Syllabus bites Responding to literature

Syllabus links

The Board of Studies NSW syllabus for the Australian curriculum English K–10 embeds responding to and composing literature throughout its objectives.

Through responding to and composing a wide range of texts and through the close study of texts, students will develop knowledge, understanding and skills in order to:

A: communicate through speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing and representing

B: use language to shape and make meaning according to purpose, audience and context

C: think in ways that are imaginative, creative, interpretive and critical

D: express themselves and their relationships with others and their world

E: learn and reflect on their learning through their study of English.

Outcomes that address these objectives can be found in the Table of Objectives and Outcomes – Continuum of Learning in English K−10 (.pdf 59kB)

Students will value and appreciate:

  • the importance of the English language as a key to learning

  • the personal enrichment to be gained from a love of English, literature and learning

  • the power of language to explore and express views of themselves as well as the social, cultural, ethical, moral, spiritual and aesthetic dimensions of human experiences

  • the power of effective communication using the language modes of speaking, listening, reading, writing, viewing and representing

  • the role of language in developing positive interaction and cooperation with others

  • the diversity and aesthetics of language through literary and other texts.

In each year students must study examples of:

  • spoken texts

  • print texts

  • visual texts

  • media, multimedia and digital texts.

Writers Talk videos highlighted in this resource offer the opportunity to explore a number of texts from the perspective of the writer. As students engage personally with texts and respond to a variety of types of texts they develop their own knowledge, understanding, skills, values and attitudes which they can then also apply to their own creative writing.