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Subject Aims

English in junior cycle aims to develop students’ knowledge of language and literature, to consolidate and deepen their literacy skills and make them more self-aware as learners. 

More specifically it encourages all students:

• to be creative through language and to gain enjoyment and continuing personal growth from English in all its forms
• to develop control over English using it and responding to it with purpose and effect through the interconnected literacy skills of oral language, reading and writing
• to engage personally with and think critically about an increasingly broad range of spoken, written and multimodal texts
• to develop an informed appreciation of literature through personal encounters with a variety of literary texts
• to use their literacy skills to manage information needs, and find, use, synthesise, evaluate and communicate information using a variety of media
• to gain an understanding of the grammar and conventions of English and how they might be used to promote clear and effective communication 

Rationale for Subject

Language gives students the opportunity to access the understanding, knowledge and skills to promote their personal growth and effective participation in society.  

The study of language enables students to build on their learning in primary school and further develop their skills and enjoyment in using it effectively. Through language learning and use, students discover information, develop thinking, and express ideas and feelings. They learn about language, and how to use it well in all areas of their studies. 

Respect is shown for students’ competence in their home language and the community characteristics of their language use together with their literacy practices outside of school.  

Learning about language in texts, including digital texts, is important to social development and as part of this process students develop the competence and confidence needed to meet the demands of school, employment, further education and life. Knowledge and command of language are also essential to their contributions to political, social and cultural life and as thoughtful and active citizens.  

As learners, it is important that they become aware of where and how they are improving in their use of language and conscious of where further improvement is necessary. As a route to this knowledge, they develop greater competence in the conventions of spelling, punctuation procedures, sentence structures and text organisation.  

Students are actively involved in the integrated skills of oral language, reading and writing and in discussing and comparing a wide variety of texts and forms of English. As study is a social activity as well as a personal one, students have opportunities to work in groups to achieve appropriate language goals.  

The ability to appreciate literature from different cultures is important in developing the whole person and to this end students read literature with insight and imagination not only in class but privately as well.  

Finally, as their mastery of language grows, so too will the opportunities to enjoy their world and give of their best to society now, and in the future. They will fully appreciate their success in language when pleasure and growth in it continue in their lives long after school is done. 

Subject Topics / Syllabus Content

The specification for Junior Cycle English focuses on the development of language and literacy in and through the three strands: Oral Language, Reading, and Writing. The elements of each of these strands place a focus on communicating, on active engagement with and exploration of a range of texts, and on acquiring and developing an implicit and explicit knowledge of the shape and structures of language. There is a strong focus on the oral dimension of language, including the vital importance of learning through oral language. This makes the English classroom an active space, a place of ‘classroom talk’ where learners explore language and ideas as much through thinking and talking as through listening and writing. While the learning outcomes associated with each strand are set out separately here, this should not be taken to imply that the strands are to be studied in isolation. The student’s language learning is marked by a fully integrated experience of oral language, reading and writing.  

To give further emphasis to the integrated nature of language learning the outcomes for each strand are grouped by reference to three elements:  

• Communicating as a listener, speaker, reader, writer
• Exploring and using language 
• Understanding the content and structure of language

Over the course of three years students will develop these key skills through their study and analysis of a wide range of texts and genres. 

First Year 

• A studied novel, with on-going, sustained reading of novels throughout the year  
• A variety of drama extracts to suit appropriate learning outcomes  
• A variety of non-literary texts including texts in oral format 
•  A number of short stories 
• A variety of poetry 

Second and Third Year  

From the list of prescribed texts students must study:  

• Two novels  
• Two drama* texts *Note 1: An extract from a play or extracts from one or more plays may be used as one of the drama texts. The extracts may be chosen from outside the list of prescribed texts. The extract or extracts selected by schools should provide students with a broad experience of the dramatic form. *Note 2: Students intending to take the Final Assessment at Higher Level must study the full text of a prescribed Shakespearean drama during second and/or third year. 
• A film chosen from the prescribed list of films  
• A variety of non-literary texts including texts in oral format  
• A selection of poetry  
• A number of short stories  

Assessment

The assessment of the Junior Cycle English Specification is as follows  

• Two Classroom Based Assessments (CBAs)  
  • The Oral Communication in Second Year 
  • The Collection of the student’s texts in Third Year 

• The Assessment Task – Students complete a formal written Assessment Task to be submitted to the State Examinations Commission for marking along with the Final Assessment for English. This is worth 10% of the overall mark for Junior Cycle English. 
• The Final Assessment – The final assessment will be offered at Higher and Ordinary Levels. At both levels there will be one examination paper. It will be linked to students’ learning during second and third year