What is everyone least favourite/ favourite part of HSC English? Is it actually the Area of Study?
Module C by far. Absolutely deplored that topic.
There is too much duplication between the three modules. The excessive focus on context, values and purpose is not right.
They should replace the Area of Study with a core topic on linguistics -- which should be a senior version of NAPLAN's language based questions.
Module A should be replaced with a topic on literature, with a special focus on cultural significance and strong historical study / links.
Module C should be scrapped.
And Module B is fine - it should stay the same.
That way Paper 2 will only have two modules. This will allow the history and culture focus of Module A to be padded out in much more depth, so that it becomes more obvious who is simply rote learning and who has taken a real appreciation come exam time.
That we have 2 hours to write about 3 modules is an absolute joke and a complete insult to the integrity of the literature we are supposed to be "studying".
40 minutes is the sweet spot for fakers - those who simply memorised their essays are forced to sustain their response cohesively after this threshold. It is a very effective discriminator and one that works very well for Extension English.
I refer others to this post for a reminder on what the purpose of English should be.
The purpose is to expose you to culture and values. If you bother to read the annotations that people from the Board write, you'll see they make note of the cultural significance of the texts and what value students will see in that text to enlighten their own understanding of their own culture - their own world.
My view is - the Board's intention does not come to fruition because teachers fail to bring this idea to life out apathy - either for their job or classes. It may just come down to incompetence. Usually, it's the teacher who chose the text and a select few who share their interest in the text that most successfully expose their students to these values and ideas.
The syllabus' purpose is not a titular or idealistic philosophical standpoint. It may sound absurd, but if we've got a generation of students who are not aware of these values, or their own culture, the notion of a cultural and sociological dystopia becomes a real prospect. It is one I actually find quite perturbing.
With that said - it is increasingly clear a dissonance exists between the syllabus' naive intentions and what actually occurs in classrooms across NSW. The texts aren't appreciated for what they are.
The point is lost when these texts are drowned in the miasma of competition and the sort of mechanical, robotic studying that has to go into preparing for exams.
I haven't had the time to read through posts - so I'm not sure if I've just repeated a view similar to mine.