Link to IB Assessments

Overview

Expectations for the Course: The DP Language and Literature course is a two year course over the 11th and 12th grade years focusing on a variety of literary and non-literary texts with various media. Students will examine how language and images shape meaning and how language is shaped by identity and culture. Students will deepen their understanding of texts by interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating texts, examining authorial intent and purpose behind the author's style. Students will examine the relationship between texts (intertextuality), their roles as readers and writers, and the importance of historical context in determining meaning. Students are expected to complete assignments in a timely manner, to be organized and manage time effectively, and to ask questions to clarify their thinking.

Essential Skills, Habits, & Behaviors: In order to meet these skills, students should 1) keep track of assignments with a calendar/to-do list, 2) have dedicated time to work on homework, 3) have the right environment to study, minimizing distractions, 4) ask clarifying questions to be sure they understand the assignment and content,5) develop strategies for writing (brainstorming, graphic organizers, outlining, etc.), and 6) attend tutorials if they need more one-on-one support.

Methods of Instruction: Students can expect a range of activities to develop their learning in class such as 1) guided classroom discussions, 2) small group activities, 3) independent work, 4) interactive lessons through technology, 5) inquiry-based instruction, both verbally and in writing as well as 6) Socratic seminar discussions.

Materials & Media: Students will have access to weekly agenda slides to guide their learning for the week and are posted at the beginning of each week in Google Classroom. Students receive digital handouts, materials, and links in Google Classroom. Literary books are available throughout the year based on the unit of study.

Assignment Format (Grading Strategies): Students will engage in a variety of assignments both in writing and verbally including some tasks as creative and/or analytical writing or media, Socratic seminars, graphic organizers, language practice, presentations, outlines, reflections, discussion boards, and quizzes. Of course, the Diploma Program includes specific IB Tasks: the HL essay, Paper One and Paper Two practices, and the Individual Oral Commentary.

AREAS OF EXPLORATIONS

The DP language & literature course examines three Areas of Exploration (AoE), offering different approaches for the study of literary and non-literary texts:

1. an exploration of the nature of interactions between Readers, Writers & Texts;

2. an exploration of how texts interact with Time & Space;

3. an exploration of Intertextuality – how texts connect with each other.

Throughout the study of the Areas of Exploration, students will engage in various central concepts and global issues in order to them explore literary and non-literary text types in more depth.

Aims & Objectives

Studies in Language and Literature Aims

The aims of all subjects in studies in language and literature are to enable students to:

1. engage with a range of texts, in a variety of media and forms, from different periods, styles, and cultures

2. develop skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, presenting and performing

3. develop skills in interpretation, analysis, and evaluation

4. develop sensitivity to the formal and aesthetic qualities of texts and an appreciation of how they contribute to diverse responses and open up multiple meanings

5. develop an understanding of relationships between texts and a variety of perspectives, cultural contexts, and local and global issues and an appreciation of how they contribute to diverse responses and open up multiple meanings

6. develop an understanding of the relationships between studies in language and literature and other disciplines

7. communicate and collaborate in a confident and creative way

8. foster a lifelong interest in and enjoyment of language and literature.

Assessment Objectives

Know, understand, and interpret:

• a range of texts, works and/or performances, and their meanings and implications

• contexts in which texts are written and/or received

• elements of literary, stylistic, rhetorical, visual and/or performance craft

• features of particular text types and literary forms.

Analyse and evaluate:

• ways in which the use of language creates meaning

• uses and effects of literary, stylistic, rhetorical, visual or theatrical techniques

• relationships among different texts

• ways in which texts may offer perspectives on human concerns.

Communicate

• ideas in clear, logical and persuasive ways

• in a range of styles, registers and for a variety of purposes and situations

• (for literature and performance only) ideas, emotion, character and atmosphere through performance.