English Writing

On successful completion of this course, learners will have developed knowledge and skills that enable them to:

1. write texts in a range of types and genres that are appropriate to purpose, context and audience
2. effectively use language techniques and stylistic features
3. effectively use literary conventions and structures
4. effectively use elements of composition including voice, points of view and pacing
5. understand current writing issues and styles
6. create sustained, fluent, well structured texts that meet manuscript standard
7. effectively use strategies for planning, editing, refining and proofreading texts
8. reflect on their own writing
9. use a wide range of sources as stimulus and models for writing
10. apply clear and accurate communication and literacy skills
11. apply the principles of academic integrity and use appropriate referencing (citation).

English Foundation provides a pathway to the study of English Writing. Successful completion of English Writing prepares learners for tertiary study in a range of areas, including English.

This course has a complexity level of 3.

At Level 3, the learner is expected to acquire a combination of theoretical and/or technical and factual knowledge and skills and use judgement when varying procedures to deal with unusual or unexpected aspects that may arise. Some skills in organising self and others are expected. Level 3 is a standard suitable to prepare learners for further study at tertiary level. VET competencies at this level are often those characteristic of an AQF Certificate III.

This course has a size value of 15.

In English Writing learners will create texts appropriate to purpose, context and audience in a range of text types. The course has a strong focus on the composition and crafting of imaginative texts, (*)allowing learners to transform their experiences and knowledge into texts as they develop understandings of themselves as creators of texts of publishable quality. Learners will experiment with compositional styles while reflecting on their investigation of how other writers compose, craft and revise their texts. They will engage with personally significant issues, imagine the past, present, future and the fantastic, and devise texts that are shaped by their purpose and the audiences for whom they are intended.

English Writing learners will explore how they and other writers communicate meaning by exploring the effects of and relationships between language, themes, context, text structures and features. By writing about contemporary and historical themes in contemporary styles students will gain increasing awareness of the cultural, social and technical dimensions of texts and their audience. They will have the opportunity to explore the elements of intertextuality in literature that affects the way readers and writers make meaning. They will explore the ways different discourses position audiences and their creators politically, culturally, ethically and with respect to gender and social status. They will be able to reflect on the way their reading influences their responses to texts and enriches their writing as powerful constructors of personal and social identity.

They will read like a writer, reflecting on the contexts in which the texts are created and received. Learners will develop an increasingly complex understanding and discernment of stylistic devices through discussion, reflection and text production. They will engage with significant issues in a rigorous way, shape thoughts on, hypothesise about, analyse, question and create representations of the world and consider valued ways of make ethical decisions about issues, events and actions. They will work as a community of writers, evaluating and responding to others’ texts and reflecting on others’ reading of their texts to enrich their understanding of the capacity of language and language structures to communicate ideas.

Through the study of English Writing learners will develop time management skills and increasing responsibility for their own learning by planning, monitoring and reflecting on their own progress to meet set goals and time frames. They will create sustained texts of varying lengths, in a range of genre, styles and forms, to produce a folio of crafted pieces.

*In general, in Australian Curriculum: English, texts are classified as imaginative, interpretive, analytical or persuasive types of texts although these distinctions are neither static nor discrete and particular texts can belong to more than one category. Imaginative texts are texts whose primary purpose is to entertain or provoke thought through their imaginative use of literary elements. They are recognised for their form, style and artistic or aesthetic value.

There are five modules:

ALL MODULES ARE COMPULSORY.

Modules do not have to be delivered in the sequence shown above. Providers can design programs of study that combine the modules, so long as all modules are covered. 

MODULE A – THE CRAFT OF WRITING
(approximately 20% of course design-time)

Focus: This module explicitly develops the technical skills that underpin the course by focusing on the tools of writing and the process of developing an idea into a crafted piece.

Learners will explore and experiment with voice, tone, point of view, dialogue, sentence structure, syntax, imagery, use of detail, characterisation, opening, closing and the purpose of titles. Examples from modern and traditional texts will be shared to illustrate their use, and encourage trialling of techniques.  Revision strategies will also be covered, including workshopping and taking different points of entry.

