Teaching and learning

Accreditation period Units 1 and 2: 2023-2027; Units 3 and 4: 2024-2027

Adjustments to 2025

In response to first year implementation feedback, the VCAA has made adjustments to VCE English and English as an Additional Language (EAL) Study Design in Unit 3 AOS 2 and Unit 4 AOS 2. The adjustments to the VCE English and EAL Study Design will be supported by the series of bespoke resources below.

Overview of the adjustments to the VCE English and EAL Study Design for 2025

These are a collection of resources from practitioners. They are advice only and provide a guide for ways to implement the Study Design. They can be adapted and customised by teachers in consideration of their context and cohort, and to complement existing assessment procedures in line with the VCE Administrative Handbook. Additional resources are in development and will be published when complete.

There is a Question and Answer session to support the adjustments to the VCE English and English as an Additional Language (EAL) Study Design. All VCE English and EAL teachers are invited to attend this webinar on Monday 9 December at 3.45pm. Webinar registration.

English Units 1–4 sample learning activities

Outcome 1

English students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to make personal connections with, and explore the vocabulary, text structures, language features and ideas in, a text.

Examples of learning activities

Exploration of reading and viewing strategies
- Consider the opening (or any significant part) of a text and list all the possible meanings that can be drawn from the text. Explore the ways in which those meanings were constructed in the text by unpacking the text structure, the language features and the vocabulary (including connotations).
- Build a list of reading strategies that the group currently uses to explore meaning in texts. Draw this from class discussion about the opening (or other significant part) of a text. Provide examples of reading strategies.
- Build awareness of reading strategies by applying different strategies and naming them. Explore foreshadowing, the use of figurative language, the construction of an emotion or mood through vocabulary choice and connotation, the connection between setting and events, the use of structures specific to the textual form.
- Practise applying these strategies to the text and using this as the basis for making annotations.
- Create lists of useful strategies on pinboards to serve as a memory aid. These lists can evolve as practices develop.
Exploration of ideas and concerns in texts
- Create a list of concerns presented in the text. Use post-it notes on a continuum to represent how important the concern is to the writer’s purpose. Colour-code the post-it notes to easily see the range of responses.
- Working in pairs, students explain to each other why the post-it notes have been placed in that order on the continuum. Justify the explanation with specific reference to an aspect of the text including structure, a linguistic feature or a vocabulary point. Add the justification to the original post-it note. Move to a new pair to explain the original order idea and the previous partner’s point of view.
- On life-size body outlines representing characters from the text, write quotes from the text to build up a bank of evidence about how the characters look, feel and think. Annotate at the appropriate part of the body outline using the heart as a place for feelings and the head as a place for thoughts.
- Using an extract from a text and, while retaining the key events, remove all evidence of point of view or change the point of view. Swap these extracts and explain how the new extract presents a different understanding of the scene. In a film text, change the position of the camera, the mise en scène and / or the costumes.
Development of a personal response to text
- Write about a favourite children’s text and explain why it appeals to young readers and in what context. Share responses in groups and discuss how tastes and preferences for texts have developed over time.
- Select a favourite passage of a text. Annotate it several times, each time with a different colour pen. First, highlight the key plot points and character actions and explain why these resonate. Second, highlight the point of view from which the extract is told and explain how that shapes responses. Third, annotate vocabulary choices that appeal and explain why. Fourth, annotate places where ideas are conveyed, and values presented.
- Use the annotations to explain these ideas to a partner as a rehearsal for presenting ideas in writing. Create a different paragraph for the different coloured annotations on the text. Share writing by ‘publishing it’ on a class pin board.
- Explore examples of personal responses to text. See, for example, Alice Pung’s response to Looking for Alibrandi.

Outcome 2

English students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to demonstrate an understanding of effective and cohesive writing through the crafting of their own texts designed for a specific context and audience to achieve a stated purpose; and to describe individual decisions made about the vocabulary, text structures, language features and conventions used during writing processes.

Examples of learning activities

Exploration and development of ideas
- Introduce a central idea that coheres the mentor texts. Students record their initial responses to the idea individually, in small groups and as a class. Use exercise books and classroom discussion, or multimodal approaches such as digital whiteboards and word clouds.
- Look for ways to signpost developing and deepening understanding of the central ideas. Return to these analogue or digital displays throughout the area of study, adding, editing or deleting contributions based on the development of individual and collective thinking.
- Generate several ideas and then pitch them to small groups, inviting feedback. Use a feedback protocol and experiment with scaffolds such as sentence starters. Watch a clip from The Gruen Transfer on the ABC, where two rival advertising agencies each pitch their ideas to a panel, or a short clip on how to pitch a film or TV series to a studio.
- Track ideas and new vocabulary across a range of short texts.
Development of writing processes
- Discuss the implications of the title of this area of study – Crafting texts.
- Introduce the multitude of ways that writers engage with their craft. Access publicly accessible phenomena, such as photographs of writers’ desks, using a resource such as the Writing Cooperative, which has compiled and annotated such images.
- Explore interviews available online that document writers’ processes. Australian podcasts The First Time and The Garrett Podcast have extensive contemporary catalogues of interviews. The BBC also maintains an archive of interviews, predominantly with writers of note from the Western literary tradition. Engage students with the authentic processes of the writers of the mentor texts.
- Show authors from students’ early reading experiences, such as Andy Griffiths.
- Reflect on the author’s own individual process and how that compares to a generic writing cycle.
- Students document their own individual writing spaces. Teacher provides a range of examples so that students are not constrained by factors outside of their control, such as socioeconomic and cultural factors. Explore diverse examples of writers who ‘make do’ with the writing spaces that they have. Curate a selection of examples from the Writing Cooperative.
- Engage students with a visual representation of the writing cycle, as well as checklist of criteria for each stage. To keep a visual track of student progress, display the cycle in the classroom and at the end of each lesson, students move their names on the track. Students conference with the teacher to move from one stage to the next, providing evidence from their writing to show they have met the criteria to do so.
Introduction to mentor texts
- Introduce texts that have made a lasting impact by shaping historical events, defining a generation or leading thought in a particular field.
- For each of the mentor texts, work to develop a complex understanding of the core features of the textual form.
- Explicitly teach the common language features of a specific textual form, and develop a collaborative understanding by engaging students with additional examples of the form. For example, using a transcript of a speech as a mentor text, have students work individually and in small groups to develop a portfolio of examples of the form.
- Work as a class to consider texts that both embody and challenge conventions of the form. For example, students may consider a Sherlock Holmes short story, analysing Arthur Conan Doyle’s playful approach to character and content. They may read Cate Kennedy’s ‘Habit’ to understand the way that authors can manipulate expectations of narrative voice. Work with students to consider the ways that these features have developed over time.
- Emphasise voice and tone when engaging in close reading of mentor texts. For example, have students track tone across a persuasive text or have them pick out examples of language that lead them to make inferences about the narrator of an imaginative text. Select texts that are rich examples of voice and tone.
- Analyse mentor texts and reflect on how students could apply what they have observed to texts of their own. Include evaluation and synthesis alongside analytical tasks. For example, a graphic organiser might have additional columns for strengths / pluses, weaknesses / minuses and ideas.
- Work collaboratively to document responses to a mentor text and develop a collective evaluation of the elements of the text that mark it worthy of discussion. This can lead to considering the relative effectiveness of each of the mentor texts.
- Produce a description of the writing processes for mentor texts, mirroring what students will do to explain their decision-making during the outcome’s summative assessment. To avoid issues of cultural appropriation, students should write this in the third person and the past tense.
Context, purpose and audience
- For each mentor text that the class studies, develop ways to cohere analysis of the way the individual forces of purpose, audience(s) and context intersect.
- For each mentor text, research the purpose, audience and context for the text’s construction. Depending on the text, this may come through an analysis of the historical and political forces at play, or through engagement with the writer’s documented intentions. Nominate which of the four purposes (express, explain, reflect, argue) outlined in the VCE English Study Design (p. 23) are at play in the mentor texts. Provide mentor texts that have more than one purpose, to demonstrate the complexities of this concept.
- As a precursor to students engaging in close analysis of mentor texts of their choice, run a group activity. Pairs are assigned a mentor text to investigate and then they report back on its author, purpose, context and audience.
- Consider how the intersection of context, purpose and audience serves to shape the effectiveness of a text. Co-construct a set of criteria that can determine whether or not a text is effective. Work in small groups to construct a rubric or grading scale for effectiveness. Students may consider the range of strategies an author adopts; for example, tone, structure or figurative language.
- Consider whether particular textual forms are synonymous with particular purposes. Pay particular attention to the four purposes outlined in the study design (p. 23).
- Scaffold understanding of a text’s audience, context and purpose. A useful starting point for discussion could be a political speech, delivered at a campaign launch, to that party’s membership base. Mark the text’s performance and effectiveness, and compare both the criteria and the findings.
The mechanics of writing
- Select key sentences from a mentor text, with a focus on those that repeat particular syntactic structures or act as hinges for meaning. Handwrite sentences, as a means to develop an initial understanding of how and why the sentences work. Students work in small groups, with teacher scaffolding appropriate to skill level, to dissect the syntactic patterns in the work. They work towards understanding how the parts of speech and punctuation in the sentences act to construct meaning, and transform and adapt the sentences. Change the nouns, the adjectives, the verbs – whatever is impactful in the sentence. As a class, share the examples and dissect the ramifications of the changes.
- Repeat this activity working with three key mentor texts. Repeat it with supplementary texts selected by students. Remove scaffolding to build skill and confidence. For example, when working with a second mentor text, have students select the sentences that will form the basis of discussion and activity.
- Transition from analysing mentor texts at a sentence level, to analysing them at a paragraph level. Manipulate extracts from the mentor text, rearranging sentences within a paragraph, and then consider how these changes impact meaning. Re-order paragraphs within the text, and consider how the new order shapes the meaning of the piece as a whole.
- Practise versatility by transforming texts to suit different audiences, purposes and modes. For example, provide an argumentative essay and transform it into a speech to be delivered at a particular event for a particular audience.
- Research the text structures and features of different text types, forms and genres, and create a writing template that could guide peers. For example, compare two texts of the same type using a Venn Diagram, then test the hypothesis against another couple of texts, before creating the template.
- Provide students with opportunities to experiment with their own writing and language. Ideas could include:
Reflection on texts
- Scaffold the relationship of the student-created texts to the mentor texts. This relationship may be at the level of ideas, textual form, audience, context and / or purpose. Offer models of how these relationships can be tracked, and then empower students to begin to make those connections independently.
- Students produce texts directly following their study of the relevant mentor texts, or in sequence at the conclusion of the unit.
- Develop a classroom environment that encourages strong creative processes. This may happen through self- and peer-assessment of a trial piece, perhaps in response to a mentor text, or through weekly sharing sessions, where students read aloud their writing to the class.
- Document authorial choices. Scaffold development of a longer analysis of choices by asking students to justify and evaluate their choices while they are crafting their texts. This can be done orally as they are sharing their work. They can also choose to highlight one aspect of their writing (rather than the whole piece) to provide detailed reflection.
- Offer ways to conference with students about writing. Students track their feedback and set goals after each conference. Ask them to show where they have applied the feedback or met their goals. They should also include this in their reflective commentaries.
- Provide students with examples of writers reflecting on their writing. There are examples of writers discussing their work in short podcasts. For example, the podcast channel for Kill Your Darlings has local and emerging writers reading and discussing their work.
- Experiment with the language employed for reflection. For example, set rules for their work. Examples follow.

