{"id":3445,"date":"2026-04-12T17:02:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/academic-guide-years-11-12\/english-a-language-literature\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T14:02:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T04:02:59","slug":"english-a-language-literature","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/academic-guide-years-11-12\/ibdp-subjects\/english-a-language-literature\/","title":{"rendered":"English A Language &amp; Literature"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Course Description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>COURSE STRUCTURE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SL and HL<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Prerequisites:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stage 5 English<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Exclusions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nil<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The IB Diploma Programme English A: Language and Literature course develops understanding of the techniques involved in the criticism of both literary and language-based texts. The course draws on a range of literature, as well as a wide variety of language texts to develop an appreciation for the complexity of authorial purpose, as well as an appreciation for how details of the time and place in which a text was written can impact the production of texts. Students also will be required to engage with intertextual concerns and develop an awareness of how textual meaning is shaped by &#8211; and may be transformed through &#8211; an understanding of other texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Students completing this course will be encouraged to develop an understanding of other social, cultural and political perspectives in accordance with the conceptual exploration embedded in the course. They will also have developed skills in analysis and the ability to support an argument in clearly expressed writing, sometimes at significant length. This course will enable students to succeed in a wide range of university courses, particularly in literature but also in subjects such as philosophy, law and further language studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Coursework<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Language A:<\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Language &amp; Literature Standard Level<\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Language &amp; Literature Higher Level<\/strong><\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em><strong>Components<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em><strong>Works in translation<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">A minimum of one text in translation studied from authors on the Prescribed Reading List<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">A minimum of two texts in translation studied from authors on the Prescribed Reading List<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em><strong>Detailed Study<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Minimum of one text originally written in the language studied, by authors on the Prescribed Reading List<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">A minimum of two texts originally written in the language studied, by authors on the Prescribed Reading List<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em><strong>Options<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Two can be chosen freely &#8211; from the Prescribed reading list or elsewhere &#8211; and may be in translation<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Two can be chosen freely &#8211; from the Prescribed reading list or elsewhere &#8211; and may be in translation<\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Students will also engage in a study of language texts drawn from many of (but not limited to) the following text types:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Advertisement<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Encyclopaedia entry<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Parody<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Appeal<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Film\/Television<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Pastiche<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Biography<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Guide Book<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Photographs<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Infographic<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Radio Broadcast<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Blog<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Brochure\/leaflet<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Interview<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Report<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Cartoon<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Letter (formal)<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Screenplay<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Diagram<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Letter (informal)<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Set of instructions<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Diary<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Manifesto<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Speech<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Electronic texts<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Textbook<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Essay<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Memoir<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Travel Writing<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Recipe<\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><!-- section: section_text --><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide\">Assessment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table alignwide\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Language A:<\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Language &amp; Literature Standard Level<\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Language &amp; Literature Higher Level<\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong><em>Type of Assessment<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong><em>Format of assessment<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong><em>Time (hours)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong><em>Weighting of final grade (%)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>&nbsp;<em>Format of assessment<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong><em>Time (hours)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong><em>Weighting of final grade (%)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em><strong>External<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/span><\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">70<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">80<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em><strong>Paper 1<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Guided analysis of one unseen language text.<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">1.15<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">35<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Guided analysis of two unseen language texts.<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">2.15<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">35<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em><strong>Paper 2<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Essay based on two literary works studied.<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">1.45<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">35<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Essay based on two literary works studied.<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">1.45<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">25<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em><strong>HL Essay<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">N\/A<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><td>&nbsp;<\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">1500 word essay on a literary or language text.<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;N\/A<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">20<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em><strong>Internal<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">30<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">20<\/span><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em><strong>Oral Work<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Individual oral presentation and viva.<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;15 minutes<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">30<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Individual oral presentation and viva.<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">&nbsp;15 minutes<\/span><\/td><td><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">20<\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Course Description COURSE STRUCTURE SL and HL Prerequisites: Stage 5 English Exclusions: Nil The IB Diploma Programme English A: Language and Literature course develops understanding of the techniques involved in the criticism of both literary and language-based texts. The course draws on a range of literature, as well as a wide variety of language texts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"parent":3403,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-3445","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3445"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3842,"href":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3445\/revisions\/3842"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newington.nsw.edu.au\/academic-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}