TECHNIQUES  (ALL MUST BE ADDRESSED, THE ORDER IN WHICH THESE TOPICS ARE DELIVERED IS NOT PRESCRIBED):

Descriptive Writing
How writers use language for effect, especially imagery, is researched and explored. Learners will experiment with ‘showing not telling’ while considering examples of different styles of descriptive writing will demonstrate the breadth and effect of description.

Words and Meanings
Words carry the writer’s message. Work will focus on the writer’s meaning, vocabulary, linguistic choices for topic, context and style and the rhythms of language. The effects of characters’ names and of settings and titles on the audience’s understanding of the writer’s intentions are explored.

Creating Character
The focus will be on a close observation of people, at the ways they see the world, and how different people react in different contexts. The ways characters are developed through their actions and perspectives are also examined. Students work on making their writing convincing using a balance of description, dialogue and plot development. The effect of creating characters as reliable or unreliable narrators for their audience is discussed.

Dialogue and Monologue
The development of voice through the writing of interior monologue and dialogue in both prose and script is explored. How voice reflects character is considered. The use of silence and underplay is also explored.

Point of View
Learners look at how point of view is used to guide readers to reflect on ideas and issues and the effect of perspective on writing. Perspectives including third person omniscient or limited perspective will be experimented with and contrasted with the effect of telling from first or second person perspective.

Writing Structures
The range of possibilities for structuring writing is explored in prose, for example, time shifts, multiple narratives, ‘what if?’ stories and combinations of prose forms are explored. Openings, lead sentences, paragraphing, linking are worked on. Plot structures will be considered, including the effects of major and minor climaxes in the story line.

Writers and Research
Research takes many forms for writers. Research might involve focuses on the context, the social, economic and political circumstances of an idea.

The Writing Process
Through close examination of writing samples including their own, learners refine their drafting and editing skills. The process of workshopping writing in a collaborative way is emphasised.

Rules and Conventions of Writing for Publication
Common grammatical and punctuation rules and their purposes are explored. Referencing and publishing conventions will be considered and practised. Through close examination of writing samples including their own and others in their writing community, students will refine their editing skills and gain experience of publication requirements.

MODULE B – WRITERS AND THEIR WRITING
(approximately 15% of course design-time)

Focus: The aim of this module is for learners to become familiar with the ways writers develop their ideas into texts and to practise some of these techniques. They will consider how authors, essayists, poets, playwrights, journalists, social commentators and biographers create work within their social contexts, and use specific structures and techniques to express their ideas.

Learners will choose the most appropriate activities for their Module B studies from the following list:

• interview and/ or research a writer to understand their writing process
• reflect on how a small number of writers are influenced by their context and times
• explore ideas and their treatment by writers within a genre
• explore the treatment of a specific idea or theme by writers in two or three genres.
• consider how writers model or borrow ideas or elements of style from other writers
• read like a writer, by identifying elements of style that can be appropriated
• discuss the development of a writing style with a visiting writer
• explore, through close reading and reflection, the language and structural decisions writers make.

Learners will share their ideas with their writing community and then emulate some aspects of others’ writing styles.

Examples of ways learners may create texts in this Module include:

• considering how writers reflect on a specific theme like the importance of identity and create a text that explores similar themes. In this way the students are reflecting on the way the themes are treated structurally as well as thematically. For example, Edmund De Waal’s The Hare with Amber Eyes tells his family’s story through the ownership of a collection of netsuke that moves within time and place or Anne’s Frank’s The Diary of Anne Frank where she considers her relationship with her mother and father.
• exploring the way a writer’s themes mirror or do not relate to their own lives. For example, they might consider what writers like Robert Jordan, Stephen Donaldson, JRR Tolkien or Brian Jacques do with the themes and writing styles of the wide fantasy genre. They would then interpret those themes in a style that uses some of those elements.