Outcome 1

English students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to explore and analyse how the vocabulary, text structures, language features and ideas in a text construct meaning.

Examples of learning activities

Setting the context
- Teach the values and beliefs of the original audience of the text.
- Compare photos / images of the setting of the text and similar images of familiar scenes. For example, a school in the 1890s and a school today; or a school in a remote community and a city school.
- Create a visual (either through sketching or word pictures) that illustrates what a reader would ‘see’ if they were ‘walking through’ the world of that text – using specific textual evidence to create the image.
- Consider perspective – what would appear differently if the text adopted the perspective of a different character (someone with more or with less power) in that same place. For example, would the scene be more threatening or more poignant?
- Support personal views of what a reader would ‘see’ and, importantly, consider if things they ‘see’ in the text challenge, endorse or subvert their own values.
Consideration of text structures, language features and vocabulary
- Look at an extract from a text from which key words have been removed. Without reference to the original text, replace the words. Compare the new ‘versions’ of the texts with the original and discuss how the word changes have impacted the meaning of both versions.
- Consider two scenes from a text – one the original and one where a scene from earlier or later in the text is juxtaposed with one from the original pair. Consider how the sequencing of scenes changes understandings of character and motivation.
- Brainstorm ideas and quotes from a text that relate to a particular theme. Students are then given an essay topic and select from the original list any information that could be used in their response. Students annotate the list to explain why some information is relevant and some irrelevant to the specific topic.
Exploration of analytical response
- Provide a variety of body paragraphs in response to a topic. Identify language features within these responses and build a list of features that work well to convey ideas and a substantiated point of view in formal writing. Using this list of features, students construct their own response to another topic.
- Share answers with each other and annotate the paragraphs to identify the response’s language features. Using these observations, students refine their original responses and apply their understanding to a new response.

Outcome 2

English students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to explore and analyse persuasive texts within the context of a contemporary issue, including the ways argument and language can be used to position an audience; and to construct a point of view text for oral presentation.

Examples of learning activities

Understanding persuasion
- Consider why it is important to understand how / why people are trying to persuade us to do something. When and where might persuasive texts be used? Record responses and return to these ideas throughout the unit of work.
- Name as many situations as can be generated to get someone to do something and / or to do something for others. Think of many different situational scenarios. Think about different relationships (parents, friends, teachers, employers, government). Make the list diverse to benefit discussion about audience. Conduct a class discussion exploring these situations.
- Pick some of the scenarios (from a variety of situations) and either act out or write up the conversation that takes place during the ‘negotiation’ of those social transactions. This would be best done in small groups (pairs or no more than four students). Groups share their results with the class.
- For each scenario the students explore, assess how the transaction is being persuasive; for example, employing a fear of ‘punishment’, using ‘expert opinion’. If students have already used metalanguage in previous years, have them use that to describe the persuasive device being used. Explore the ways the approach might differ based on who is involved in the scenario. Of the scenarios outlined, do any of them contain some form of intentional manipulation? Students consider whether they have used intentional manipulation when they were in a similar situation, and ask: Why is it important to know if you are being intentionally manipulated?
- Students consider the question: How important is it to understand the way people use language to persuade you?
Audience, context and purpose
- Brainstorm where students ‘see’ people in the public eye delivering content that aims to get them to agree with someone / something. They consider some of the key topics. This can be done as a whole-class discussion or in small groups where they report back. Group activities such as ‘Two stay, two stray’ works well here:
- Students decide if there is any consensus about their results. Which of the issues are the class most interested in from those they have discussed? Which ‘source’ are they most familiar with?
- Create statements for class debate. An example is climate change. The statements should show both sides of the argument. Once you have enough statements/questions, divide the class into groups (or remain as a whole class) to engage in Socratic discussions.
- Reflect on how the ‘experts’ discuss the same topics used in class, and make comparisons between their arguments and those of the students. Look for, and discuss, bias in each of these. Draw on multiple forms based on the students’ sources of information. Include speeches as well as articles.
- Explore ways in which a person’s bias or opinions can influence how they present their ideas; and how authority or expertise affects the way in which ideas are presented, and how they are received.
- Watch short video extracts to witness the various ways ideas can be presented; for example, extracts from SBS’s Insight or the ABC’s Q&A.
Building metalanguage
- Consider some of the different ways to explain how people are being persuasive. Explore the metalanguage that can be used to explain how people are being persuasive.
- To explore metalanguage, give students opportunities to look at the language and make connections to what has already been done. One possibility is to give each member of the class a term and a definition, and then they come up with the example. This then becomes the joint tool for the class.
- Work to identify which examples might work better in print and which examples might work better in a speech, and which examples could work well in both.
- Turn this work into a series of flash cards that can be used as a quiz to help reinforce the language.
- Use games or music to build capacity to identify and use metalanguage. Students can play ‘sticky head’, with persuasive techniques instead of celebrities. They can design posters or jingles to ‘advertise’ persuasive techniques.
Exploration of analysis
- Annotate a short persuasive text, using knowledge about metalanguage. This activity could begin as an identification exercise.
- Use the annotated text to begin to explore the move from identification through description and into analysis. Students could work in groups and, with one paragraph per group, develop a description of the argument, language features, persuasive techniques and the effect. This can be shared among class members through discussion, or digitally.
- Take one of the descriptions developed by the students and model how this description of a paragraph from a persuasive text can be reshaped into analysis. Teachers can record this for students to watch later or it can be done in class.
- Work with the students to develop a word bank of verbs that can be used in analysis. These can be categorized into verbs that are neutral, verbs that indicate positive qualities and verbs that indicate negative qualities.
- Work with the students to develop a template to help them organise their responses. This template can mirror the work done earlier in class where the template moves from identification to analysis. Alternatively, the template can serve as a prompt for the next element to explore in the paragraph.
- Students work in groups to create a response to a persuasive text. They employ any template or work bank to assist with this. From this work, students can explore individual responses to a persuasive text.
- Offer a set of images for one written persuasive text. These images should be selected by the teacher and published with the text. Discuss which image best fits the written text and why. Debate the persuasive effects of each of the images.
Exploration of and application of persuasive language
- Use persuasive language to respond in writing to a persuasive text, either supporting or challenging the author’s position.
- Annotate responses to the persuasive text, exploring arguments, choices in language and persuasive techniques and the effect. Identify the intended audience and reflect on the relationship between the audience and the selected language and features.
- Listen to speech or dialogue designed for persuasive effect. Discuss the digital media students are currently consuming and select examples that would be both familiar to them and would challenge them.
- Conduct a discussion to explore the shape and structure of these aural texts. Identify language and features. Compare them with the lists created earlier with written texts. Discuss the potential difference between written and spoken persuasive texts.
- Develop some guidelines with students about effective persuasive oral presentations. Include information about context and audience in these guidelines, particularly regarding register and language.
- Either provide students with a written persuasive piece or have them write a persuasive piece (or use one they have developed earlier in the unit of work) and ask them to re-write the opening of the written piece for an oral presentation. Students share their work through class discussion and extend it to discuss the difference between written and spoken language. This activity can then be extended into other parts of the written text, including the conclusion.
- Develop short speeches or dialogues on an issue of interest. These speeches or dialogues can be connected with images that focus, illustrate or highlight key aspects of the persuasive text. This creates a story board that helps students to reflect on the sequence of images and decide whether or not they are effective. Students can rethink or rewrite their speeches or dialogues in light of the story boards. They can then film the images as a montage and record their speech or dialogue to run over the top.
- Students watch one another’s montage and speeches and provide scaffolded peer feedback.

