Communication - Pathways to VCE, VCE VET and VCAL
The post-compulsory years
As students approach the end of the compulsory years of schooling they begin to make choices about their preferred areas of and pathways for learning. Students choose studies from the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) or recognised vocational training through either a Vocational Education Training (VET) program or the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL).
In the post-compulsory years effective communication skills are essential for success in all curriculum areas. The compulsory requirement for English studies in the VCE, and the Literacy Skills Units in VCAL, ensure that students continue to strengthen their communication skills.
Students in the post-compulsory years extend their competence in communicating in many different social and academic contexts, ranging from the personal and informal to more public occasions. They develop communicative capacities adequate for meeting the demands of post-school employment, further education and effective participation in society.
Students further develop their critical understanding and control of language forms and structures. They communicate ideas, issues and information effectively to a range of audiences in written, visual and oral texts in print and digital formats. They use language both to develop ideas and understanding, and convey ideas and information to others. They present information and ideas, and justify points of view coherently, logically and thoughtfully.
As active, critically aware citizens, students participate confidently in debate and discussion of ideas of social importance, demonstrating critical understanding of the effectiveness of their own communication and the communication of others.
Students interpret and make effective use of the specialist languages of diverse texts, including texts relevant to academic disciplines and to workplace situations. At this stage, students benefit from explicit teaching of terminology and specific vocabulary; symbolic codes and other representational forms; relationships between everyday language and discipline-specific terminology; the language of the processes of disciplines, such as scientific processes; and the actual reading, writing and oral communication demands of specific disciplines.
Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) studies
Effective communication is essential for success in all VCE studies. VCE eligibility includes the compulsory requirement that students complete three units from the English group of studies, with at least one unit at Unit 3 and Unit 4 levels. This requirement reflects the importance of the continuing development of strong literacy skills in the post-compulsory years.
In all VCE studies students use the various literacy modes of reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and critical thinking in a wide range of contexts, for many different purposes and audiences. Their experience in developing effective communication in all domains of theVELS provides a strong foundation for the formal and informal communication demands of the post-compulsory years.
Communication in VCE studies varies according to the kinds of disciplinary practices and forms of knowledge in the different studies. Students’ experiences of the specialised languages of different learning areas in Years P–10 enable them to deal with the curriculum literacies in VCE studies. The communication demands of the post-compulsory curriculum vary across studies and within studies. At this level, students need explicit teaching of the specialised language and communicative forms of specific studies.
Vocational Education and Training (VET)
The VCE includes a wide range of VET programs, which include training in language skills relevant to particular industries and workplace contexts. Students develop further knowledge of workplace texts and apply this knowledge in the context of activities such as working in teams, job seeking, preparing of documents, reporting, and presenting information in the workplace.
Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL)
The VCAL has four compulsory strands, one of which is Literacy and Numeracy Skills, emphasising the value it places on effective communication. As part of the VCAL learning program, students must include literacy and numeracy subjects such as VCE English and Mathematics studies, or other accredited studies such as literacy and numeracy modules from the Certificate in General Education for Adults.
VCAL Literacy Skills Units provide opportunities for students to develop literacy skills and knowledge in four main social contexts: family and social life; workplace and institutional settings; education and training contexts; community and civic life. Literacy is integral to all these social contexts. The VCAL Literacy Skills Units are framed around two broad domains: Reading and writing, and Oral communication, which correspond directly with the two dimensions of Communication and the three dimensions of English.
More information about VCE (www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce)
More information about VET (www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vet)
More information about VCAL (www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vcal)