In this Module learners will explicitly consider:

1.  issues of academic integrity
2.  how they can appropriately respond to such issues
3. the similarities and differences between issues of academic integrity (for students) and intellectual property (i.e. copyright laws as they relate to professional writers and others).

MODULE C – IDEAS, ISSUES AND TEXTS
(approximately 30% of the course design-time)

Focus: This module develops learners’ understanding of how ideas are communicated through exploring forms and genres. 

There are two parts to this module.

MODULE C, PART 1 – IDEAS AND ISSUES
Learners are introduced to a range of ideas, in many forms. Examples of writing include: exploring the individual within their environment; the outsider; life decisions and consequences; love and death; and fantasy and reality. Students consider the importance of context - from different perspectives - in the creation of texts. They develop their own plans for exploring an idea or issue, then trial particular forms to best develop that idea.

MODULE C, PART 2 – FORM
This part of the module focuses on how writers use major writing forms to explore contemporary ideas and issues. The elements and explicit rules of a specific form are studied, and ways that writers conform to them, or are challenged by them, are explored. The development of an understanding of structures and features of various forms is achieved through wide reading, discussion and experimentation. Four of the following five writing forms are examined closely:

• the forms of different genres and hybrid genres
• poetry
• at least one form of expository writing (e.g. feature article, autobiography, biography, travel)
• the short story
• film or stage script.

The purpose of this module is to develop learners’ understanding of how ideas are structured to meet the elements of the form. The focus is also on exploring current forms and genres.

MODULE D – WRITING AND TECHNOLOGY
(approximately 15% of course design-time)

The Module has two parts. Both parts are compulsory.

Module Focus: Learners explore the opportunities technology and the internet offer for innovative writing. Technologies and the internet have developed diverse opportunities for writing and sharing texts. In this study learners investigate the impact 21st Century technology is having on reading and writing.

MODULE D, PART 1 – ‘eREADING’ AND ‘eWRITING’
Focus: Learners consider how technology within the internet, on mobile phones and tablets, influence ways text is read (‘eReading’) and written (‘eWriting’). Learners explore the opportunities current technologies offer to writers from both a creative and analytical perspective.

Learners will consider the impact of technology and the internet on:

• when and where people read and write:
  • time frames for reading
  • contexts that exclude extended, concentrated reading
•  what is read and written (topics may include, but are not limited to:
  • information rich texts
  • the range of genres used
  • publishing original texts or extracts/chapter 1 with links to longer texts
  • invitations to contribute to sites
  • the use of the personal voice, including blogs and tweets
  • a range of writing styles, and their effect in political and social contexts)
• how texts are read and written (topics may include, but are not limited to:
  • scanning vs reading each word
  • F-shaped pattern reading
  • ‘inverted pyramid’ style (start with the conclusion)
  • concise, meaningful text (clarity of ideas vs number of words)
  • the effects of visual and interaction design)
• use of multimedia and multimodal forms to retain the reader’s attention/interest
• searching and navigating sites
• layout and ‘syntax for the web’ (varying sentence lengths, use of headings, bullets, and styles)
• changing expectations/experiences of reading and writing (topics may include, but are not limited to:
  • text only or text with illustrations vs multimodal presentations
  • creative commons movement
  • the rapid time deterioration of texts)
• content chunks, use of narrative voices.

From their investigations learners create texts: individually or in a small group. While these texts offer opportunities for e-publication the aim is not necessarily to contribute to the live web, but rather to create texts that meet the requirements of specific electronic text-types. Learners reflect on the effects that 21st Century technology is having on writing for the ‘eReading’ audience, and develop their understanding of the purposes new technologies fulfil and the effects they are having on writing styles and audience responses.

Writing opportunities include creating:

• an email newsletter for a charity
• text for a website of a few pages for a cultural group (a band, a poets’ society, an on-line limited audience magazine)
• text for an interactive website of a few pages that relates to a specific purpose (e.g. travel information, live music outlets)
• a blog written on a specific topic
• a collaborative project (of no more than 3 writers) that uses a range of writing styles
• a narrative that uses forms of social media as its structure and form of publication.