Unit 3, Outcome 1

English students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse ideas, concerns and values presented in a text, informed by the vocabulary, text structures and language features and how they make meaning.

Unit 4, Outcome 1

English students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse explicit and implicit ideas, concerns and values presented in a text, informed by vocabulary, text structures and language features and how they make meaning.

Examples of learning activities

Development of reading strategies
- Highlight key quotes in different colours to represent different elements of text. (For example, character, event, concern, idea, author intention, construction, vocabulary).
- At the beginning of each class, provide students with a selection of 2–3 key extracts relating to a key concern / character of the text. Provide a probing / loaded prompt about a key concern / character. Allow students to work in pairs to discuss how and why the key extracts support / challenge the prompt. Afterwards, guide a whole-class discussion regarding each pair’s position on the prompt.
- Using an extract from the text being studied, identify and extract key words and place them into a separate document. Define unfamiliar terms and list all connotations/synonyms/antonyms of the terms provided. Discuss how the specific terms assist in understanding the specific extract.
- Develop a reader’s journal that breaks down each week’s focus point on sections of the text studied. Students re-read the sections and
  - answer specific discussion questions about the section
  - analyse key quotes from the section
  - create notes on debate topics
  - break down essay topics using examples from the specific section.
- Produce a list of key character events from the text being studied. (Students can describe the events, draw them or find images to illustrate them.) Students then place those events in a mind map based on the character, explaining why they are key events. As a class, create a negotiated list of key events for each of the characters in the text.
- Create a plot scramble with 20–25 key events from the text. Students work in groups to put the plot in the correct order; then to summarise the 20–25 events into a more concise (5–10 points) summary of events.
- Create a list of the author’s Top Ten aphorisms or wisest lines that help the reader understand something about the world. Discuss as a class what patterns can be seen in the themes connected to these ten quotes; then discuss whether or not they agree with the statements, and how these quotes reflect the experiences of the characters.
Ideas, concerns and conflicts
- Create a chart for students to map a character’s desires throughout the text. Have students consider external and internal impediments to these desires.
- Chronicle a protagonist’s (or character’s) development through the text. Have students find quotes to support the characterisation at the beginning of the text versus the end of the text.
- Analyse this through an alternate perspective: have students write out the thinking process of an antagonist or voiceless character during a key scene of the text.
- Understand characterisation and character motivation through an imaginative task (in writing or aloud), as follows. Take a character to therapy / couple’s counseling / court / the principal’s office. Source questions that a person would be asked in that situation and have paired students ask and answer the questions on behalf of their character.
- Make personal interpretations of characters by choosing celebrity avatars for each character in a text (for example, if this were a film, who would play this character?). Justify choices with details from the text.
- Provide extracts of multiple characters from different moments throughout the selected text, based on several key moments. Ask students to physically move the extracts into groups, relating to the central key event. Students need to explain why they have placed those extracts together and which clues allowed them to justify the placement.
- Provide extracts from throughout the text of different characters reflecting / discussing / reacting, in reference to one key moment. Ask students to physically place the extracts in chronological order. Then ask students to group the characters’ perspectives in relation to multiple key events (if you have provided more than one event to the students). Ask students the following probing questions once they have read the extracts:
- Provide different focus points (for example, character development, key events, themes, views and values) and provide students with a series of guiding questions to assist them with understanding and analysing the content. Students then spend the week preparing (with teacher guidance) for an activity where they are each given one hour to teach the class about their relevant focus point – implementing their own teaching activities.
- Create character sociograms. In small groups, students place characters into circles on butchers’ paper. The size of the circle determines the importance of the character and the distance placed between characters illustrates their significance to each other character (that is, by relevant distance). Students then display their mapping and make notes. Undertake a class debate to discuss points of difference between the groups.
Historical, social and cultural contexts
- Research the social, historical and cultural context of the text, then create written or spoken understandings of the text from the point of view of a current reader, as well as from the point of view of a contemporary reader. Students analyse the different understandings that occur when the reader’s historical / cultural / social context is altered.
- Create a comprehensive list of essential questions that the text asks about the world or human nature. Students create a list of questions about the text that they would ask the author if they could. Swap questions around and have students try to answer each other, in the role of the author.
- Consider author intention by analysing the purpose of each character, each event, and key descriptions.
- Create a series of statements that reflect the historical, social and cultural views and values of the time in which the text was written and / or reflect the ‘setting’ of the novel. Students undertake a line debate sharing their own opinions and views on each of the statements.
- Provide different research topics in relation to the text being studied. Students then present group presentations exploring their topic.
- Provide a list of views and values that are explored in the text. Ask students to place them into three columns – Challenges, Endorses, Criticises. Then ask students to locate examples and annotate the extracts to demonstrate how they show each of the views / values.
Development of analytical writing
- Analyse a reading of the text (for example, excerpts from the introduction or preface to the text, a short excerpt from a critical essay on the text). Groups discuss with each other whether they agreed or disagreed with the reading provided.
- Provide a list of opposing statements about elements of the text (for example: The author portrays X character as a hero; The author portrays X character as a villain). Students then find evidence to support each statement and discuss which statement is best supported through the evidence.
- Explore metalanguage by highlighting each verb used in a piece of writing that describes an author’s purpose. Show students a low- / mid-range sample paragraph and then a high-level sample that uses metalanguage effectively. Provide a brief vocabulary list of 10–20 verbs and have students replace less sophisticated verbs with words from the list in their own work. Have students read their paragraphs aloud to each other and honestly evaluate whether they have struck the right balance of clear and sophisticated, or whether they have been overzealous with vocabulary words.
- Provide a series of completed paragraphs and the marking rubric. Ask students to assess each paragraph and place them on the rubric, justifying why they have given it the corresponding mark allocations. Guide a class discussion on how and why each paragraph meets the relevant rubric allocations.
- Provide scaffolded templates with guiding questions that allow students to organise their ideas into the relevant structural elements of a paragraph / essay. Students peer-review each others’ examples and explanations, providing feedback as to how ideas can be further refined.
- Students peer-review paragraphs using pre-determined sample paragraphs with the associated rubric.
- Use student examples of (or teacher pre-prepared) paragraphs and break them into a scaffolded paragraph template. Leave clear specific breaks in the template to allow students to add in complimentary structural elements that further build on the argument.
- Provide different structural elements and topic sentence arguments. Ask students to relate the relevant structural elements and justify how and why they would support each argument.
- Provide several paragraphs pre-written and cut up. Ask students to move the pieces around and place them back into their original paragraphs.

