Hi! I'm from Victoria and I found this interesting. Can you please explain more about how English in NSW is taught?
Hey, homeworkisapotato!
Happy to explain how it all works
We have four main streams of English which are English Studies (non-ATAR), English as an Additional Language, English Standard and English Advanced. All of these are two unit subjects (which are the standard number of units for a course unless the course is an extension or smaller due to having less content and requirements) and you have to take one of them. If you pursue English Advanced, you may also choose to do English Extension 1 which puts you on three units and in Year 12, you can choose to add English Extension 2 which takes you to four. I chose Extension 2 in high school so I completed three subjects for English and I'm currently tutoring English Standard so I'm familiar with how those subjects work more so than English Studies and English as an Additional Language.
What NESA's syllabus does for English Standard and Advanced is divide the content into four modules with each module having its own focus and purpose. Standard's modules are Texts and Human Experiences, Language, Identity and Culture, Close Study of Literature and Craft of Writing. Advanced's modules are Texts and Human Experiences, Textual Conversations, Critical Study of Literature and Craft of Writing. Within each module, students will study texts prescribed by NESA and use them to respond in short answers, essay writing or creative writing formats for the exams. While this gives a breadth of frameworks for exploring literature, I find that the main problem with English, which actually starts as a problem in Year 7, is this focus on developing conceptual and critical thinking at the expense, not in tandem with, more directly applicable writing skills and refining grammar, punctuation and expression
It really concerned me that when I was peer marking one of the top students in my cohort to find that they weren't writing in proper sentences (commas were being placed everywhere, full stops used when the sentence wasn't complete and a bunch of other punctuation marks like hyphens and semi-colons where they don't belong). While I believe it is important to broaden students' imaginations and deepen their understanding of human values through literature, I also think we should properly teach students how to communicate effectively using language. This is especially important given the declining rates of literacy in Australia overall (which I have an entirely separate opinion about but will save that for another occasion). I believe it is the responsibility of the English subjects which most of us do to make sure we learn how to choose our words carefully, know how to properly structure a sentence, how to write an effective email with an appropriate tone etc. as much as it is to think big and grapple with some of the greater issues in our society.
Extension 1 and 2 English are slightly different in function but still serve similar purposes. In Extension 1, you only study one module which is called Literary Homelands and instead have three prescribed texts from one of its electives (Literary Homelands, Worlds of Upheaval, Re-imagined Worlds, Literary Mindscapes or Intersecting Worlds). Extension 2 is entirely a Major Work, which is similar to portfolio subjects from my understanding in the VCE, where you choose a form you wish to write in and compose an extended creative or nonfiction response. Both Extension 1 and Extension 2 require greater levels of independence and expect that students have already developed everything they need to in Advanced but if the Advanced syllabus is flawed, that presents issues for students choosing the Extensions and then proceeding to do well in them. I'm not sure whether it's different in selective schools or private schools but my high school is considered low SES and we only get maybe one or two, if we're lucky, students who get results in the highest band in Extensions 1 and 2. It is extremely difficult to do well, especially for Extension 2 due to the unpredictability of marking with major works. My Extension 2 teacher who was a senior marker in the HSC for Extension 2 estimated that I could get anywhere between a 35/50 to a 45/50 for my poetry so I was thinking that I'd probably be lucky to get an E4. However, I ended up receiving a raw mark of 48/50 which says a lot about how the marking scheme works. It's because of the elusive standards and inconsistency in marking across the state in the schools themselves, as well as the highly demanding aspects of just Advanced alone, that students are deterred from pursuing higher levels of English.
There are many other problems and nuances that complicate this whole system but I've already made this post longer than I intended to
I really enjoyed my time in all of the English subjects, despite recognising the issues that underlie them, and I think that's why I'm so compelled to continue helping out students here on the forums because I know how challenging it can be and would do anything in my power to ensure it is easier for others. I hope that gives some insight into how things are run here in NSW but you're welcome to ask for any follow up questions
Angelina