MODULE D, PART 2 – CURRENT ISSUES IN WRITING
Focus: Learners consider the impact of technology and the internet on writers, writing and related issues (such as e-publishing, the writing process or social media).

Learners select one topic from those listed below, undertake a short research project on the topic, and create a written analytical report on their findings.

• ‘Is Print Dead?’

Examine the impact on-screen texts are having on traditional print publications, and their possible future impacts on writers.

(An examination of the impact of technology and the internet on traditional print publications. How has the publication of novels, poems, plays, essays and/or news items changed over the past 10 years? What might the future hold? What are the implications of such changes for the writer?)

• Writing from the Edge

An investigation of a range of innovative and experimental writing techniques that push the boundaries of conventions.

• Social Media: Everyone’s an Author!

Investigate the writing styles, ideas and issues explored in formal on-screen texts (like blogs, social media websites, forums and ‘chats’) and consider their impact.

(What is ‘social media’? What writing conventions are used? What are the ideas and issues people write about using social media? Who reads social media? Why? What is the impact of social media on the writer, and on society?)

• ‘The Medium is the Message’

Before the advent of personal computers Marshall McLuhan, in his text ‘Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man’ (1964), coined the phrase ‘The medium is the message’. Students investigate the ways in which computer technology has impacted on the process of writing and the impact of specific audiences on the medium.

(The tools/methods used to create written text have changed over time, and these changes have had impact on the writing process itself. In this study students briefly review major historical changes (e.g. papyrus rolls, parchment codex, pen and paper, typewriters) and consider the impact of such methods on the process of writing. Students undertake an in-depth study of the ways in which computer technology has impacted on the process of writing (e.g. ease of deletion/alteration/revision, tools such as auto-corrections, formatting tools, saving and sharing writing, collaborative writing, publishing), and the impact of specific audiences on the medium.)

MODULE E – THE WRITING PROJECT
(approximately 20% of course design-time)

Focus - Learners negotiate, plan and complete a writing project of between 2500 – 4000 words for external assessment.

The Writing Project must be included in the Writing folio. The Module provides learners with the opportunity to create a lengthy single piece or a collection of unified pieces.

Details and work requirements for the external assessment are given in the TASC-published Writing Folio Guidelines for the year in which study is undertaken.

GENERAL WORK REQUIREMENTS

In addition to the Module-specific work requirements given below, students are required to keep a writer’s notebook to record their collection of ideas for writing, as well as to reflect on their own and others’ texts. The notebook will be maintained and assessed throughout the year.

In addition to the Module-specific work requirements given below, students are required to undertake extensive reading, recording their ideas from the perspective of a writer in their writer’s notebook.  

Because we are writers ourselves, we pay close attention to the techniques we discover in the writing we read. I call this “reading like a writer.”
Steve Peha What Can You Say About a Book? (Accessed 7 August 2012)

In addition to sharing the reading of short works in class, students will independently read at least three substantial written texts that relate to their work in the modules. These texts must be from two different periods (for example, 19th Century and 21st Century) and be drawn from at least two different genres.

The list given in the Appendix to this course document contains illustrative examples of the nature of substantial fiction texts and a suggested ‘reading as a writer’ focus. Students will record their responses to their reading of written texts - from a writer’s perspective - in their writer’s notebook. Focuses of their writing about their reading include: the source and structural development of ideas within the form; and the writing techniques used (including voice, symbolism and imagery). This record will form part of the evidence used to assess Criterion 5 (6th standard element) and Criterion 6 (1st and 4th standard elements).
It is not expected that substantial class time will be allocated to this reading.

WORK REQUIREMENTS: MODULE A

For assessment purposes students will complete:

• a collection of work samples that show the student has experimented with a range of techniques (minimum 600 words in total)
• an imaginative text that has been revised and workshopped, with annotations about the editing process (length depends on form, but expected to be a minimum of 500 words)
• a completed imaginative or persuasive text at manuscript standard*. This may be a development of one of the previous pieces (minimum of 800 words).
• reflections in the writer’s notebook on own writing, reading and research.