Outcome 2

English students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to demonstrate effective writing skills by producing their own texts, designed to respond to a specific context and audience to achieve a stated purpose; and to explain their decisions made through writing processes.

Examples of learning activities

Generation and discussion of ideas
- Introduce the idea selected from the Framework of Ideas that will shape the study.
- Record initial impressions of the idea through a collation of both visual and written material. Include short, sharp texts, such as poems, songs, photographs. Use free-form journal entries or a graphic organiser. Express and share personal responses through unstructured discussion and build on understanding in small groups and as a class. Record initial impressions and return to them as the study continues. (This will serve to not only sharpen their ideas, but also to demonstrate how texts themselves create our understanding of the world around us.)
- Explore advice from professional writers on strategies for getting started. Play videos or bring in extracts from texts such as Kate Grenville’s The Writing Book or Stephen King’s On Writing. Experiment with some of these strategies.
- Generate more ideas than needed, bring to class, share, make notes on the feedback.
- Provide students with the language of the elaboration from the VCE English Study Design (p. 22). Dissect the language used, considering the audience, context and purpose of the document. Discuss the implications of the relevant parts of speech included in the abstract.
Collaboration
- Consider the implications of the distinction between the title of Unit 1, Area of Study 2 ‘Crafting texts’ and Unit 3, Area of Study 2 ‘Creating texts’.
- Engage with the notion of what it means to create ideas. The ubiquitous TED Talk is a useful starting point here. Consider the validity of the concept of ‘thought leaders’ and debate the philosophical merits of originality and intertextuality.
- Discuss the ways that texts speak to each other over time. Consider, for example, the controversy that occurred when Melania Trump was accused of plagiarising Michelle Obama’s speech.
- Consider the notion of effectiveness. Revisit the criteria developed in Unit 1 and discuss the way that this may have shifted in the intervening period. Consider the ways that notions of effectiveness may shift according to audience and context.
- Run structured, student-led discussions, such as Socratic Seminars, to support close analysis of mentor texts. To prepare for a Socratic Seminar, read and annotate a short text or extract, and draft open-ended questions. Develop accountability for participation in discussions through reciprocal peer assessment. Record the discussions as a resource. Reflect immediately afterwards.
- Engage in micro writing practice at the sentence or paragraph level. Instruct peers to provide rapid feedback. Supply a graphic organiser or table for this so that the feedback is specific and constructive, for example columns for vocabulary, sentence structure.
Purpose, context and audience
- Prior to commencing in-depth study of the featured mentor texts, investigate the purpose, context (including mode) and audience for each text.
- Depending on the size and prior knowledge of the class, assign groups and become experts on a particular text.
- Complete a group presentation for the class on the context for the text, including analysis of the social and political context of the text and the background of the author.
- Develop analytical skills by compiling a list of supplementary and related mentor texts that can deepen discussion of both the idea selected from the Framework of Ideas and the mentor texts.
Study of the mentor texts
- Begin with texts that connect solely at the level of ideas, regardless of the textual form. Seek texts that mirror the perspectives of the mentor texts, as well as those that provide different nuances for the conversation.
- Across the exploration of this area of study, narrow the consideration to the textual forms of the three selected mentor texts. For each of these mentor texts, complete a commentary considering the choices of the author. To avoid issues of cultural appropriation, write this in the third person and the past tense.
- Present a reflective commentary orally to a small group, or to the whole class. Use a feedback sheet, read the written response that the reflective commentary is based on, and provide peer feedback on the success of achieving the stated purpose and reaching the target audience.
- Lead analysis of the features of mentor texts. Acting as facilitators of classroom discussion, students devise learning activities for their peers.
- Adjust the level of scaffolding of student analysis of the mentor texts depending on the students’ current skill level. If they require additional support, provide them with a framework for analysis, highlighting the elements they will need to analyse. This could also include sentence starters to help guide their analysis.
- If students have an existing and internalised framework for analysis, they can guide discussion with limited intervention, provided they understand the core knowledge and skills at play in the outcome. Ask them to provide not only a dissection of the strategies that the author employs in the text, but also to critically evaluate the effectiveness of this approach, in light of their understanding about the text’s context, audience and purpose.
- Engage students outside the ‘expert’ group for each mentor text by using a discussion protocol such as the ‘Notice and Wonder protocol’. The expert group, prior to their presentation, asks each student in turn what they notice and wonder about the text. This can then provide the basis for the expert group’s engagement with the rest of the class.
- Divide a mentor text into sections. Depending on length, this could be a page, a paragraph, a stanza or a line. Students read the assigned section closely, making notes on its construction in a live table in Google Docs. They complete a row in the table with findings, addressing each column that lists a different element, for example: sentence length, sentence starters, punctuation.
- Students annotate and analyse an assigned section and give feedback to the teacher, who will add their contributions to the text, projected on a board or screen. As annotations and comments are added, students mark up their own hard copy.
Exploration of writing processes
- Extend writing practice throughout this area of study by engaging with writers’ discussions about their craft. This could come through reading, watching or listening to interviews.
- Students share with the class which of these practices resonate. They interview peers about their approach to writing and share their insights.
- Experiment with a range of planning options, including tables, dot-point plans, mind mapping, and choose what works best.
- Handwrite or type responses, depending on students’ own preferences.
- Use software to support the writing process, such as the track changes and comment features.
Scaffolds for writing
- Revisit the sentence and paragraph-level work with mentor texts. These activities are outlined in the Support Materials (teaching and learning activities), Unit 1, Area of Study 2 – Crafting texts.
- Building on the work done with sentences and paragraphs in Unit 1, now work at the word level. Analyse the lexical density of samples of text, and discuss what words and phrases are doing the grammatical and ideological heavy lifting in a text.
- Substitute key words and consider how the connotations of phrases shape the readers’ experience. Play with vocabulary, facilitating a discussion about how the word-level of writing connects to purpose, context, audience and mode.
- Use software or websites such as rewordify to analyse the vocabulary, text structures and language features of mentor texts. Use the same technology to test student writing.
- Build a glossary of words relevant to the idea selected from the Framework of Ideas, as well as metalanguage to describe the structures, features and conventions of writing.
Creating texts
- Rewrite a section of one or more of the mentor texts.
- Explore the implications of a change in context, audience, purpose of mode in mentor texts. Work in small groups to workshop ideas and provide feedback about initial observations.
- Annotate a Section C exam-style speech transcript and look for the ways the author hones language to appeal to a particular audience. Supply a new Background Information box, changing up the context for the speech, or its purpose, or, indeed, its audience. Make changes to the original text to match its new context and keep track of alterations; for example, through using the track changes function in Word.
- Produce a commentary about an adaptation of the mentor text, placing particular emphasis on articulating the connection between decision-making and the specifications of the task. This activity will deepen understanding of the ideas at play in the mentor text and provide a mechanism for students to think more deeply about their own writing.
- Create texts at a sentence and paragraph level. In assigned writing groups, students respond to a task that requires the creation of a short piece, no longer than a few sentences, that fits within the idea selected from the Framework of Ideas. Stipulate the parameters for this text, including form, audience, context and purpose.
- Students work in assigned writing groups to workshop and refine these pieces.
- Discuss and refine micro-texts by writing a commentary explaining the original choices and the transition made as a result of workshopping.
- Repeat this process for a second and third micro text, as appropriate.
- Annotate individual writing, explaining and commenting on the features purposefully employed. This can be done by hand using highlighting or footnotes, or using the comment features of Word or Google Docs. This annotation will support students’ writing of the reflective commentary.

Outcome 2

English students

On completion of this unit, the student should be able to analyse the use of argument and language in persuasive texts, including one written text (print or digital) and one text in another mode (audio and / or audio visual), and develop and present a point of view text.

