (though in English, you have to talk about discourse features, whereas in English, it's more about the author's intentions). Beyond acquiring some vocab and learning how to write decent essays, neither of them are particularly memorisation-dense in the same way most science or humanities subjects are.
• What is it about English that you're not enjoying at the moment? "Essay writing" is a really broad concern - are you just worried about timing? Because even if you were in Year 12, I'd tell you not to stress about timing. That's something that can pretty easily be taken care of in the months before the exam. With regards to the marking process, yes English is a
little more subjective than Englang, but if you prepare well for English, there's very little to worry about. Assessors have to abide by certain criteria, so all you need to do is make your essays target those criteria as overtly as possible. (Also, the most subjective part of the course is being taken out at the end of this year, so you won't have to worry about that!)
•
In terms of how they are different: - English is about studying texts {novels, plays, films, etc.} and discussing themes and meaning + analysing persuasive texts. There are also more minor parts of the course that involve writing creatively and persuasively, but that's just for SACs; not the exam.
- Englang is about the features of language {formal and informal language, different registers, vocab, pronunciation, grammar, etc.} and how they contribute to meaning. But it's also a bit humanities-ish in that you have to consider how things like socioeconomic status, age, occupation, or education levels feed into the way we communicate.
That was a bit rambly, but let me know if you have any questions!
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