*See current Writing Folio Guidelines for more information on ‘manuscript standard’.

WORK REQUIREMENTS: MODULE B

For assessment purposes students will complete:

• an investigation focusing on writers or writing by
  • exploring the context, themes, writing techniques and structures used 
  • producing a collection of annotated extracts from the studied texts and presenting the key ideas to their writing community
• one imaginative response
• reflective notes in their writer’s notebook based on their reading and class work.

WORK REQUIREMENTS: MODULE C (APPROXIMATELY EQUAL WORK FROM EACH PART)

For assessment purposes students will complete:

• three pieces in different writing forms, based on a single issue. They will experiment with changing the form, the intention and the opinion about the issue (1000 words in total).
• one annotated, extended piece of writing (which may include a collection of poems) using a single form or small range of forms. This piece may be the development of the most successful text from the previous writing experiment (1000 words or the equivalent in poetry).
• one piece that is the product of individual reading and research that conforms to or challenges elements of a genre, or is a hybrid of different genres. The piece will not be the same as the extended annotated piece. It must meet manuscript standards (1000 words).

WORK REQUIREMENTS: MODULE D, PART 1

For assessment purposes students will create:

• a collection of annotated examples of texts of different types suitable for publication on the internet (these do not need to be published on the internet, annotations will be at least 300 words)
• an imaginative or reflective piece of at least 800 words in length.

WORK REQUIREMENTS: MODULE D, PART 2

For assessment purposes students will create at least:

• one piece of analytical writing of approximately 600 words reporting on the issues explored in their investigation, and their conclusions.

SUMMARY OF COURSE WORK REQUIREMENTS
 ‘Reading as a writer’ of three substantial texts and records in writer’s notebook

AND

THE CRAFT OF WRITING

• collection of work samples showing experimentation (min. 600 words)
• imaginative text with annotations (min. 500 words)
• imaginative or persuasive text at manuscript standard (min. 800 words)
• reflective notes.

WRITERS AND THEIR WRITING

• an investigation presented to student’s writing community
• imaginative text
• reflective notes.

IDEAS, ISSUES AND TEXTS

• 3 texts in different forms based on a single issue (1000 words in total)
• an annotated, extended text (1000 words)
• a text at manuscript standard (1000 words).

WRITING AND TECHNOLOGY

• a collection of annotated texts suitable for internet publication (these do not need to be published on the internet, annotations min. 300 words)
• imaginative or reflective text (min. 800 words)
• analytical text (600 words).

THE WRITING PROJECT

• writing project of 2500 – 4000 words for external assessment.

Criterion-based assessment is a form of outcomes assessment that identifies the extent of learner achievement at an appropriate end-point of study. Although assessment – as part of the learning program – is continuous, much of it is formative, and is done to help learners identify what they need to do to attain the maximum benefit from their study of the course. Therefore, assessment for summative reporting to TASC will focus on what both teacher and learner understand to reflect end-point achievement.

The standard of achievement each learner attains on each criterion is recorded as a rating ‘A’, ‘B’, or ‘C’, according to the outcomes specified in the standards section of the course.

A ‘t’ notation must be used where a learner demonstrates any achievement against a criterion less than the standard specified for the ‘C’ rating.

A ‘z’ notation is to be used where a learner provides no evidence of achievement at all.
Providers offering this course must participate in quality assurance processes specified by TASC to ensure provider validity and comparability of standards across all awards. To learn more, see TASC's quality assurance processes and assessment information.

Internal assessment of all criteria will be made by the provider. Providers will report the learner’s rating for each criterion to TASC.

TASC will supervise the external assessment of designated criteria which will be indicated by an asterisk (*). The ratings obtained from the external assessments will be used in addition to internal ratings from the provider to determine the final award.

The following processes will be facilitated by TASC to ensure there is:

• a match between the standards of achievement specified in the course and the skills and knowledge demonstrated by learners
• community confidence in the integrity and meaning of the qualification.