Examples of learning activities

Exploration of context
- Select an issue that has arisen in the media since 1 September of the previous year. Choose a contemporary issue that would be appropriate and relevant to the school’s interests and demographic. The issue should concern a significant national or international topic.
- Explicitly teach the background information needed to understand the issue. How did it arise? What is the historical context that surrounds this issue? Who are the key players and stakeholders in this issue and what are their various points of view?
- Investigate the context of the selected issue. Share findings with the class on a padlet or other online collaboration document.
The structures and features of persuasive texts
- Create a media pack from a wide range of texts that present a point of view on the selected issue. Texts should include a variety of text types, including but not limited to articles, opinion pieces, editorials, blogs, tweets, memes, advertising campaigns, posters, letters-to-the-editors, headlines, long form essays, radio / news segments, podcasts, parliamentary debates, and speeches on the issue.
- Identify the purpose, contention, form, and audience for each of the texts included in the pack. Each group should provide the class with their responses and explain how they arrived at their answers.
- Complete an ‘I do, we do, you do’ routine with selected texts from the media pack.
  - During the ‘I do’ phase, the teacher models how to analyse the ways written, visual or spoken language has been used to target a particular audience in a selected text. The teacher also models the annotations and thinking process, and shares a model analysis example.
  - In the ‘We do’ phase, the teacher and class annotate another text together, and write a model analysis paragraph as a group. This can be recorded in an online collaboration document shared by the class.
  - The final phase of the routine – ‘You do’ – requires students to work individually to annotate and write an analysis for the final selected text.
Exploration of persuasive texts
- Students work in pairs to ‘sort and position’ the perspectives and / or the points of view presented in each text. Draw a pendulum on A3 paper with one side labelled ‘for’ and the other side labelled ‘against’, and a line down the middle labelled ‘neutral’. The issue should be written as a ‘Should …’ question at the centre of the pendulum. Allocate the students time to work together in pairs or small groups to read through all the texts in the pack and decide on which side of the debate each text belongs. They write the title of the text and a brief dot point of the point of view presented.
- Give students a pack of post-its. Read through one of the long, written texts: article, opinion piece, editorial, long form essay. As the teacher reads, students listen and follow the written text and look for the arguments being made. For each argument they can identify, they should capture the argument on a post-it and stick it on top of the paragraphs included in the argument. After the reading, give students time consider their answers. During this time, they should add an adjective to describe the tone of the argument and note the target audience for each argument. On the whiteboard, create a table with three columns with the number of arguments listed under the first column. Next, ask students to place their post-its on the board next to the corresponding argument number (i.e. for Argument 1 they place the first argument they identified, for Argument 2 they place the next argument they identified, and so on). The next step is to read aloud all the arguments for Argument 1 and, in the final column, write an exemplar that includes the tone and target audience to which it is directed. This can be a teacher example or a combination of the class’s answers. Use this activity as a way to discuss arguments and help students develop their understanding of the progression of arguments throughout a piece.
- Complete a ‘give one, get one’ routine. Have students work under timed conditions to annotate the persuasive features of selected texts. Once time is up, allow students to move around the classroom. They need to speak to every other student once during the activity. They should exchange one example each with each other, aiming for a different example each time.
- Focusing on visual texts, present a range (four to five works best) of visual texts depicting a position on the selected issue. Good examples include government advertising campaigns, charity or relief organisation advertisements, influencer posts, and posters. Use the ‘Peel-the-fruit’ routine to analyse each text. Place the image in the centre of a large sheet of butchers’ paper. Draw concentric boxes radiating from the image. Place the butchers’ papers on desks (workstations) around the classroom. Organise students into groups of four to work together, starting with the visual placed on their workstation. This is a timed activity with five minutes at each station. Students move with their group around all the stations. During each round, the students annotate their thoughts into one layer of the ‘fruit’, noting what they see, think, feel, and how they respond. Groups should also consider the responses of the groups who have gone before them and respond to their ideas in their own notes. At the end of the routine, groups return to their original station and read all the layers of the ‘fruit’, before writing a paragraph individually on their group’s visual.
- Listen to a spoken text, such as a podcast. Students jot down their thoughts on a notepad as they listen. After playing the podcast, ask students to share their thoughts with the group. Students identify the perspectives presented and their responses to the points discussed.
- Ask probing questions about the way the text was edited and put together, leading students to consider how music, segue, ad breaks, and other audio elements are also used to position the audience.
Exploration of oral persuasive texts
- Prepare for a formal debate on the selected issue. Allocate the teams and assign the groups to the affirmative or negative position. Students consider the perspectives and arguments already examined in the media pack as a starting point for their own position, but they must also decide their own stance and arguments. Students should be given a couple of lessons to prepare their speeches before presenting their debates to the class.
- Research politicians or notable speakers who have been filmed presenting their viewpoints on the selected issue. Students produce a ‘what, how, why’ table documenting the speaker’s arguments. In the ‘what’ column, they identify the arguments that support the contention. The ‘how’ column is used to record the way persuasive strategies were used to position the audience (this includes persuasive devices, language choices, and also the oral conventions and gestures used to engage the audience). The ‘why’ column is used for analysing the intended effect of these choices.
- Complete a ‘hot seat’ routine. Put a range of abilities in the ‘hot seat’ (up to five students at a time) on the front of the classroom stage. Students select from a hat a stakeholder position on the selected issue studied. During their time in the hot seat, students in the audience ask the hot seaters questions about their thoughts on the issue. The hot seaters must adopt the persona of their stakeholder to answer the questions. After a specified time in the hot seat, the audience is asked to guess what stakeholder each hot seater was presenting.
- Students record a podcast as a small group. They script the discussion with questions and talking points for each speaker. Each speaker needs to present a different side to the issue. The group should identify their target demographic and consider how they should be constructing their arguments to target this audience.

EAL Units 1–4 sample learning activities

Outcome 1

EAL students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to make personal connections with, and identify selected vocabulary, text structures, language features and ideas in, a text.

Examples of learning activities

Inferential reading skills
Developing inferential reading and viewing strategies should be embedded ino all teaching and learning activities for this outcome.
- Track the development of ideas, concerns and tensions across the text by using observation and background information.
- Create a key with specific colours denoting particular ideas that are common in the text.
- Group common observations together; for example, language used to build a picture of a character through their actions; and draw conclusions about behaviour and motivations.
- Use the three levels of reading model to support this:
Text construction and authorial devices
- Highlight or take note of unknown words. Attempt to identify root word, prefix and suffix before consulting a dictionary to define the meaning. Ensure the word meaning ‘fits’ in the context of the text.
- For example, the word ‘unintentional’ can be broken up into three smaller parts: prefix ‘un’, root word ‘intent’ and ‘ional’. Students need to know that ‘un’ changes the word to its opposite, ‘intent’ is a root word that means deliberate, and ‘ional’ makes the word a verb.
- Plot the narrative, using a narrative arc, on a simple diagram to identify the orientation, complication, rising action, climax and resolution.
- Analyse the ways key characters change throughout the course of the text – each character could be mapped against the narrative arc mentioned above.
- Extract rich evidence that has scope for analysis; for example, evidence that could be used for more than one idea within the text, or evidence that reveals a core moment in the text.
- Discuss and make class notes about the intention of the author / director of the text and their unique way of communicating ideas. For example, does the author / director urge the audience to take more decisive action on climate change? Or perhaps advocate for social equity among racial groups?
- Look for clues within the text – the ways in which characters’ ideas change, the problems that arise from the text and the ways in which they are solved, and whether or not the author / director is encouraging the audience to interrogate common stereotypes, such as gender stereotypes.

Personal and / or analytical writing

Brainstorm ideas and make personal connections to text.
Use sentence stems such as ‘this text makes me wonder…’, ‘this texts reminds me of…’ or ‘this text makes me feel…because…’ to generate discussion.
Use an example of personal writing as a model. Focus on the first person narration and the ways the author shares their ideas.
Respond to the text from a personal perspective by writing in first person and connecting own memories, experiences and ideas to key moments.
Learn key metalanguage, such as foreshadowing, metaphor, symbolism and motif and key metalanguage appropriate for film, including frequently used shots and their typical impact on a film’s mise en scène, and diegetic and non-diegetic sound.
Learn mnemonics (such as CAMELS: Camera, Acting, Mise en scène, Editing, Lighting and Sound) with examples to support the learning of film-specific metalanguage.
Read extracts from two different texts, focusing on the differences between the vocabulary, text structures and language features.
Underline and annotate examples from each extract, and make comments on the ways the author is delivering their message. Who is the author writing for? What seems to be the purpose behind their writing?
Use a checklis for writing to encourage self-assessment. Here is an example of a checklist that could be used:
In exploring this text, I have...

