English KLA Text Selection Policy
The national English curriculum aims to engage students in the study of literary texts of personal,
cultural, social and aesthetic value. These texts include some that are recognised as having enduring
social and artistic value and some that attract contemporary attention. Texts are chosen because they
are judged to have potential for enriching the lives of students and expanding the scope of their
experience, and because they represent effective and interesting features of form and style. . More
specifically it aims to support students to:
•
understand how Standard Australian English works in its spoken and written forms and in
combination with other non-linguistic forms of communication
•
learn Standard Australian English to help sustain and advance social cohesion in our
linguistically and culturally complex country
•
respect the varieties of English and their influence on Standard Australian English
•
appreciate and enjoy language and develop a sense of its richness and its power to evoke
feelings, form and convey ideas, persuade, entertain and argue
•
understand, interpret, reflect on and create an increasingly broad repertoire of spoken, written
and multimodal texts across a growing range of settings
•
access a broad range of literary texts and develop an informed appreciation of literature
•
master the written and spoken language forms of schooling and knowledge
•
develop English skills for lifelong enjoyment and learning.
In selecting texts, the following criteria are considered:
1. The texts have literary merit and are worthy of close study.
2. The texts have intellectual merit. The ideas and issues explored in the texts, (in addition to
being appropriate to the relevant age-group), need to be significant and appropriate to sustain
intensive study, raising interesting issues and providing challenging ideas.
3. The texts allow students to develop a critical appreciation of the craft and aesthetics of
language and to experience the enjoyment and pleasure offered by reading.
4. The range of texts, ideally include traditional and contemporary texts.
5. The texts represent a range of literary genres.
6. The texts are appropriate for the age and development of students.
7. The texts reflect a wide range of experience. Wherever possible, they should reflect the
experience and perspectives of male and female, young and old, and a wide range of
cultures, in historical, contemporary and imaginary settings.
8. The texts must comprise Australian literature, including the oral narrative traditions of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as well as the contemporary literature of these
two cultural groups, and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and
about Asia.
9. The texts enable students to explore aspects of Australian culture. This requires the reading
of at least one Australian text at each year level.
10. Include a balance of new and established works.
11. Contain print and non-print texts that are freely available.
12. The texts be free of language or images which would be judged to be obscene or offensive by
current community standards and expectations.
Exceptions to this general principle may occur where the texts in which such language of
images are present meet the criteria set out above, the language or images are of central
1
Ratified:
Next Review Date:
March 2014
RC 2018
English KLA Text Selection Policy
importance to the development of the characters, representations or ideas explored in texts,
and the English teachers have determined exposure to such language or images will not
hinder the social and moral development of their students.
2
Ratified:
Next Review Date:
March 2014
RC 2018