Process – TASC gives course providers feedback about any systematic differences in the relationship of their internal and external assessments and, where appropriate, seeks further evidence through audit and requires corrective action in the future.

The external assessment requirements for the course English Writing Level 3 consists of a folio. The folio will comprise four pieces:

• a reflective statement
• the Writing Project
• two pieces from other course Modules.

Folio will comprise a total of between 5000 and 8000 words, and be of manuscript standard.

The criteria to be assessed are: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Further information on the folio is available in the Folio Guidelines for this course which can be found in the Supporting Documents below.

The assessment of English Writing Level 3 will be based on the degree to which the learner can:

• 1. create written texts in a range of types*
• 2. demonstrate control in the use of language features and stylistic features*
• 3. select and use literary conventions and structures*
• 4. compose and craft sustained imaginative texts*
• 5. evaluate personal writing styles and techniques*
• 6. evaluate the writing styles and techniques of others
• 7. demonstrate time management and proofing skills

* = denotes criteria that are both internally and externally assessed

English Writing Level 3 (with the award of):

EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT

HIGH ACHIEVEMENT

COMMENDABLE ACHIEVEMENT

SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT

PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT

The final award will be determined by the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification from the 12 ratings (7 from the internal assessment, 5 from the external assessment).

The minimum requirements for an award in English Writing Level 3 are as follows:

EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT (EA)
10 ‘A’ ratings, 2 ‘B’ ratings (4 ‘A’ ratings, 1 ‘B’ rating from external assessment)

HIGH ACHIEVEMENT (HA)
4 ‘A’ ratings, 5 ‘B’ ratings, 3 ‘C’ ratings (2 ‘A’ ratings, 2 ‘B’ ratings and 1 ‘C’ rating from external assessment)

COMMENDABLE ACHIEVEMENT (CA)
6 ‘B’ ratings, 5 ‘C’ ratings (2 ‘B’ ratings, 2 ‘C’ ratings from external assessment)

SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT (SA)
10 ‘C’ ratings (3 ‘C’ ratings from external assessment)

PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT (PA)
6 ‘C’ ratings

A learner who otherwise achieves the ratings for a CA (Commendable Achievement) or SA (Satisfactory Achievement) award but who fails to show any evidence of achievement in one or more criteria (‘z’ notation) will be issued with a PA (Preliminary Achievement) award.

The Department of Education’s Curriculum Services will develop and regularly revise the curriculum. This evaluation will be informed by the experience of the course’s implementation, delivery and assessment.
In addition, stakeholders may request Curriculum Services to review a particular aspect of an accredited course.

Requests for amendments to an accredited course will be forwarded by Curriculum Services to the Office of TASC for formal consideration.

Such requests for amendment will be considered in terms of the likely improvements to the outcomes for learners, possible consequences for delivery and assessment of the course, and alignment with Australian Curriculum materials.

A course is formally analysed prior to the expiry of its accreditation as part of the process to develop specifications to guide the development of any replacement course.

The accreditation period for this course has been renewed from 1 January 2022 until 31 December 2024.

During the accreditation period required amendments can be considered via established processes.

Should outcomes of the Years 9-12 Review process find this course unsuitable for inclusion in the Tasmanian senior secondary curriculum, its accreditation may be cancelled. Any such cancellation would not occur during an academic year.

Version 1 – Accredited on 20 June 2013 for use in 2014 to 2018. This course replaces the course English Writing (ENW315109) that expired on 31 December 2013.

Version 1.a – 13 May 2014 Clarifications made as per TASC decision (2 April 2014, Item 2.5), including notations on criteria 1 and 4, and change to the criterion heading of the latter.

Version 1.b - 22 November 2018 Addition to Learning Outcomes. Accreditation renewed on 22 November 2018 for the period 1 January 2019 until 31 December 2021.

Version 1.c - Renewal of Accreditation on 14 July 2021 for the period 31 December 2021 until 31 December 2023, without amendments.

Illustrative examples of the nature of substantial fiction texts and a suggested ‘reading as a writer’ focus: