Year 8 English Syllabus
Year 8
Year level description
In the early adolescence phase of schooling, students align with their peer group and begin to question established conventions, practices and values. Learning and teaching programs assist students to develop a broader and more comprehensive understanding of the contexts of their lives and the world in which they live.
English provides opportunities for students to extend their interests beyond their own communities, and they begin to develop awareness about wider issues. Students’ interest in the natural, social, cultural and technological world is often related to the impact on them personally and can help them in their current and future lives.
In Year 8, students’ growing independence and peer-group orientation should be built upon by providing opportunities for them to participate in important forms of decision‑making within the classroom and to work with others. Through such experiences students assume increased responsibilities, explore values and further refine their social and collaborative work skills.
Critical literacy is integral to the English curriculum. It is developed when students actively question, analyse, evaluate and synthesise the texts they engage with. In Year 8, students learn how text structures, language features and intertextual references vary according to audience and purpose, and how some texts may be hybrids, and combine different genres. They learn how texts represent values and how techniques position the audience to form perspectives.
Students engage with a range of texts for learning and enjoyment. They listen to, read, view, analyse, interpret, evaluate, create and perform a range of spoken, written and multimodal texts. These texts may include various types of media texts (including screen, online and digital texts), narratives (including novels), non-fiction, poetry and plays. Students develop their understanding of how texts relate to context, purpose and audience. They understand how the features of texts may be used as models for creating their own work. The range of texts includes:
- literary texts that may be drawn from a range of genres, may involve intertextual references, some challenging sequences and/or non-stereotypical characters, may explore themes of interpersonal relationships and ethical dilemmas in real-world and fictional settings, and/or represent a variety of perspectives
- informative, analytical and persuasive texts that may present technical information and abstract content from credible sources about specialised topics and concepts
- texts with a variety of language features that may include successive complex sentences with embedded clauses, unfamiliar technical vocabulary, figurative and rhetorical language, and/or information supported by various types of images and graphics.
Students create a range of texts whose purposes may be aesthetic, imaginative, reflective, informative, persuasive and/or analytical. These texts may include narratives, dramatic performances and scripts, reports, responses (including reviews and personal reflections), arguments, literary analyses, discussions, visual texts, oral and audio texts, poetry, and types of media (including screen, online and digital texts) for different audiences.
Year 8
Achievement standard
By the end of the year:
Speaking and Listening
Students interact with others, and listen to and create spoken and/or multimodal texts, including literary texts. With different purposes and for audiences, they discuss, express and elaborate on ideas with supporting evidence. They select and vary text structures to organise, develop and link ideas. They select and vary language features, literary devices and/or multimodal features and features of voice.
Reading and Viewing
Students read, view and comprehend a range of texts created to inform, influence and/or engage audiences. They discuss and analyse how ideas are represented and how texts reflect or challenge contexts. They discuss and analyse the aesthetic qualities of texts, and how text structures shape meaning. They discuss and analyse the effects of language features, intertextual references, literary devices and visual features. They select supporting evidence from texts to develop their own response.
Writing and Creating
Students create written and/or multimodal texts, including literary texts, for different purposes and audiences, expressing and advancing ideas with supporting evidence. They select and vary text structures to organise, develop and link ideas. They select and vary language features, literary devices and/or multimodal features.
Year 8
Content descriptions
Language for interacting with others
Recognise how language shapes relationships and roles
WA8ELAI1
For example:
- identifying language names that inform relationships to Country/Place by exploring the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Map of Indigenous Australia
Understand how layers of meaning can be created within a text by using literary devices, such as simile and metaphor to evaluate
WA8ELAI2
For example:
- identifying how authors use rhetorical devices that reveal the dark or serious aspects of a topic in humorous or amusing ways, such as by making a statement but implying or meaning the opposite (irony), exaggerating or overstating something (hyperbole), imitating or mocking something (parody), and making something appear less serious than it really is (understatement)
Text structure, organisation and features
Explain how text structures and language features vary depending on their purpose, recognising that some texts are hybrids that combine different genres or elements of different genres
WA8ELAT1
For example:
- discussing how a verse novel combines elements of poetry and prose narrative
- exploring how mockumentaries blend elements of fiction and documentary
Understand how cohesion in texts is improved by strengthening the internal structure of paragraphs with examples, quotations and substantiation of claims
WA8ELAT2
For example:
- writing a paragraph in an analytical essay that includes quotes and examples from a studied text
- including statistics and facts to substantiate claims in a persuasive speech
Language for expressing and developing ideas
Examine a variety of clause structures, including embedded clauses, that add information and expand ideas in sentences
WA8ELALA1
For example:
- investigating how the meaning of a sentence can be changed by inserting different embedded clauses, such as French fries, which are a fattening and unhealthy snack, are made from potatoes. / French fries, which are a delicious treat, are made from potatoes.