Written multiple paragraphs about the way I interpret this text
Explained how I have connected to this text
Explained some of the themes that resonate with me
Used evidence as part of my explanation
Experimented with metalanguage
Tried out some new vocabulary
Experimented with different sentence types
Edited my work for fluency and expression

Speaking and listening
- Learn about Socratic seminars and discuss changing character motivation, character contradictions and how cause and effect impact plot development.
- Use language to encourage each other and build upon each other’s ideas, such as ‘I hear your ideas, but have you considered…’, ‘to add to what you have previously said…’ and ‘that same situation might have been perceived differently by a different character, what do you think?'
Standard Australian English
- Analyse the sentence structure presented in the set text using available resources.
- Read and analyse model responses, looking for vocabulary language features that are appropriate for the task.
- Source complex sentence structures in writing to learn how and where to use punctuation (such as separating clauses appropriately) and how to use nominalisation and strong verbs to pack meaning into a sentence.
- Workshop writing samples and learn how to use embedded clauses to increase sentence complexity and accuracy.
- Examine the use of sentence variation, embedded clauses in texts.

Outcome 2

EAL students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to demonstrate an understanding of effective and cohesive writing through the crafting of their own texts designed for a specific context and audience to achieve a stated purpose; and to describe decisions made about selected vocabulary, text structures, language features and conventions used during the writing process.

Examples of learning activities

Exploration of ideas
- View a series of images that relate to the framework for ideas and jointly identify events that are reflected in the images.
- Select one event that provides a connection with personal experience and jot down any words (could be in home language or English) that capture ideas.
- Research this event to develop a short presentation to deliver to the class, providing an overview of what could be explored further in a piece of writing.
- Produce short texts that explore students’ thoughts, memories and ideas and ways they connect with the framework for ideas.
Mentor texts
- Learn about a note-taking model and practise the use of symbols and abbreviations when constructing a note-form summary. Practise note-taking strategies.
- Read a feature article as a class. Construct a note-form summary that identifies the central idea of the article and its subsequent exploration through evidence and reasoning, as well as the other ideas it generates.
- Listen to a true crime podcast, focusing on the section in which the narrator describes the timeline of events.
- Complete a cloze task that plots the key events from the timeline. Use transcript to discuss the ways in which the narrator sequences events.
- Highlight both unfamiliar and key vocabulary in mentor texts. Key vocabulary, which connects to the framework for ideas, is tracked in a vocabulary list.
- Add to a vocabulary list (beyond the mentor texts) that expands on the ideas.
Context, audience and purpose
- Return to the mentor texts and identify the context, intended audiences and purposes for each.
- Learn about each writing purpose through guided planning templates:
- Unpack each writing purpose, and annotate a model of each from the mentor texts.
- Use annotation strategies.
- Submit two proposals for a written piece that outlines context, intended purpose and audience.
- Respond to teacher feedback on proposals that best suit purpose and audience, and provide scope for the discussion of ideas.
Draft writing
- Brainstorm important cultural festivals.
- Craft a descriptive passage or song to express the significance of a cultural festival.
- Read the draft passage and highlight all verbs.
- Use verb and synonym lists as references for building descriptions.
- Refer to a checklist to ensure correct form of verb.
- Substitute repetitive verbs and replace with more precise language.
- Begin work on own texts and use experimentation with verbs in this new piece of writing.
Reflections on authorial choices
- Respond to structured questions to consider authorial choices.
- In peer-reading circles, take turns to read an extract from work and explain audience and purpose.
- Ask questions of peers to prompt the student-writer to consider areas which are unclear.

Outcome 1

EAL students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to identify and develop analysis of how the vocabulary, text structures, language features and ideas in a text construct meaning.

Examples of learning activities

Inferential reading skills
Developing inferential reading and viewing strategies should be embedded ino all teaching and learning activities for this outcome.
- Track the development of ideas, concerns and tensions across the text by using observation and background information.
- Create a key with specific colours denoting particular ideas that are common in the text.
- Group common observations together; for example, language used to build a picture of a character through their actions; and draw conclusions about behaviour and motivations.
- Use the three levels of reading model to support this:
Text construction and authorial devices
- Highlight or take note of unknown words. Attempt to identify root word, prefix and suffix before consulting a dictionary to define the meaning. Ensure the word meaning ‘fits’ in the context of the text.
- For example, the word ‘unintentional’ can be broken up into three smaller parts: prefix ‘un’, root word ‘intent’ and ‘ional’. Students need to know that ‘un’ changes the word to its opposite, ‘intent’ is a root word that means deliberate, and ‘ional’ makes the word a verb.
- Plot the narrative, using a narrative arc, on a simple diagram to identify the orientation, complication, rising action, climax and resolution.
- Analyse the ways key characters change throughout the course of the text – each character could be mapped against the narrative arc mentioned above.
- Extract rich evidence that has scope for analysis; for example, evidence that could be used for more than one idea within the text, or evidence that reveals a core moment in the text.
- Discuss and make class notes about the intention of the author / director of the text and their unique way of communicating ideas. For example, does the author / director urge the audience to take more decisive action on climate change? Or perhaps advocate for social equity among racial groups?
- Look for clues within the text – the ways in which characters’ ideas change, the problems that arise from the text and the ways in which they are solved, and whether or not the author / director is encouraging the audience to interrogate common stereotypes, such as gender stereotypes.

Personal and / or analytical writing

Brainstorm ideas and make personal connections to text.
Use sentence stems such as ‘this text makes me wonder…’, ‘this texts reminds me of…’ or ‘this text makes me feel…because…’ to generate discussion.
Use an example of personal writing as a model. Focus on the first person narration and the ways the author shares their ideas.
Respond to the text from a personal perspective by writing in first person and connecting own memories, experiences and ideas to key moments.
Learn key metalanguage, such as foreshadowing, metaphor, symbolism and motif and key metalanguage appropriate for film, including frequently used shots and their typical impact on a film’s mise en scène, and diegetic and non-diegetic sound.
Learn mnemonics (such as CAMELS: Camera, Acting, Mise en scène, Editing, Lighting and Sound) with examples to support the learning of film-specific metalanguage.
Read extracts from two different texts, focusing on the differences between the vocabulary, text structures and language features.
Underline and annotate examples from each extract, and make comments on the ways the author is delivering their message. Who is the author writing for? What seems to be the purpose behind their writing?
Use a checklist for writing to encourage self-assessment. Here is an example of a checklist that could be used:
In exploring this text, I have...

Written multiple paragraphs about the way I interpret this text
Explained how I have connected to this text
Explained some of the themes that resonate with me
Used evidence as part of my explanation
Experimented with metalanguage
Tried out some new vocabulary
Experimented with different sentence types
Edited my work for fluency and expression

Speaking and listening
- Learn about Socratic seminars and discuss changing character motivation, character contradictions and how cause and effect impact plot development.
- Use language to encourage each other and build upon each other’s ideas, such as ‘I hear your ideas, but have you considered…’, ‘to add to what you have previously said…’ and ‘that same situation might have been perceived differently by a different character, what do you think?'
Standard Australian English
- Analyse the sentence structure presented in the set text using available resources.
- Read and analyse model responses, looking for vocabulary language features that are appropriate for the task.
- Source complex sentence structures in writing to learn how and where to use punctuation (such as separating clauses appropriately) and how to use nominalisation and strong verbs to pack meaning into a sentence.
- Workshop writing samples and learn how to use embedded clauses to increase sentence complexity and accuracy.
- Examine the use of sentence variation, embedded clauses in texts.

Outcome 2

EAL students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to explore and develop analysis of persuasive texts within the context of a contemporary issue, including the ways argument and language can be used to position an audience; and to construct a point of view text for oral presentation.

