ENGLISH

This month, we offer some rare insights into the experiences of our students undertaking Year 7 English, Year 10 Literature and Year 12 English Language. 

Year 7 English with Nikkisha Dempster 

How are you finding English this year?
Easy because the content is explained well, in a way that I understand it. 

What do you like about English?
We get to play Kahoots; they’re engaging and get you ready for the class. They calm you down a bit and it gives you a bit of a head start on the work.  

What are your thoughts on the Writing Folio?
It’s a good idea to have the autobiography, because when you write it, the teacher finds out a bit more about you. As well, if something has happened in your life that the teacher should know about, they can find out through the autobiography.  

What do you hope to do in English in the future?
I am looking forward to writing more poetry! It makes you think about what you’re writing and expresses your feelings. 

Year 10 – Literature with Zaide Hughes 

How are you finding Literature this year?
Literature this year has been quite splendid. To be perfectly candid, I feel that there is too much poetry involved. For students to concentrate on a task, it has to be engaging and I personally don’t enjoy most forms of poetry. 

What do you like about Literature?
What I like about Literature is the exploration of books and words and their meaning. With Literature, it’s all open-ended and the theories are basically infinite, and I find it interesting in how you can voice your opinion, and someone will have a completely different outlook to me. 

What are your thoughts on the Canon Justification task?
The task was pretty good. I like the ability to make a video instead of presenting in front of a classroom. To be able to use your skills to make your presentation is great too, as I edited film clips into my piece. I feel like it encourages students to read/think of a book that they’ve read, and ponder to make them think more about the piece of literature that they’ve read, and for them to analyse and give reasons as to why the book is qualified to be canon. 

What are you looking forward to doing in Literature in the future?
I love creative writing, and hope to do more in the future. I’d like to expand my skills by exploring the meaning of what my text is, and why I’m writing. To be able to analyse what makes a literature piece interesting and qualified for submission. 

Year 12 – English Language with Ashlyn Borg and Declan Lane 

How are you finding English Language this year? 
A: I’m finding English Language pretty good this year, it’s really interesting to learn something other than mainstream English.  
D: I am enjoying English Language this year; it is quite different to mainstream English and provides me with a substantial challenge, requiring me to thoroughly read through texts to analyse and define the various linguistic features such as puns and rhyming.

What do you like about English Language? 
A: I like that the texts we look at are relevant and interesting.
D:I like that there are some similarities with mainstream English, for example, the analytical commentaries are basically more complicated argument analyses pieces

Thoughts on the metalanguage? If you could pick your favourite feature, what is it and why? 
A: There is a lot of metalanguage and some of it is familiar from mainstream English but knowing all the different features of language is cool.I like neologisms the most because they’re basically just new words and our society is constantly changing and it’s interesting to see how language reflects these changes.
D:There is a vast amount of metalanguage to remember, which can be quite difficult, but there are many different acronyms and initialisms, such as MRFFCS (Mode, Register, Function, Form, Context, Social Purpose) that we use at Mooroolbark to appropriately assess any given piece of writing or discourse. My favourite feature would have to be alliteration

How can you see this being beneficial for you in future (besides the exam)? 
A: English Language has made me more aware of the world around me and the language that is used to reflect the reasons why a text exists and aware of why new words come into existence to reflect our society. 
D: English Language has given me a wider perspective and understanding of the world, as well as being able to interpret a large range of texts.

Neologism of the month…  
A neologism, from Greek meaning ‘new speech/utterance’ is a relatively recent or isolated word or phrase that is emerging into common or frequent use. 
 
March Neologism: ‘Bio Break’
This has gained popularity in the gaming world and now bled into the world of zoom calls and online meetings. Quite easy to understand once given the context, this neologism has become an efficient and euphemistic way of highlighting your need for a toilet break throughout a long or arduous gaming session or meeting.   

English Recommendations: 
Film: Moxie 
TV Show: Superstore
Podcast: Book Cheat  
Novel: A Monster Calls 

Tyrone Ingham
English Key Learning Head