Understand the effect of nominalisation in texts
WA8ELALA2
For example:
- highlighting examples of nominalisation in informative texts and explaining the impact on content and tone
- converting verbs to nouns using a suffix, such as achieve to achievement or act to action
Investigate how visual and multimodal texts use intertextual references to enhance and layer meaning
WA8ELALA3
For example:
- identifying intertextual references in picture books and discussing how they create meaning
Identify and use vocabulary typical of academic texts
WA8ELALA4
For example:
- employing vocabulary of academic report writing, such as evidence, consequence, contradiction and acknowledgement
Understand and use punctuation conventions, including semicolons and dashes, to extend ideas and support meaning
WA8ELALA5
For example:
- creating dialogue in drama showing interruptions, asides and pauses for effect
- experimenting with connecting related independent clauses, such as I love that film; the graphics were incredible.
Word knowledge
Apply learnt word knowledge to spell new words and apply strategies to maintain accuracy
WA8ELAW1
For example:
- drawing on knowledge of spelling generalisations, base words and affixes when spelling new words
- drawing on increasing knowledge of word origins to understand and spell new words, such as using circum (around) to spell circumstance, circumference
- applying strategies to maintain accuracy, such as proofreading, checking an authority or using spell check
Literature and contexts
Explain the ways that ideas and perspectives may represent the values of individuals and groups in literary texts drawn from historical, social and cultural contexts by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, wide-ranging Australian and world authors and creators
WA8ELICO1
For example:
- investigating the ways films and television by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators represent unique ways of being, knowing, thinking and doing
- exploring how short stories by migrant Australian authors represent values of particular groups
Engaging with and responding to literature
Share opinions about the language features, literary devices and text structures that contribute to the styles of literary texts
WA8ELIEN1
For example:
- discussing opinions about how music and lighting contribute to a film's style
Explain how language and/or visual and audio features in texts position listeners, readers and viewers to respond and form perspectives
WA8ELIEN2
For example:
- sharing opinions in an online class blog or forum about how a short story positions the reader to respond to a theme
Examining literature
Identify intertextual references in literary texts and explain how the references enable new understanding of the aesthetic quality of the text
WA8ELIEX1
For example:
- identifying intertextual references through allusion within a poem and discussing how knowledge of other texts influences the reader’s understanding and appreciation
Analyse how language features, such as sentence patterns create tone, and literary devices, such as imagery create meaning and effect
WA8ELIEX2
For example:
- explaining how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors use words and language to set tone when writing or speaking about specific themes, such as words used to set the tone when writing or speaking about Country/Place
- exploring how sensory imagery draws the reader into the world of a poem or narrative
Creating literature
Create and edit literary texts that experiment with language features and literary devices for particular purposes and effects
WA8ELICR1
For example:
- collaborating with a peer to write a short script with two characters, focusing on dialogue choices to establish character
- editing the use of imagery and word choices when creating a literary text and reflecting on the effect of those changes
Texts in context
Identify how texts relate to contexts
WA8ELYT1
For example:
- identifying how famous advertisements and posters relate to the context in which they were created
- exploring how a popular song relates to a historical context
Interacting with others
Use interaction skills for identified purposes and situations, including when supporting or challenging the stated or implied meanings of spoken texts in presentations or discussions
WA8ELYI1
For example:
- using appropriate linguistic, vocal and non-verbal protocols in a panel discussion about a social issue
- demonstrating active listening skills, such as using positive body language, rephrasing to confirm understanding, offering suitable responses and asking open questions
Analysing, interpreting and evaluating
Analyse and evaluate the ways that language features vary according to the purpose and audience of the text, and the ways that sources and quotations are used in a text
WA8ELYA1
For example:
- exploring how a persuasive text uses sources and quotations to strengthen its purpose and to appeal to a particular audience
Analyse how authors and creators use text structures to organise ideas and develop and shape meaning
WA8ELYA2
For example:
- analysing how the organisation of an infographic shapes its meaning
- explaining how the structure of a webpage visually signals its hierarchy
Use comprehension strategies, such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring, questioning and inferring, to interpret and evaluate ideas when listening, reading and viewing
WA8ELYA3
For example:
- participating in before, during and after reading activities, such as class discussions, completing graphic organisers and keeping a reading journal, to monitor evolving comprehension
- interpreting and evaluating the selection and composition of an image or graphic in a news or online feature article
Creating texts
Plan, create, edit and publish written and multimodal texts, organising and expanding ideas, and selecting text structures, language features, literary devices and visual features for purposes and audiences in ways that may be imaginative, reflective, informative, persuasive and/or analytical
WA8ELYC1
Plan, create, rehearse and deliver spoken and multimodal presentations for purpose and audience, selecting language features, literary devices, visual features and features of voice to suit formal or informal situations, and organising and developing ideas in texts in ways that may be imaginative, reflective, informative, persuasive and/or analytical
WA8ELYC2
Consolidate a personal handwriting style that is legible, fluent and automatic and supports writing for extended periods in relevant required contexts
WA8ELYC3
Select and vary features of digital tools to create texts for different purposes and audiences
WA8ELYC4
For example:
- creating a mock sponsored social media post aimed at a particular audience
- creating a vlog that reflects the style of a specific video sharing platform