Examples of learning activities

The construction of argument
- Read a range of short persuasive texts such as social media posts (Tweets, Facebook posts or commentary).
- Use a list of features of persuasive texts to identify: sequence and structure, use of evidence, language, techniques and strategies.
- Select an issue and focus on the identification of key elements of argument.
- Use colour coding and labelling to identify features and structures on large print-outs of the text (on A3 paper).
- Use digital technologies, such as a stylus or a document recorder, to showcase the identification skills.
- Use digital tools such as dictation tools (for example, Microsoft Word’s ‘Read Aloud’ feature) and translation features to assist with comprehension of text(s).
- Code-switch (move between home language and English) to ensure comprehension.
- Keep a list of translated terminology as a reference point.
- Create a plurilingual table.
- Learn methods of annotation with a focus on the process of what is being highlighted before analysing the impact of language on argument.
- Identify the key elements of the text and summarise the key point(s) in the argument. Use home language and then English translation, if required.
- Reflective questions could be used to provide an overview of each text:
  - What are the similarities between these persuasive texts?
  - What are the common language features?
  - How do the persuasive features differ?
  - Why do you think the author presents their text in this way?
The positioning of an audience
- Focus on argument structure or order, how argument evolves and some of the reasons why the author could elect to construct argument this way.
- Work with a partner on a key section, such as the opening, body paragraphs or conclusion.
- Use prompting questions WHAT, HOW and WHY to consider the choices authors make to influence a target audience.
- Consider the following questions:
  Opening
  1. What do you notice about the opening of the argument?
  2. What argument strategy can you see in the opening?
  3. How does the writer / speaker use certain language, examples and / or visuals that stand out?
  4. Why do you think the writer/speaker opens in this way? Think about how it makes us feel, think or act?
  Middle
  1. What is the focus of the argument in the middle section?
  2. What argument strategy can you see in the middle? What is the impact of this shift?
  3. How does the writer / speaker use certain language, examples and / or visuals that stand out?
  4. How do we as readers / viewers / listeners know the argument has shifted?
  5. Why does the writer / speaker shift the argument around these ideas?
  Ending
  1. What idea does the writer/speaker employ to conclude this text?
  2. What argument strategy can you see in the ending? Why do you think the text ended in this way?
  3. How do we see this? Is certain language being employed, such as a change of sentence structure?
  4. How does the ending make us feel? Do we feel inspired to do something or do we feel angry at someone?
  5. Why do you think the writer / speaker ends in this way
Visual texts
- View a range of different visual texts, including: photographs, memes, advertisements, graphs, cartoons, illustrations, logos that often accompany persuasive texts.
- Use digital sources to illustrate the differences between each type of visual text.
- Match the visual text type to the correct label.
- Read examples of text and visuals.
- Discuss what changes when an audience is offered more than one way of viewing an argument.
- Learn metalanguage to discuss visual features such as: composition, text, colour, style and mood.
- Create a table that includes the specific term, definition, example of a visual and a translation column.
- Use the ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ approach:
  
  What and who based questions are usually based on identification:
  - What do you see in the image?
  - What do you see in the foreground, mid-ground or background (refer to metalanguage list)?
  - What type of visual is it?
  - What issue(s) or idea(s) are presented?
  - Who or what is being depicted in the image?
  - What argument is presented?
  How based question are based on examples or evidence:
  - How does the creator use lines / colour / size (refer to metalanguage list) or images within the visual?
  - How does the creator use composition and / or structure (refer to metalanguage list) of the visual?
  - How does the creator use visual text to complement the print text?
  - How does the visual make you feel about the issue?
  Why questions usually focus on the purpose or intended effect:
  - Why did the creator depict the image in this way?
  - Why was this visual used with the print text?
  - Why do creators use visuals to support arguments?
- Audio visual / spoken language
  - View / listen to a series of short audiovisual texts such as: speeches, Ted Talks, blog posts, debates and vlogs.
  - Use transcripts to support comprehension.
  - Draw a table that outlines the focus of the text.
  - Consider questions such as: What is the issue being discussed? What are some of the main points presented? How is the speaker delivering the text?
  - Find a short audiovisual text delivered in home language.
  - Individually or in same-language pairs, view the clip and take notes about the elements that impact on meaning. Complete in home language.
  - Use home language to explain the effect of the words to same-language peer – how does it make the audience think, feel or act on an issue?
  - Repeat this activity with an English-language equivalent text and repeat the same task.
- Point of view oral presentation
  - Focus on the elements of oral presentation.
  - View examples of digital presentations that employ a range of different features of public speaking.
  - Complete note-taking activities on each specific presentation.
  - Use a template to structure a point of view text.
- Writing analysis
  - Learn key metalanguage such common persuasive language (for example, assonance, rhetorical questions), evidence types (statistics, case study, expert opinion), appeals (economic, loyalty, tradition, moral panic), argument (counter-argument, rebuttal, call-to-actions) and phrases appropriate for analysis.
  - Develop a list of verbs that can be used in the analysis.
  - Consider phrases such as:
    - The writer / author / speaker asserts that…
    - Shifting from an emotional argument, the writer/author/speakers logically targets…
    - The writer / author / speaker condemns the notion of…
    - Disputing the claim that…
    - Through implying that…the author / writer / speaker instils a sense of…
  - Develop a personalised digital phrase bank to add phrases, but also translate terminology into home language to support comprehension.

Outcome 1

EAL students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to listen to and discuss ideas, concerns and values presented in a text, informed by selected vocabulary, text structures and language features and how they make meaning.

Examples of learning activities

Reading and viewing strategies
- Read a section of a text.
- Predict the next section of this text, asking questions about plot, ideas, concerns and tensions present.
- Clarify unknown words or concepts using contextual clues or home language.
- Summarise key moments in the text.
Listening comprehension strategies
- Draw a table to describe listening comprehension strategies in the form of textual clues. Include a home-language column to support comprehension. Examples might include:
- Learn how to recognise the implied relationship between two people in a spoken text, such as the difference between a positive and negative interaction.
- Listen / view an interview between the author / director and an interviewer.
- Identify the author’s / director’s intention in making the text. For example, many authors talk about their work with an interviewer and these are often published online.
- Listen to a podcast that explores the context of the text.
- Focus on questions about the content and presentation of information such as:
- Decode questions in order to listen strategically. For example, ask whether this is an open or closed question. Is it a literal, inferential or evaluative question? How many marks is this worth (i.e. how many pieces of information should I provide in my answer)?
- Listen to an interview that links to the historical and social context of the text, or the ideas, concerns and tensions within the text.
Exploration of context
- Complete close readings and learn ‘through’ the text. For example, if characters are starving in the text, we can infer the text was set during a famine or possibly the characters in the text were part of the lower class during a time of social inequity.
- Describe the setting, and the way that the setting represents the time and place in which the text is set.
- Identify any different cultures presented within the text.
- Make personal connections (if any) with the different cultures and backgrounds.
- Infer how the actions of the characters are linked to the context of the text. For example, why are the men bolder than the women in this text?
- Connect to the historical and social context, and cultures presented in the text, through a comparison of another text or the sharing of personal experiences within the class.
Exploration of character, plot, setting and point of view
- Learn the following terms: flash-forwards and flashbacks, non-linear narrative structures and cliffhangers
- Consider the purpose of these different text structures, using aids such as the ones at the Author Learning Center.
- Plot cause and effect relationships within the text, considering the actions that drive the action in the text. For example, if one character in a text is under pressure and takes this out on another character (cause), then the other character might be reluctant to engage with them, in the future (effect).
- Plot the characters’ actions, and compare expressed ideas and thoughts with character actions to identify contradictions.
- Consider the significance of plot and the ways in which setting reflects the action within the text. The following table can be used.
Exploration of text construction
- Use strategies to decode key vocabulary presented in the text, such as:
- Revise language features (such as metaphor, foreshadowing, symbolism, juxtaposition and motif).
- Extract examples from the text for further discussion and annotation.
Exploration of text complexity
- Generate questions about the text. For example, consider the big questions about the text, examples could be: Who holds the power? How are the different genders presented in this text? How have stereotypes been confirmed or challenged in this text?
- Consider the way that ideas come into conflict throughout a text.
- Find juxtapositions within the text, and explore how these are portrayed in the text as a whole. For example: How do conservation efforts get damaged by economic efforts?
- Infer the author’s / director’s intention in creating the text (provide a couple of examples).
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the author’s message.
Discussing texts to deepen understanding
- Participate in a class debate where students discuss the ideas and conflicts within a text. For example, is this character a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ character? Or who holds the power in this text, men or women? (A useful resource is Oracy Ideas.)
- Learn the conventions of discussion:
- Build on ideas.
Development of analytical writing
- Unpack text response questions.
- Annotate a model analytical response.
- Highlight organisational structures such as:
- Use organisational devices, such as:
- Use an analytical writing template and checklists to strengthen whole-text structure and self-assess work.
- Co-construct elements or entire analytical responses to make processes explicit.
- Frequently practise timed-writing activities to build stamina and efficiency.
- Practice the use of complex sentence structures, such as nominalisation, nominal groups and embedded clauses (see Unit 1 Outcome 1).

