should english be compsory (2 Viewers)

[poloktim]

English should most definately be compulsory. Also, universities should have English language tests that everyone must take and pass. This should not be marked by the university but by an independant body who doesn't care how much money the student's father might have.

 

[Carnivour]

Plus another thing, English is soooo subjective unlike maths: right or wrong. Our teacher (a HSC marker) was telling us that she gave an essay 18/20 for one of the modules and the other marker gave it 6! Yes that's right 6 out of 18.

Exactly. I firmly believe that an elementary english course should not have such an incredible range of 'correct' interpretations, thats why they should make compulsory only fundamentals of english, which CAN be marked objectively.

And whoever said that history extension is similar to advanced english, I hope you were joking. There's none of the superficial ideological forcefeeding that makes advanced english so fucking putrid.

 

[kami]

Exactly. I firmly believe that an elementary english course should not have such an incredible range of 'correct' interpretations, thats why they should make compulsory only fundamentals of english, which CAN be marked objectively.

And whoever said that history extension is similar to advanced english, I hope you were joking. There's none of the superficial ideological forcefeeding that makes advanced english so fucking putrid.

I didn't say it was similar or even relate it to advanced, I merely stated that I found it odd that someone who wanted to make a major research project in such a humanities based subject as history would find english itself absolutely pointless.

 

[Carnivour]

I didn't say it was similar or even relate it to advanced, I merely stated that I found it odd that someone who wanted to make a major research project in such a humanities based subject as history would find english itself absolutely pointless.

Good thing that there are still some who believe that history is and should be written like a science - did you know that is one of the foundations of the course?

 

[glycerine]

what I don't understand is why some level of maths/science isn't compulsory.

mate, i passed yr 10 school certificate level maths, i can do the basic stuff i need to do. why should i learn more sophisticated maths? i can hire an accountant to take care of my finances for me, etc.

with english, i think that while the current syllabus is v. flawed, having english be a compulsory subject is not in its a bad thing. hell, read these forums - the amount of people who can't spell or do much else other than babble incoherently is pretty scary.

 

[Trebla]

Year 10 SC type English should be in senior English, not this literature type stuff. The Board of Studies selection of prescribed texts is ridiculous because it favours those who may specifically like these types of texts and hence it is very biased. English is not about literature, it's about communication and language. Yes, there is a large emphasis on language techniques, but memorising quotes and techniques from a specific set text makes the current system of English very biased and it is forcing us to embrace the lovely world of literature.
Who the hell likes to learn and write about the allegory of Journeys and such concepts which we hardly encounter in our short lives?

If senior English emphasised more about communication and writing along with language techniques and manipulation rather than how texts are appreciated/recreated/represented in changing contexts, then it should be compulsory. Otherwise, at the moment with this crap, English should not be compulsory because it favours those who want a career on English literature.

This might also explain why the state of NSW performs much better in Mathematics than in English especially when comparing to other states.

 

[Dumsum]

English should be compulsory. But as said, when it IS English!! The current HSC course IS NOT ENGLISH. It's about learning the art of bullshitting. Then again, some may argue that is required in the big wide world...

What ever happened to spelling, grammar and vocab? None of this whatsoever is taught to us anymore, it's just assumed. I mean sorry if I haven't heard of the word andropause, but I wasn't taught that in yr 10!

 

[Libbster]

Here Here! Make English compulsory when it is actually English.

I do see the point of 'real English' in Extension History but I believe that the current english course is not relevant at all. Sentence construction, grammar etc all play a role in constructing a great essay (are we taught this in the current course? No!) However, history is based upon analysing sources to find a real meaning, not English where the text is contorted to fit a meaning that is considered relevant at that particular time.

Plus there will always be an element of subjectiveness in the course, unless we actually start doing some real English.

 

[tempco]

yes, to help out people like you.

 

[Libbster]

Excuse me? Just because i'm opposed to 'compulsory english' doesn't mean that i'm bad at it.

 

[king_of_boredom]

if anything, i believe maths should be compulsory, not english. because i lack creativity, my UAI will suffer.

 

[tempco]

Excuse me? Just because i'm opposed to 'compulsory english' doesn't mean that i'm bad at it.

i was referring to the thread starter.

 

[.ben]

only for year 11

 

[pLuvia]

only for year 11

well whats the point of that??.. you might as well continue onto year 12.. i reckon it should be only from 7 - 10 then you can drop it in year 11 or 12

 

[vwola]

goddamit.....stupid english....
the only english we need is the english we did in our junior years.....not like you're gonna walk into a supermarket asking for "lear's madman pills"
and yeah, i do agree that some level of maths should be compulsory, because it's everywhere in our society, and you don't see the chinese build the great wall of china by speaking english....it was all maths and science.
and isn't it such a coincidence that english was made to be counted as part of your hsc in the 80s, when loads of migrants (esp. asians) started to go to high school?

 

[Casmira]

of course they did that on purpose, do you want to find that the citizens can't speak english? ugly situations can arise when half the society doesn't speak the same language

 

[vwola]

yeah well, before '85, english was compulsory but it was a choice whether or not to be counted as part of your hsc, so even if that system continued till now, our society would still be speaking english as good as we are now, only difference is that now, it is counted as part of hsc (obviously), not like we're going to be using literature throughout our lives unless you really want to.

 

[FoodForThought]

english should be called 'learning the teachers interpretation of texts.' Just try to put your own views into an essay - sticking to the criteria and all that - and see what happens. Even try expressing your own views to the teacher and see what happens... its not learning how to interpret, its learning set reactions to a book or movie or something, then having to pass them off as your own in an exam.

 

[The_highwayman]

english should be compulsory. the way english is now is fine. if u arent any good at it, do standard. if u are do advanced and if u love it, do ext.

Mathematics should not be made compulsory. Not all career require an indepth knowledge of mats but all degrees require u to be able to write sustained compositions. If it wasnt for english i would still think that 2.5 pages for an essay was heaps long. over the last two years i have almost quadrupled that number.

 

[supergirl]

Well yes it should remain compulsary; your english ability merley serves to demonstrate the precise reasons why.

You can hardly say that when you can't spell yourself.