Australian English Curriculum



Analysis of English Curriculum Document

Introduction

The essay is going to cover the analysis of the Australian English Curriculum according to the six discourses made by Ivanic. The paper is about the analysis and evaluation of the document with comparison to the theoretical perspectives of Ivanic discourses of writing and learning. Ivanic discourses have influenced many approaches to teaching of writing in the past and present (Ivani, 2004). Ivanic discourses comprise of skills, creativity, process, genre, social practices and socio-political discourse. They also present skills approach, creative self-expression, process approach, genre approach, functional approach and critical literacy respectively. The paper will analyze the curriculum and look for which courses are present and which aren't. The discourses which are present will be justified with references taken from the selected curriculum (Ivani, 2004). The reasons will be provided in the paper as to why the writing discourses are present and why some discourses are not present. The different discourses to writing present different views of language and various beliefs underlying writing and learning.

Analysis

English today occupies an almost unsurpassable position in higher education in the world (Schultz, 2002). It plays an important role in communication technology, growing economic globalization etc. It has much more resources in the sense of works of literature, films and television programs than any other language owing to its global popularity. The English language is increasingly being used for far-wider purposes than ever before in higher education. Almost everywhere it is at an important point of technological and scientific development, new thinking in economics and management, new literatures and entertainment genres. This results in new vocabulary, grammatical forms and ways of speaking and writing (Schultz, 2002).

Children's cognitive development and acquisition of language play a crucial part in their ability to acquire skills and knowledge that not only enables them to become fluent readers and writers. Also, it enables the child to understand the information through their senses and abilities to interact with the world (Graddol, 2000). Children learn how to interact with their environment in a more complex by the use of words and mental images. It helps them in gradual decline of egocentric thinking and increased ability to focus on more than one aspect of a stimulus. Children begin to develop a more abstract view of the world and to use formal logic; they also develop a greater understanding of the world and the idea of cause and effect (Graddol, 2000).

Discussion

Rationale

Australian English Curriculum rationale encompasses the study of English for the future of Australian citizens, despite of the fact that Australia is a multi lingual country. The rationale includes the learning and writing of English so that the students have confidence on the language and they analyze, understand and communicate with all English speakers around the world. The aim of teaching English is that the students develop the knowledge and skills and also have an ethical, informed and active approach. The Australian Curriculum believes that teaching English will have contribution towards internalization and ...