Should English be compulsory?? (1 Viewer)

LewyIsChewy

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english should be compulsory until year 10 just like geography, maths, science etc.
It is unfair that it is counted towards the atar even if it is your worst subject. Say, if a student who excels in english picks subjects where he also excels in competes with a person who is doing excelent in all their subjects and terrible in english gains an automatic advantage because of this compulsory need to include the english mark. This makes the ATAR (a ranking of ALL subjects) be unrelieable due to the handicap student has. If it were to be compulsory and from a person who absolutely dispises the damn subject like me then it SHOULD NOT BE COUNTED IN THE ATAR. IT DISADVANTAGES EVERY STUDENT.
 
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I think Maths should be compulsory instead of english since it does have relevance to everyday life but that won't happen.. Anyway I think English should be compulsory but should be treated like all other subjects are when it gets to the ATAR
 
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tigerian

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of course English should be compulsory otherwise we would miss reading classics like Jane Austen , Mary Wollstonecraft and charlotte Bronte .
 

LewyIsChewy

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Why should it be compulsory then? Don't just say you need english in life because the english we learn is english LITERATURE. I think that I've made a fair point saying that if it were to be compulsory then it shouldn't be counted towards the ATAR if its the worst subject i.e counting the 10 units that you actually did well in.
 
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English in terms of study of grammar and syntax so people can actually write properly should be compulsory. Studies of literature should not be.
 

deloving

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I think Maths should be compulsory instead of english since it does have relevance to everyday life but that won't happen.. Anyway I think English should be compulsory but should be treated like all other subjects are when it gets to the ATAR
You are saying Maths has more relevance to everyday life than English?

brb reevaluating life
 

RishBonjour

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+1 this.

No enough essay writing and structure taught in younger years.


This quote from the bored of studies Essay Writing tutorial sums it up nicely.
Maybe it was just my school or I'm incredibly stupid, but I didn't know what an essay was until the end of year 10.

English should be compulsory, so should maths.
 

Absolutezero

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Maybe it was just my school or I'm incredibly stupid, but I didn't know what an essay was until the end of year 10.
My school never really called them essays either, so I'm sure you're not alone there.
 

ChrisMueller

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Yes! It should be! Communication-literacy is very important!
And to those of you who are talking about poems and how textual analysis won't help: it does! It improves your critical literacy and it is important to be able to analyse the world around you. What if you decide to go to another country on holiday? Russia for example? You need to know what kind of state the country's in, and to do that, you need to be able to analyse and make judgments.

However, I do think English should be shorter for Standard and Advanced. I think NSW should do what Victoria do. Focus on the texts and learn a lot about those texts specifically. I think it would be much more interesting and less stressful, and would engage more people. It'd make people want to actually read, which is one of the goals of the subject, currently not being achieved by HSC English.
 

baalish

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No. Right up until this day English has been one of my stronger subjects, yet I fail to grasp why it is compulsory. I have experienced so much subjectivity even within analytical essays, creatives etc. and why force people who do not like it/aren't very good at it to do so. It's an unfair reflection on their ATAR at the end of the day. At the very least, English shouldn't mandatorily count towards ATAR.
 

vtx

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English in terms of study of grammar and syntax so people can actually write properly should be compulsory. Studies of literature should not be.
Exactly what I think.
My teacher used to be in the board of studies (he was in the section responsible for making changes to the syllabi) and he said he quit because it was like talking to a brick wall every time he wanted something to be changed, they just do not change shit and that is why Australia is a shit country and will always be.
 

Haruka

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They should keep it, but teach us things that actually matter in life... I've only read one "classic" book (Animal Farm... year 10) and I'm not dumb...
 

Tasteless

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I think Maths should be compulsory instead of english since it does have relevance to everyday life but that won't happen..
There's apparently a lot of talk going on about this and speculation it will be compulsory within the next few years.

of course English should be compulsory otherwise we would miss reading classics like Jane Austen , Mary Wollstonecraft and charlotte Bronte .
lol

English in terms of study of grammar and syntax so people can actually write properly should be compulsory. Studies of literature should not be.
Sort of agree but taking it too far into linguistics territory is unnecessary too.
It's more essays which I don't like, they have no use outside HSC english and university arts courses, whereas things like reports, emails, presentations and articles etc are at least relevant to life.
 

Mrkingofstuff

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Making English not compulsory would result in many people taking up an extra two units and ignoring English.
It should definitely be compulsory, we live in an English speaking nation.
Everyone who says that it shouldn't be compulsory is misdirecting their response at the structure and content of the subject rather than the subject itself.
I do think that it should be restructured but just because it is inefficient, partially irrelevant and frustrating, does not mean it should non-compulsory. Even as it is now, it should still be compulsory. Though I do hope someone somewhere is working on making it more relevant and such.
 

Verify

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I definitely think English should be compulsory. We now live in a world where English is pretty much needed for almost every job. Also, if you don't take up English and go into Uni pursuing a degree in Law for example, you're going to have a really, really tough time catching up.
Although I do find rote-learning essays and stuff really convenient, I do agree that the syllabus should be reconstructed to minimise this issue.
 

kaz1

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Year 10 english is adequate enough to do most jobs, most uni degrees and going through life, english in the HSC isn't necessary
 

nerdasdasd

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Hsc English isn't important ...... Unless you do an arts degree. *cough cough'
 

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