Levels 7 and 8

Achievement Objectives

Written language: Reading

	Students should:
Level 7	select and read fluently, confidently, independently, and with discrimination a wide range of contemporary and historical texts, including some with established critical reputations, choosing and adapting reading processes and strategies for a variety of purposes	Personal Reading
Level 8	read and reread a wide range of texts fluently and with enjoyment for personal development and information, gaining satisfaction from exploring ideas and aspects of texts as an integral part of daily life
Level 7	analyse critically language, meanings, and ideas in a wide range of contemporary and historical texts, discussing and interpreting their literary qualities and effects in relation to purpose and audience	Close Reading
Level 8	analyse, interpret, and respond to language, meanings, and ideas in contrasting texts from a wide range of genres, traditions, and periods, evaluating their literary qualities and effects in relation to purpose and audience
	In achieving the objectives of understanding and using written language, students should:
Levels 7 and 8	using appropriate terminology, describe, discuss, analyse, and evaluate the way language features, structures, and conventions of a wide range of texts suit the topic, purpose, and audience, and apply these understandings	Exploring Language
Levels 7 and 8	interpret, evaluate, and produce written texts, identifying and discussing their language and literary qualities and relating them to personal, social, cultural, political, and historical contexts	Thinking Critically
Levels 7 and 8	using a variety of resources and types of technology, retrieve, select, interpret, synthesise, and present accurate and coherent information, evaluating the processes used	Processing Information

Achievement Objectives
Close reading: exploring language; thinking critically; processing information

Teaching and Learning
Context: an investigation of language change reflected in literature

Students and the teacher read together short extracts from prose texts on similar subjects, selected from major periods of English literature.
Students interpret and discuss the meanings of each text, noting distinctive language features, including vocabulary, text structure, grammar, inflections, and imagery.
The teacher clarifies for the students some reasons for the changes they note, and the appropriate terminology for discussing them.
In groups, students research the information for a broad outline of the history of the English language, with each group studying one major period.
Students share their information, noting major features of change in the period they studied.

Assessment

Students rewrite one of the earlier texts for a contemporary audience, making changes they think necessary to convey the meaning and purpose. The rewriting is annotated to explain the decisions for each change.
The work is assessed for quality of research and exploration of language.

Links With Other Strands
Speaking, Listening, Writing, Presenting

Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Examples

Example 1

Achievement Objectives
Personal reading; close reading: exploring language; processing information

Teaching and Learning
Context: a theme-based study, using a range of genres

Students and the teacher select a theme, such as youth and age, or city life.
The teacher and students explore different texts on the topic, such as an essay and a poem, in terms of the ways in which the conventions of writing, language features, and aspects of structure vary according to the point of view, purpose, and context.
In groups, students work with further texts on the same theme, exploring and comparing language. They then read one text closely, evaluating its effectiveness and justifying their judgments.
Students collect data, including factual material such as statistics, which are relevant to the theme, and compare these texts with others, looking particularly at the ways in which their language varies according to the text's purpose and audience.
Each group makes a scrapbook of extracts from a variety of genres on the same theme, including two of the texts considered in class. They write a commentary on the language and its effectiveness in relation to the purpose of each genre.

Assessment

While the scrapbooks are being worked on in class, the teacher holds conferences with the groups, and material is shared with peers for comment. Each student also records a self-assessment against agreed criteria.

Links With Other Strands
Writing, Speaking, Listening

Example 2

Achievement Objectives
Close reading: exploring language; thinking critically

Teaching and Learning
Context: a study of the expression of personal opinion and points of view

Students and the teacher collect a range of feature articles, editorials, columns, and essays from newspapers, magazines, and other sources, including historical examples.
Students and the teacher consider one example in detail, in terms of the topic and the context, analysing and evaluating the language choices made by the writer.
In groups, students read and analyse at least two other examples in a similar way.
In groups, students diScuss and summarise significant characteristics of the feature article, editorial, column, and essay, based on their experience of the examples.

Assessment

Students write a collaborative definition of each of the genres they have analysed.
Individually, students select and evaluate one feature, editorial, column, or essay in terms of its genre, purpose, context, and audience.

Extension Option

Each student writes on a topic of their choice in one of the four genres they have studied.

Links With Other Strands
Writing, Speaking, Listening

Example 3

Achievement Objectives
Close reading: exploring language

Teaching and Learning
Context: a language study on gender bias in language

The teacher reads an extract from material generally perceived to be intended for females or males (for example, romantic fiction or spy novels). Students read with the teacher, and note language features.
The teacher introduces the same, or a similar language sample, reversing the original gender pronouns. The class discusses the effects of this reversal, noting, for example, the specific vocabulary, imagery, and dialogue which become inappropriate.
Alternatively, the teacher removes gender references from the passage, and students supply what seems appropriate, using the context clues. The class discusses the choices, reverses the gender references, and considers the effects and implications of the changes.
Independently or in groups, students develop a satirically exaggerated short piece, using the models previously discussed.
The texts are shared and discussed.
Students set out the language features which they have observed to be gender-marked, using a concise report format, and, independently or in groups, suggest neutral alternatives.

Assessment

The reports are assessed in terms of the students' understanding of the ways in which the choice of language features is related to the intended audience.

Links With Other Strands
Writing, Speaking, Listening
Related example in another strand at the same level: Writing, Example 3.

Example 4

Achievement Objectives
Close reading: exploring language; thinking critically; processing information

Teaching and Learning
Context: an investigation of language change reflected in literature

Students and the teacher read together short extracts from prose texts on similar subjects, selected from major periods of English literature.
Students interpret and discuss the meanings of each text, noting distinctive language features, including vocabulary, text structure, grammar, inflections, and imagery.
The teacher clarifies for the students some reasons for the changes they note, and the appropriate terminology for discussing them.
In groups, students research the information for a broad outline of the history of the English language, with each group studying one major period.
Students share their information, noting major features of change in the period they studied.

Assessment

Students rewrite one of the earlier texts for a contemporary audience, making changes they think necessary to convey the meaning and purpose. The rewriting is annotated to explain the decisions for each change.
The work is assessed for quality of research and exploration of language.

Links With Other Strands
Speaking, Listening, Writing, Presenting