Transition Lecture 2015 - 2016
ENGLISH COMMUNICATIONS
FOR THIS SESSION
Structure of Comms for 2016
 Availability

 Remember
– your tutorial teacher is your first
contact
General course outline
 Sample topics:
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 Mass
Media: Newspapers
 Mass Media: Advertisements
STRUCTURE FOR COMMS IN 2015

Timetable:
2
– 1 hour lectures per week
 1 – 2 hour tutorial per week
 Availability
time by appointment (only for your
tutorial teacher)
1
lecture will be taught by Ryan, the other lecture
will be taught by Lynn
 Each tutorial will have either Lynn or Ryan
GENERAL COURSE OUTLINE

4 categories of assessment:
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Text Analysis (writing about a given text; remember a text
can be a film, short story, letter, advertisement, etc.)
Text Production (making a particular text type)
Communication Study (examining how language is used in a
given text)
Folio (collection of a text response and text production; this
is externally assessed)
There is no exam
Overall: 10 assessments (2 of which are oral
presentations)
Average word count: 1000 words
Average length of oral presentation: 5 minutes
GENERAL COURSE OUTLINE
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Text Analysis: 3 assessments
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Text Production: 3 assessments
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Recount (supervised; “exam”-like conditions)
Exposition
Narrative
Communication Study: 2 assessments
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Written – film review
Written – short story response
Oral – poetry analysis
Comparison of mass media communication
Practical application (produce a piece of writing and explain the
production in an oral presentation)
Folio: 2 assessments (externally assessed)
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
Text Response with commentary
Text Production with writer’s statement
ASSESSMENT WEIGHTINGS

Text Analysis: 20%
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Text Production: 20%

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3 assessments in this category; each worth approx.
6.6%
Communication Study: 30%


3 assessments in this category; each worth approx.
6.6%
2 assessments in this category; each worth 15%
Folio: 30% (externally assessed)

2 assessments in this category; each worth 15%
A WORD ABOUT MODERATION
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Comms is moderated (like every other year 12 subject)
So . . . you are responsible for keeping track of ALL of
your work that you complete
We will use Turn It In to check originality and also help
provide an electronic copy in case of misadventure
You will be given a folder; place all marked/returned
work into this folder
Your work may be called up for moderation at the end of
the year – no advance notice
If you have lost a piece of marked work, it will impact
your moderation results and can impact the results of
everyone else
WHAT DO YOU DO IN COMMS?

Main emphasis: examining types of
communication so that you can better
understand it AND/OR reproduce that
communication in an effective manner

Key questions:
 How
was a text produced?
 Why was it produced this way?
MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION: NEWSPAPERS

Sample article (source: AFP 29th Nov 2010)
WikiLeaks lifts lid on US diplomacy
alliteration
Emotive language;
emotive action verb
WIKILEAKS has unleashed a torrent of US cables detailing a wide array
of potentially explosive diplomatic episodes.
The cables range from a tense nuclear standoff with Pakistan to Saudi
Arabia's king repeatedly suggesting bombing Iran, the New York
Times says.
The cables describe the bazaar-like bargaining over the repatriation of
Guantanamo Bay detainees, a Chinese government bid to hack into
Google, and quote Saudi King Abdullah as saying the United States
should strike Iran to halt its nuclear program, telling it to "cut off the
head of the snake".
Note the use of names, titles; Appeal
to Authority
Emotive language; emotive adverb
and adjective
MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION: NEWSPAPERS
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What questions would follow?
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Why was emotive language used?
What are some of the aims (purposes, reasons for
production) of the article?
Who might the target audience be? What shows this (how
do you know)?
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For target audience we will also discuss / consider demographics

Assignment: compare two articles, of different styles, on
the same topic (i.e. a news report and an editorial)

To use the article beforehand, you would need to find an
editorial that covered the same topic
MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION: ADVERTISEMENTS
Remember: advertisements are persuasive
communication (they express an idea to an
audience)
 Use some devices found in persuasive texts
(opinion pieces, editorials, expository essays, etc.)
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Advertisements are designed to persuade you to
do/think something
Follow the AIDA principle: Attention, Interest,
Desire, Action
MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION: ADVERTISEMENTS
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Sample advertisement
Circa 1950
Appeal to
celebrity;
appeal to
authority
Product in use;
creates familiarity
Product, in colour, front
and centre of spread
Advertisement available:
“Vintage Ads”,
https://pinterest.com/ednamillion/vintage-ads/
Accessed 19/11/2012
Note the
appeal to
action:
“Buy . . .”;
product
appeal for
holiday
season
MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION: ADVERTISEMENTS

Sample
advertisement;
circa 1950
•What do you see in this
advertisement?
•How is it gaining
ATTENTION?
•How is it generating
INTEREST?
•How is it creating
DESIRE?
•How is it encouraging
ACTION?
Advertisement available:
“Vintage Ads”,
https://pinterest.com/ednamillion/vintage-ads/
Accessed 19/11/2012
MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION: ADVERTISEMENTS
• Sample advertisement –
advertising in the “public sphere”
•Consider context: where/when of a
text; in this case consider where and
why it was used
•What do you see in this
advertisement?
•How is it gaining ATTENTION?
•How is it generating INTEREST?
•How is it creating DESIRE?
•How is it encouraging ACTION?
Advertisement available:
“Creative Ads – Jobsintown.de”,
http://adscreativity.wordpress.com/2009/05/17/jobsintownde/
Accessed 19/11/2012
MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATION: MESSAGES
Mass media operates on two “levels” of
messages
 Level 1 - Main Message:
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 What
info is imparted by the image and the text?
 What primary behavior is the desired outcome?

Level 2 - Subordinate Message:
 What
info is inferred or implied by the image or
text?
 What other behaviors are encouraged?
WHAT’S NEXT?

Carefully examine the next advertisement you
come across
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Start reading a reputable newspaper (The Age,
The Australian, etc.)
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Use the AIDA principle to pick it apart
your first assessment task will require you to use a
newspaper
Use your holidays to actually get some rest
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When you come back you will have an assessment in
Comms due approximately every 3 to 4 weeks!