Outcome 2

EAL students

On completion of this unit the student should be able to analyse the use of argument and language in persuasive texts, including one written text (print or digital) and one text in another mode (audio and / or audio visual); and develop and present a point of view text.

Examples of learning activities

Identification of arguments
- Students should curate a folio (digital or physical) of persuasive texts for analysis that include online texts (such as social media posts and/or comments) in addition to texts from traditional news media. Ten pieces, with two being longer in size and the rest smaller (less than 150 words) would be ideal but the number can be modified based on student need. Note also that this collection could be used to inform the students’ oral presentation later in the unit.
- The folio should be based on a contemporary and contentious issue in the media that interests students and they need to collect persuasive texts that deliver a range of arguments – this includes perspectives that oppose their values. With persuasive texts curated, students should use prior knowledge and skills from Units 1 and 2 English to identify and annotate the following:
- Students should be given opportunities to interact with teacher and fellow students about their folios. First, discussion can take place about how argument shifts. A flowchart tracking changes in the argument and summarising key points allows for visual representation. After identifying the arguments in the piece, the teacher could pose questions such as:
- Students then construct a flow chart of argument progression for their longer text(s) to identify argument shifts. This will mirror the same note-taking for ‘how’ and ‘why’ the author / creator elects to make these changes.
- Students produce a written persuasive response to the issue they used for their folio, making use of a range of evidence to validate their contention. This piece should be typed, and then annotated by each student identifying their:

The role of visuals

Ask students why visual literacy is so important in current society. Following discussion, present ideas about the ways we are ‘bombarded with images’ (static and moving) in contemporary society. (Teachers may need to define static and moving images.)
Brainstorm the digital platforms accessed by students (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Gif). Students respond to questions such as those in grid below. The focus is on the purpose of the different types of visuals and the ways they support argument.

*Moving images in the digital age* Definition: an image that is not still, but moves	*Static images in the digital age* Definition: fixed image with no movement
Examples	Examples
Gifs Maps (Google Maps) Stock chart TikTok YouTube Vines Motion graphics Live videos/images	Photographs Political cartoons Graphs Logos Newspaper advertisements Illustrations Memes Emojis Static animation Photo essays

What does a moving image provide an audience that is different from a still image?
What is the purpose of moving images paired with argument?
What is the purpose of static images paired with argument?
Which images are more effective for: a young audience, an older audience, an individual who wants the news fast?.

Provide students with a series of visuals that have been placed within an argument. However, students should not be given the context of the argument, the issue or the debate. In pairs, students conduct an investigation into the role of visuals and how they work to support an argument.
Students use the features in the images (which they should annotate) to inform themselves of: what the issue is, what the creator’s point of view is.
After the initial observations, provide students with one sentence from the text along with the visual. Again, students should use the visual and single sentence to inform themselves of the issue and the creator’s point of view.
Provide students with the complete text. Students modify their initial notes and identify the arguments on the issue; but they also consider the role the visual had in augmenting the argument.
Individually, students select a contentious issue and create a photo essay by using five images to demonstrate their own perspective on it. Encourage students to make a slideshow of the images. Students present this to the class, and other students try to guess what their argument / point of view is and how the visual shows it. At the end of each presentation, the student reveals their point of view or contention.

Rebutting an argument

Begin with an informal conversation about different cultural expectations around the discussion of contentious issues. Identify why issues make people feel ‘uncomfortable’ when they are raised.
Prompting questions from the teacher could include:

What do we mean by contentious or complicated issues? (It is a good idea to give students a definition and some examples.)
What are some issues that cause debate in your country of origin?
What are some issues you can see cause a lot of debate in Australia?
Are there some subjects that we choose not to discuss? Why?
What are some benefits and consequences of discussing contentious issues?

Students create a Venn Diagram of the contentious issues in their home country and in Australia. Discuss: Which ones are similar? Which ones are different?
Students view / listen to two different forms of broadcast debate with the intent of exploring argument construction; but also looking / listening for examples of respectful disagreement on an issue. For example, they could watch The Project which claims to do the ‘news differently’ as well as an episode of the ABC’s Q+A. Provide students with transcripts of these programs, with a wide margin for note-taking. Encourage students to use their home language to write the notes efficiently. Students focus on:

the argument(s) of the panellists
use of language to support point of view
use of evidence to support point of view
moments of disagreement – how do the individuals disagree respectfully, or do they become angry?

Provide a template to support note-taking:

	The Project	Q+A
Formal / informal delivery of the ‘news’ and / or ‘issues’ that Australia faces
How would you describe the mood / atmosphere in the debate?
How do the interviewers / moderators use experts to discuss the issue?
How do the interviewers / moderators use evidence to discuss the issue?
What role does the panel play in discussing the issue?
How do the panellists, experts and moderators respectfully object? Think about the language they are using. Are they using gestures?

Students draw a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the different debating styles. After this, they create a class list of the similarities present in both of the programs when it comes to handling contentious issues. The teacher directly teaches the relevant metalanguage and terminology of refuting arguments, such as: rebuttal, fallacies, logic and reason, as well as attacks on assumptions / relevance / impact.
Students view examples of debates in which individuals are given a safe space (or perhaps a ‘brave’ space) to disagree, debate and argue. Students devise a list of important rules for the discussion of contentious issues.

For example:
1. Be respectful
2. Agree to disagree.
3. No attacks.
4. The discussion stays in the classroom.
5. Don't take it personally.

The art of effective facilitation: Reflections from social justice educators

Provide students with a research pack that includes a summary of the issue. Students select an issue and research it. Taking turns, students present their issues, providing their stance and then entering a debate with their peers, applying rebuttal strategies.

Spoken language
- Students are explicitly taught the structures and conventions of spoken text. These structures and conventions include language choice, tone, register, matter, manner and method. Students are provided with each term and a definition and are then shown an example of how these structures and conventions can be analysed.
- Students access TEDX and watch three presentations, taking independent notes on the features they notice in these TEDx presentations. Students then share with the class the features they identified, with all students writing them down. Students present their own TEDx-inspired presentation, based on something that inspires them. Their intent is to inspire their audience to share their passion. This will include making digital recordings of themselves and showing them to the class as part of the assessment.

– Character says…	– Character does…
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Teaching and learning

Adjustments to 2025

Overview of the adjustments to the VCE English and EAL Study Design for 2025

Feedback and Improvement

Practitioners' Resources

Q and A registration link

English Units 1–4 sample learning activities

Unit 1 – Area of Study 1 Reading and exploring texts

Outcome 1

English students

Examples of learning activities

Unit 1 – Area of Study 2: Crafting texts

Outcome 2

English students

Examples of learning activities

Unit 2 – Area of Study 1: Reading and exploring texts

Outcome 1

English students

Examples of learning activities

Unit 2 – Area of Study 2: Exploring argument

Outcome 2

English students

Examples of learning activities

Units 3 and 4 – Area of Study 1: Reading and responding to texts

Unit 3, Outcome 1

English students

Unit 4, Outcome 1

English students

Examples of learning activities

Unit 3 – Area of Study 2: Creating texts

Outcome 2

English students

Examples of learning activities

Unit 4 – Area of Study 2: Analysing argument

Outcome 2

English students

Examples of learning activities

EAL Units 1–4 sample learning activities

Unit 1 – Area of Study 1: Reading and exploring texts

Outcome 1

EAL students

Examples of learning activities

Unit 1 – Area of Study 2: Crafting and exploring texts

Outcome 2

EAL students

Examples of learning activities

Unit 2 – Area of Study 1: Reading and exploring texts

Outcome 1

EAL students

Examples of learning activities

Unit 2 – Area of Study 2: Exploring argument

Outcome 2

EAL students

Examples of learning activities

Unit 3 – Area of Study 1: Reading and responding to texts

Outcome 1

EAL students

Examples of learning activities

Unit 4 – Area of Study 2: Analysing argument

Outcome 2

EAL students

Examples of learning activities