Studies in Language and Literature (English)

English, Grade 9, De-streamed (ENL1W)

This course enables students to continue to develop and consolidate the foundational knowledge and skills that they need for reading, writing, and oral and visual communication. Throughout the course, students will continue to enhance their media literacy and critical literacy skills, and to develop and apply transferable skills, including digital literacy. Students will also make connections to their lived experiences and to society and increase their understanding of the importance of language and literacy across the curriculum.

Prerequisite: None 

Additional Information: This course, taught as part of the interdisciplinary Integrated Canadian Experience (ICE) program, has an emphasis on experiential learning. Students are actively engaged in the writing process and encouraged to look at the world as cultural journalists through the production of personal blogs, new media products such as Podcasts, VLOGs and Documentaries, and installations. Texts have included: Indian Horse, a regional novel of choice, and WW1 poetry. In a study of Canada’s North, short story texts have included: The Mysterious North, To Build a Fire, Sanaaq, The Cremation of Sam McGee, Routine Patrol and such films as Kuessipan and The Grizzlies. 

English Grade 10, Academic (ENG2D)

This course is designed to extend the range of oral communication, reading, writing, and media literacy skills that students need for success in their secondary school academic programs and in their daily lives. Students analyse literary texts from contemporary and historical periods, interpret and evaluate informational and graphic texts, and create oral, written, and media texts in a variety of forms. An important focus will be on the selective use of strategies that contribute to effective communication. This course is intended to prepare students for the compulsory Grade 11 university or college preparation course.

Prerequisite: English Grade 9, Destreamed

Grades 11 and 12 

IB Diploma Program: Higher or Standard Level Ministry Credits: ENG3U, ENG4UWHAT:

English Grade 11, University Preparation (ENG3U)

This course emphasizes the development of literacy, communication, and critical and creative thinking skills necessary for success in academic and daily life. Students will analyse challenging literary texts from various periods, countries, and cultures, as well as a range of informational and graphic texts, and create oral, written, and media texts in a variety of forms. An important focus will be on using language with precision and clarity and incorporating stylistic devices appropriately and effectively. The course is intended to prepare students for the compulsory Grade 12 university or college preparation course.

Prerequisite: English Grade 10, Academic 

Additional Information: Literary texts have included: I Have a Dream: Writings and Essays of Martin Luther King Jr., The World’s Wife, Persepolis, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Castle of Crossed Destinies, Endgame, Pyongyang, and the lyrics of Joni Mitchell and Taylor Swift. Students also study a variety of non-literary texts.

English Grade 12, University Preparation (ENG4U)  

This course emphasizes the consolidation of the literacy, communication, and critical and creative thinking skills necessary for success in academic and daily life. Students will analyse a range of challenging literary texts from various periods, countries, and cultures; interpret and evaluate informational and graphic texts; and create oral, written, and media texts in a variety of forms. An important focus will be on using academic language coherently and confidently, selecting the reading strategies best suited to particular texts and particular purposes for reading, and developing greater control in writing. The course is intended to prepare students for university, college, or the workplace.

Prerequisite: English Grade 11, University Preparation 

Additional Information: Literary texts have included: Persepolis, Othello, Aya of Yop City, Endgame, The Metamorphosis, the poetry of Margaret Atwood and Emily Dickinson, and the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe and Jorge Luis Borges. Students also study a variety of non-literary texts.

IB Description

Students have the option of choosing one of two possible IB English courses to fulfill the ministry credit and the IB Diploma requirements: Language A: Literature or Language A: Language and Literature. 

The aims of Language A: Literature and Language A: Language and Literature at Standard Level and at Higher Level are 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.

Option A: Language A: Literature 

The Higher Level Language A: Literature is a two-year university preparatory course which is devoted to studying works of literature of various genres, eras and cultures in order to deepen students’ understanding of the world around them. Students will study novels, plays, poetry and prose (fiction and nonfiction). The DP Language A: Literature course is divided into three parts and students study 13 texts in total: Readers, Writers and Texts (minimum of 4 texts studied); Time and Space (minimum of 4 texts studied) and Intertextuality: Connecting Texts (minimum of 4 texts studied).

The Standard Level Literature course consists of the study of 9 texts rather than 13: Readers, Writers and Texts (minimum 2 texts); Time and Space (minimum 2 texts) and Intertextuality: Connecting Texts (minimum 2 texts).

Option B: Language A: Language and Literature

The Higher Level Language A: Language and Literature is a two-year university preparatory course which is devoted to studying and analyzing literature, journalism, media, advertising, film and a variety of visual texts in order to deepen students’ understanding of the world around them. The DP Language A: Language and Literature course is divided into three parts and students study 6 literary works in addition to a wide range of non-literary works. The three parts of the course are: Readers, Writers and Texts (minimum of 2 literary works studied); Time and Space (minimum of 2 literary works studied) and Intertextuality: Connecting Texts (minimum of 2 literary works studied).

Standard Level Language A: Language and Literature is also a two-year course, but one that is composed of fewer language texts selected from a variety of sources, genres and media, and consists of the study of 4 literary works rather than 6 and a wide range of non-literary works. The three parts of the course are: Readers, Writers and Texts (minimum 1 literary work); Time and Space (minimum 1 literary work) and Intertextuality: Connecting Texts (minimum 1 literary work).