Should English be compulsory?? (4 Viewers)

[Absolutezero]

You just pick it up. Find a guide, and learn the basic ones. Books and Journal Articles especially. They're probably the most common I've found.

 

[Riproot]

I contend if one gets low marks in English and high marks in SOR essays - then one is just doing better in synthesising information in SOR.

No, the writing is just different.
You structure the essays differently.
My friend gets lower than me in English and 90-100% in modern, ancient and extension history. And our English teacher said his essay structure was lacking.

 

[-may-cat-]

Any tips on figuring out how to reference properly? Books? Or just Google it every time I need to do it and copy from there...

Pick a style relevant to your discipline (i'd get beaten for using APA).

Be consistent.

Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.


In first year i typed up my own own guide, with examples, had my tutor check it over and and laminated it. Still refer to it occasionally, very useful.

 

[Absolutezero]

Yeah, make sure you use the right system for your Faculty/School/Course etc.

I'm purely Harvard.

 

[Shadowdude]

So just read books and journal articles who use it and just copy?

 

[Shadowdude]

Pick a style relevant to your discipline (i'd get beaten for using APA).

Be consistent.

Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.
Be consistent.


In first year i typed up my own own guide, with examples, had my tutor check it over and and laminated it. Still refer to it occasionally, very useful.

We're both science students, if I recall correctly. Any suggestions?

 

[Absolutezero]

No, what I mean is you need to write your references in the right format. So you need to learn the format. Books and JA are the most common text you'll use, so they're good ones to learn how to write the reference for.

Most texts don't come with their reference written out. You have to write it yourself.

 

[-may-cat-]

We're both science students, if I recall correctly. Any suggestions?

I study history. Best thing to do would be to ask a lecturer. then find a good referencing guide online or in the library

 

[Shadowdude]

No, what I mean is you need to write your references in the right format. So you need to learn the format. Books and JA are the most common text you'll use, so they're good ones to learn how to write the reference for.

Most texts don't come with their reference written out. You have to write it yourself.

Mmkay. Well, I'll go roaming in the library to see what I can find.

I study history. Best thing to do would be to ask a lecturer. then find a good referencing guide online or in the library

Okay. Wow my memory must be going, because I vaguely remember you saying something about science - but apparently that's wrong.

Bah, must be past my bed time or something =P

 

[-may-cat-]

haha no, i did mention that my partner studies biology, that's probably where you got mixed up.

 

[Riproot]

Okay. Wow my memory must be going, because I vaguely remember you saying something about science - but apparently that's wrong.
Bah, must be past my bed time or something =P

B. Ancient History (hons)

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[Shadowdude]

Yep, it's very late and my brain is failing me. Darn <_<

 

[kidokkyo]

Perhaps, but I don't think it should count towards the ATAR.
Just because I don't achieve highly in english doesn't make me unable to do a maths/science/finance course.

i do appreciate your position, but i personally think that it is paramount that we maintain stringent english language standards for entry to tertiary study, i.e. in the atar.

this is because in this day and age, our tertiary education industry relies so heavily on overseas students from nesb backgrounds (whether/not that is a good thing).

in my own experience both as a university student and as a former student of an international school, i believe the importance of keeping classroom interaction mutually intelligible cannot be overemphasised. too many a time has the one nesb overseas student unnecessarily and excessively held back the class's progress, from sheer lack of english skills, even in mathematics/science classes etc. and when their numerical aptitude has been outstanding.

it's true i'm an arts student myself, but my maths/science/finance major buddies have related many a story where fellow students or even tutors/lecturers with poor english ability have reduced their classes to farce.

finally, if we are going to hold overseas students to high standards, we should surely adhere to, if not outstand them as native speakers of the english language ourselves.

the english curriculum has many problems; it will never satisfy all of us. but we do need to keep it central to our university admission, simply because language is key to communication and education is essentially about communication.

in fact, i personally think that the prerequisite scores which universities demand in english ought to be raised, even raised dramatically. the quality of our tertiary education depends on it.

 

[kidokkyo]

English should be compulsory, it is used as a "cohort benchmark."

totally agreed. even tho i got totally screwed over by this system in the nsw hsc, where i, as a--dare i say so myself--relatively strong english student, was forced to take english (standard) because that was all that was offered by my school. 4uck.

 

[Riproot]

totally agreed. even tho i got totally screwed over by this system in the nsw hsc, where i, as a--dare i say so myself--relatively strong english student, was forced to take english (standard) because that was all that was offered by my school. 4uck.

I am okayish at English and they made me do Standard because the arrogant bastard of an Advanced teacher didn't like my attitude because I had fun and laughed in class... Prick.

 

[Existential]

nothing should be compulsory in the HSC.

 

[Shadowdude]

nothing should be compulsory in the HSC.

Because?

 

[someth1ng]

It's not simply a matter of "should a subject be compulsory?" since atleast 1 subject is required to use as a benchmark for scaling purposes. They main reason that English is compulsory is because it is the national language and everyone in Australia is expected to be able to speak/write/listen to it. The thing that I find unfair is that it will always count to your ATAR, I don't see why they are required to always count to a student's ATAR but I believe that it is to give local students an advantage over international students.

 

[Riproot]

Because?

Because if you make something compulsory you are favouring certain students that are better at those subjects over others and those subjects may not help the student in their studies after school so it's just wasting their time.

 

[Riproot]

It's not simply a matter of "should a subject be compulsory?" since atleast 1 subject is required to use as a benchmark for scaling purposes. They main reason that English is compulsory is because it is the national language and everyone in Australia is expected to be able to speak/write/listen to it. The thing that I find unfair is that it will always count to your ATAR, I don't see why they are required to always count to a student's ATAR but I believe that it is to give local students an advantage over international students.

ESL scales higher than Standard.
Your argument is invalid.