Watch now: To find out more about this curriculum area, watch ‘Understanding the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0, English F–6’ and ‘Understanding the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0, English 7–10’ on the Resources page.

Rationale and Aims

Rationale

As the country’s national language, English is central to the lives, learning and development of all people living in Australia. Through the study of the subject of English, individuals extend their engagement with the English language and learn to understand, empathise, communicate and build relationships with others and the world around them. The study of subject English helps create confident communicators, imaginative and critical thinkers, and informed citizens.

While Australia is a linguistically and culturally diverse country, participation in many aspects of Australian life is dependent on effective communication in Standard Australian English. The English curriculum engages with the role that Standard Australian English and other English language varieties play in communication.

The English curriculum helps students to engage imaginatively and critically with literature and to appreciate its aesthetic qualities. Students explore ideas and perspectives about human experience and cultural significance, interpersonal relationships, and ethical and global issues within real-world and fictional settings. Students are exposed to literature from a range of historical, cultural and social contexts. Through the study of texts, students develop an understanding of themselves and their place in the world. The English curriculum explores the richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and voices from a wide range of Australian and world literature.

The study of English plays a key role in the development of literacy across all learning areas, which gives students the knowledge and skills needed for education and training and in the workplace. It helps them become ethical, informed, perceptive, innovative and active members of society. The English curriculum plays an important part in developing the understanding, attitudes and capabilities of those who will shape Australia’s future.

Aims

The English curriculum aims to ensure that students:

• learn to purposefully and proficiently listen to, speak about, read, view, write, create and reflect on a range of texts, through their historical, cultural and social contexts and across an increasing level of complexity
• understand how to use Standard Australian English appropriately, and in combination with non-linguistic forms of communication, to create meaning
• develop interest and skills in examining and analysing texts, and develop an informed appreciation of the aesthetic aspects of literature
• appreciate, enjoy, analyse, evaluate, adapt and use the richness and power of the English language in all its variations to evoke feelings, form and convey ideas, and facilitate interaction with others.